Moving or Fitting Out an Office? Get the Network Cabling Right the First Time

An office move or fit-out is the one moment when getting your network cabling right is cheap — and getting it wrong haunts you for years. Once walls are sheeted and desks are in, every missing data point costs multiples to add. At Real IT Consulting we plan and deliver office ICT fit-outs across Bundall, Southport, Yatala and the wider Gold Coast. Here's what to think about before the trades leave site.

Why Wi-Fi-only offices regret it

"We'll just use Wi-Fi" is the most common fit-out shortcut — and the most regretted. Wi-Fi is brilliant for laptops and phones, but fixed workstations, printers, phones, TVs, CCTV cameras and access points all work better cabled: faster, more stable, and immune to interference from thirty neighbouring networks in a commercial building. The rule of thumb: anything that doesn't move should be cabled; Wi-Fi is for things that do.

Plan more points than you think you need

Every desk position should get at least two data points (computer plus phone/spare), plus points for printers, meeting room screens, ceiling access points, CCTV camera positions and the reception TV nobody mentioned until week three. Cabling is cheapest in bulk while walls are open — the extra points cost little now and a callout each later.

Choose the right grade of cable

Cat6 is the sensible minimum for a new fit-out, with Cat6A worth considering for longer runs, high-speed backbones and Wi-Fi 6/7 access points. The labour is the same either way — skimping on cable grade to save a few dollars per run is false economy in a space you'll occupy for years.

The comms cabinet: your office's engine room

Everything terminates in a comms cabinet: patch panel, switch, router, NBN connection, NVR for cameras. Get it right and it's tidy, labelled, ventilated and lockable. Get it wrong and it's a spaghetti shelf above the kitchen fridge that nobody dares touch. Insist on labelled points and a patch schedule — future you (and any future IT provider) will be grateful.

Coordinate the whole ICT picture at once

A fit-out is the perfect time to bundle the pieces that usually get bolted on later:

• NBN ordered early — business connections can take weeks; order the service before you move, not after
• Wi-Fi designed for the floorplan — access points positioned by coverage, not convenience
• CCTV cabled during the build — camera runs cost almost nothing with walls open
• Phones and Teams — numbers ported and call flows ready for day one
• Security from the start — separated guest/business networks and locked-down equipment

The one-visit advantage

When one local partner handles cabling design, networking, Wi-Fi, CCTV and the Microsoft 365/phone cutover, nothing falls between contractors — and on move-in day, everything simply works. That's the job we love doing.

Real IT Consulting plans and delivers office ICT fit-outs and relocations across Bundall, Southport, Yatala, Ormeau, Robina, Varsity Lakes and the entire Gold Coast, plus Brisbane.

Office move on the horizon? Contact Real IT Consulting early — the best fit-outs are planned before the first wall goes up.