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Run conduit. That way it standards change you can run new cabling through it with minimal effort. That’s the most valuable thing you can do.

Conduit to every room if desired, and honestly, I would pull fiber if I did it again.

I’m about to start building and I listed out all 128 runs of cable – highlights:

• I’m not doing speaker runs. Maybe I’ll regret this, but voice assistants and whole-home audio just isn’t my family’s jam.
• Every place I put an outlet, pull two runs
• Just about every wall has a jack, minimum two per room
• Dual runs for security cameras to at least all four corners of the house; I also have several interior cameras as well
• Smurf tube
• Sensors for windows & doors, even interior doors
• Runs for access points
• Runs for hardwired sensors
• Runs to utilities (water shut off, power monitoring, water heater, even behind the washing machine)
• Runs for water leak detection
• A lot of the locations I’m pull cat to are NOT for ethernet, not at the outset anyway. My philosophy is that maybe someday down the line there would be some novel reason to have an ESP32 at the end of the run for a door sensor – until that time, though, wire is wire and I can just use the ethernet cord for a dumb reed switch loop, no big deal.

And here it is in a visual drops location format

Don’t skimp on ethernet. Even if not needed for data transmission, it can also be used to power low voltage devices via POE. (Example, wall mounted LCD panels for smart house).

1. I added a wall outlet & network drop for a portrait mount 32” tv in the kitchen. We have that connected to a DAKBoard and it’s easily the most used/commented on item in the house. It holds Family calendar, weather and the like.

2. Ceiling mount Sonos speakers in the kitchen, dining, master bath and master closet connected to Sonos amps. Rock solid and sound great

3. Lutron switches and shades. It’s been over three years and not one problem

4. Cat 6 to every tv location, exterior camera and AP

Edit: have everything terminate in the basement with at least 12 outlets on its own breaker and have the cable coax or whatever your isp connection is terminate there as well.

Make sure you have a conduit going from the entry point to your main IT closet, and from there to the attic and the crawl/basement, and a centrally located closet on each level.

I would run Cat6A not cat 5E. At least 5 runs to each room. I would run the largest reasonable gauge cable and have each rooms receiver in a closet along with the networking gear. I’d future proof running 2 fiber runs to each room.

Run Ethernet to your doorbell

My list:

• cat 6 to every room, preferably 2 per box, 4 per room
• conduit, I like the idea of a corner box and conduit to the attic
• wire contacts for every window and door for alarm. ( Do each contact homerun so they are sperate and can run as separate zones)
• speaker wire from either a wall patch or back to a central location.
• empty conduits to your.uility pads outside to a closet or garage for connectivity. I pulled fiber to minor for a bit of.lightening isolation.
• decide on wap locations and camera before build
• my favorite out outlets outside and in the soffits for Christmas/ holiday lights on their own GFCI breaker and run them to a switch in the garage. On ra 2 I have holiday mode that I turn on and bang Christmas lights are timed.

Couple suggestions

1. Skip the cat5e and use 6 min not enough price saving
2. For your windows just wire assuming motorized shades
3. Consider wiring for or installing a house wide generator during your build, I retrod mine and it wasn’t horrible but if your going to do it anyhow nail it while it’s open.
4. Don’t be afraid of dedicated power circuits. My panel is huge, my office has a separate circuit for one wall, vs the rest of the room vs the lights. All my lights are separate from the outlets in a room and all rooms are on their own. 20 amp outlets in the garage for tools. Anything pops it doesn’t take out half the house.

Why CAT5e? Go CAT6. You don’t need CAT6 now, but you may in the future. The cost difference is not that bad.

You also may want outlets on the eaves of the roof for Christmas lights.

While you’ll have speaker wire, might as well run wire for an Dobly Atmos setup. You might now use it, but you may in the future. Make sure to run good quality and proper gauge wire a well. Might as well run the wire for a dual subwoofer setup. Again, you’ll probably won’t use it, but maybe in the future.

Make sure to have an outlet where the CAT5 panel runs into a well. I had to hire an electrician to install one. That said, my house did not come with a panel and did all the work afterwards.

Put a dual Ethernet at each end of a room. You might think you’ll not need them but you probably will.

Cat6 to every room, network closet on each floor, well planned wi-fi APs and the rack in the basement. Beyond that…low voltage (12 to 24) to each window and door, maybe even an extension of the Cat6 to keep things unified, POE has come a long way. Ultimately my goal is to hard-wire as much as possible to reduce the wireless load. Security cameras are all hardwired POE types etc.

Smurftube in each corner and center of the ceiling of each room. As well as next to at least one outlet box on each wall.

Cat6E on the roof peaks and edges of the roof for cameras.

Neutral wires in all the light switch boxes.

Are there any solutions that are more like running a bus around every room, as opposed to wiring a ton of circuits? I certainly would love to have all the wiring people are suggesting. But at some point it seems like guessing what you’ll need and installing 2x and then covering it with drywall is backwards.

Removable wainscotting? NNN-conductor bands that run a loop around the floor and ceiling of every room? How can I make my walls into breadboards while also looking acceptable and meeting code?