By
July 04, 2023
Considering a home renovation? You wouldn’t forget to plan your lighting and utilities, so don’t forget to plan your digital setup to ensure your home is ‘wired’ for connectivity.
Renovating your house is a huge (and exciting) process - it’s time to turn your home into your dream home. Now’s your chance to make sure everything is just the way you like it - including your internet.
There’s so much to consider: Should you go with carpet or hardwood flooring? Eggshell white or taupe paint? And, should that extra room be a nursery, or a home office?
Renovating is also a good opportunity to install new lighting, or add extra outlets so you can plug in all your devices easily. These little technical details are just as important as any other. So, just like you plan for electrical outlets, lighting, gas and plumbing, with internet access now expected to be “always on” like other utilities you should also plan for optimum broadband placement after the renovation is complete.
The right broadband connection is particularly important in making sure your home functions the way you need it to. After all, there’s no point in setting up the perfect home office if the whole family can’t stream the content they want without any interruptions or delays.
As you can see, there’s plenty to plan - let us do some of the hard work for you. In this blog, we share the steps you need to take in order to have a fibre ready home now and in the future.
What to think about when planning your renovation
Most homes built before a decade or so ago weren’t built ‘smart’ enough to account for the way we live now. Today, our homes are becoming smarter and smarter as we bring in more and more devices that connect to the internet.
It’s not just our phones and computers using the data. You may have plans to install a smart refrigerator - well guess what? That’s going to use data on top of all your usual streaming activities. And who knows what devices you’ll have in your home in the next decade!
So, because today’s households are becoming increasingly smarter, it’s important that you set your home up with the best connection to support it all. Broadband fibre provides dedicated and reliable support for all those devices now, and those that come into your home in the future.
Is fibre broadband available in your street yet? Find out with our broadband checker here.
How to plan for the best broadband experience
So how do you begin planning? Start by considering the rooms where your highest volume of streaming usage will be.
Think of it in the same way you would power outlets. For room heavily dependent on power needs, you plan for more outlets to be installed. Broadband’s the same, and with a fibre connection, the most important piece of equipment to place well is your Optical Network Terminal (ONT).
Your ONT is where your modem connects to the Chorus fibre network. In general, you’ll want it in a central location within your home, and as close as possible to wherever you use the most broadband. If there are multiple areas of the home that need a strong signal, it may be worth investing in an ‘extender’, to boost the signal wherever it’s required.
Of course, your home may not have been set up for fibre broadband at all yet. If that’s the case, you’ll need to start from scratch. Luckily, it’s easy to get the installation process underway, and you can find out more about how it works for different property types here.
Case study:
When Gavin was renovating his home, he realised he was going to need his ONT moved - his current lounge was about to become the baby’s new room (a place that wasn’t going to involve heavy streaming…). He gave Chorus a call and they were able to come work with his builders to establish his new set up. Chorus even came and moved the fibre line out of the way of the builders until they were ready to get set up - it was as easy as that!
Getting your ONT and internal set up right
You might find that when you’re planning your renovations, you need a little bit of extra help to make sure your broadband is set up seamlessly and safely. For example, you might want to move the cables while major work is being done to avoid having to keep your ONT in a room where it doesn’t need to be (like the baby’s room!). For larger jobs (like moving or relocating your cables), contact the team at Chorus and we’ll be happy to help.
The time to start planning for a perfect fibre set up is now: If you know the renovations will be major, make sure you familiarise yourself (and your contractors) with the best wiring approaches for fibre. That way, you’ll have plenty of time to get in touch, ask any questions, or arrange for a technician to come out and help.
Download our guide - how to wire your house for fibre
With these tips in mind, there’s no reason why your renovated home can’t be the perfect place to stream, download and enjoy all of the content you want. And if you’re still not sure whether or not fibre is an option at your property, head over to the Chorus Broadband Checker to find out.