Planning a UniFi Home Wi-Fi Network: Layout, Cabling and Support

Start with coverage and the way the home is used

A good home network gives you dependable connections in the rooms and outdoor spaces you use. We plan UniFi around the property, construction and devices, bringing coverage, cabling and equipment into one design.

This guide updates the original 2024 article around planning decisions. Product ranges and software screens change; use the current documentation for the exact hardware and UniFi Network version being installed.

Build a clear network brief

Choose equipment against the design

We select the gateway, switches and access points together, with the port capacity, power and cabling needed for your home. Then we check the result in the actual rooms, using the devices and services that matter to you.

For configuration and model-specific instructions, use the official UniFi Network documentation. Keep a record of the installed versions and do not copy old security or VLAN settings without understanding the intended access between devices.

Commission the rooms that matter

Test the actual use cases after installation: moving a video call between rooms, grouped audio, television streaming and access from the garden where included. Record the locations checked and investigate weak spots before handover.

Guest access and separation of device groups need an intentional design. Excessive isolation can also stop a phone discovering a speaker or control system. Document permitted communication rather than changing settings at random.

Coordinate Wi-Fi with your AV systems

See our Sonos networking guide for product-specific considerations. If you are planning a larger refurbishment, share the AV and lighting-control requirements at the same time as the network brief.

For a survey, installation or inherited network, contact the London Electricals UniFi team. Include the location, floor plans, existing equipment and the rooms where problems occur.

First installation: from broadband handoff to working rooms

Broadband speed and Wi-Fi coverage are different tests. First establish the wired internet performance at the router. Then test the connection in each room. An extra access point can improve a weak radio link; it cannot increase the speed supplied by the broadband service.

1. Confirm how the ISP connection is presented and which device will act as the router. Agree bridge mode or the intended routing arrangement before introducing another gateway.
2. Choose where UniFi Network runs: for example, on a UniFi Cloud Gateway. A standalone access point is not a router.
3. Connect and label the gateway LAN, switch and access-point cables. Check each access point’s required PoE standard and the switch’s available power budget.
4. Complete setup using the owner’s account and adopt the intended devices. Record the gateway, switch, access-point and application versions after the agreed updates.
5. Create the household and guest wireless networks. Test guest isolation and the specific discovery/control needed for Sonos and home automation.
6. Walk the agreed rooms and garden areas with representative phones and laptops. Test calls, streaming and roaming, alongside a wired baseline.
7. Hand over the account ownership, labelled topology, configuration backup and recovery/support arrangements. Do not leave the only owner account with a departing installer.

Example topology for a first home installation

Maintained checklist reviewed 8 September 2026 against Ubiquiti’s setup guide, device adoption guidance and ownership and recovery guidance. Follow the screens for the installed version; this checklist deliberately does not reproduce an obsolete menu sequence.