This Chapel Hill homeowner had a dream: take the wires already run throughout their house and finally make use of them to power a true prosumer-grade network. After upgrading to fiber internet and hitting the limits of their old Google Wi-Fi mesh system, they called us in to build a robust, wired-first network using Ubiquiti UniFi gear.

The home already had Cat5e cabling running to key locations, but lacked the infrastructure to bring everything together. One big challenge? There was no demarcation wire run from the fiber box outside to the home's central wiring closet — a common oversight by builders or basic install crews. Fortunately, the homeowner had previously paid for a line to be pulled, which we used to bridge that critical connection.

From there, we gave this home a full UniFi stack, including:

- A fiber-ready UniFi Gateway with 10Gbps uplinks

- Two Etherlighting switches (PoE and non-PoE)

- Three Wi-Fi 7 access points — two wall-mounted, one ceiling-mounted

- A professional surge protector and cable management system

We neatly terminated all existing in-wall Cat5e wires into a 1U vertical patch panel and installed a custom-fit wall-mounted rack just below it. We carefully measured the space between an existing wiring enclosure and security panel to create a clean, layered look that didn’t waste a single inch.

This install didn't just improve performance — it decluttered the client's home by consolidating gear like Ring base stations and VoIP hardware into one dedicated network hub.

The result? A blazing-fast, software-defined network with enterprise-level control — all housed in a tidy rack and supported by full-home wired and wireless coverage. For prosumers, this is a blueprint for how to level up from builder-grade basics to a future-proof setup.