Technopark

Government owned
Industry	Information Technology Business Park
Genre	Infrastructure Service Provider
Founded	July 1990 Dedicated to nation in November 1995
Founder	Sri G Vijaya Raghavan
Headquarters	Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala ,
Number of locations	Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam
10 Million sq.ft.
Key people	Hrishikesh Nair, CEO Nireesh.C, GM Marketing
Owner	Government of Kerala
52,746 (2017)[1]
Website	www.technopark.org

Aerial view of Technopark Phase I campus on June 2014

Technopark is a technology park in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Established on 18 November 1990 by the Government of Kerala, under chief minister E K Nayanar, it is the largest information technology (IT) park in India in terms of developed area.^[2] As of 2015 Technopark has 10 million sq ft (930 thousand m²) of built-up area, and is home to over 400 companies, employing more than 56,000 professionals, and it is still expanding, adding another 37 hectares (91 acres) as part of Phase III expansion, and 423 acres (171 ha) as Technocity—an integrated IT township near Pallippuram.

The policy of economic liberalisation initiated by the government of India in 1991, and the rapid growth of the global software industry during the 1990s, substantially contributed to this growth. During the global financial crisis of 2007–2010, the park saw a period of reduced growth in 2009-10, when exports were only 2.8% more than the previous year.^[3][4] During the 2016-17 financial year, the park recorded IT exports of Rs. 5,000 crores.^[1]

Technopark is owned and administered by the Government of Kerala and is headed by a chief executive officer. In addition to this, it has a Governing Council and a Project Implementation Board, both of which include top officials of the government.^[5] Administrative offices, including that of the CEO, are housed in the Park Centre building. Technopark also hosts a Technology Business Incubation Cell under Kerala Startup Mission.

The time value of money (TVM) is an important concept to investors because a dollar on hand today is worth more than a dollar promised in the future. The dollar on hand today can be used to invest. Capital Harness TVM is designed to support both OEMs and Harness Suppliers with specific functionality designed to help the individual engineering tasks: OEM cost controllers, OEM architects and designers, Supplier sales/quotation engineers, Supplier industrial engineers, and Supplier value engineers.

Technopark houses domestic firms, joint ventures, and subsidiaries of foreign companies engaged in a wide variety of activities, which include embedded software development, smart card technology, enterprise resource planning (ERP), process control software design, engineering and computer-aided design software development, IT Enabled Services (ITES), process re-engineering, animation, and e-business.

• 5Infrastructure
• 6Expansion and new projects

History and mission[edit]

In March 1990, the Government of Kerala conceptualised Technopark as a facility to foster the development of high-technology industries in the state. Technopark was set up under the auspices of Electronics Technology Park, Kerala—an autonomous body under the Department of Information Technology of the government of Kerala.

Technopark's aim was to create infrastructure and provide the support required for the development of high-technology companies.^[6]On 31 March 1991, the foundation stone for Technopark was laid by Sri. E K Nayanar, Chief minister of Kerala, at a ceremony presided over by Smt. K R Gowri Amma, Minister for Industries.

The foundation stone for the first building in Technopark was laid on 31 July 1991 by the then Kerala Chief Minister, K. Karunakaran. Noted industrialist K. P. P. Nambiar was Technopark's first chairman. Technopark was formally dedicated to the nation by the then Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, in November 1995.^[7]

Since then, Technopark has been growing steadily both in size and employee strength. Park Centre, Pamba, and Periyar were the only buildings constructed in the beginning by 1995. Since then, Technopark has periodically added new buildings, such as Nila, in 1997, Gayathri, and Bhavani. With the inauguration of the 850,000 sq ft (79,000 m²) Thejaswini, on 22 February 2007, Technopark became the largest IT Park in India.^[8] After that, Leela Group has built a facility, Leela Infopark, that hosts MNCs like Allianz, Oracle Corporation, D+H, RM Education, and Zafin.

Socio-economic impact[edit]

Technopark has come to be the single largest source of employment in Kerala,^[9][10] with over thirty thousand people working directly in the facility itself. Thus, its impact on the city of Thiruvananthapuram has been significant.

Air travel to IT hubs—such as Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad—is available from Trivandrum International Airport.

Workforce[edit]

Technopark hosts about 400 companies, and a workforce that numbers more than 56,000 personnel, in the IT and ITES sectors: companies such as Allianz–Cornhill, Ernst & Young, Infosys, Navigant India, Oracle Corporation, QuEST Global, RR Donnelly, SunTec Business Solutions, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata Elxsi, Toonz Animation, and UST Global,^[11] as well as Finastra, H&R Block, IBS Software Services, Nissan Global Digital Hub, OXOMO Systems International, Proudeon, and TechMahindra.

Institutions[edit]

Buildings in Technopark Phase III

Technopark hosts two educational and research institutes. The Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Kerala, (IIITM–K) is an institution of higher education and of research and development in applied Information Technology and Management.^[12] Portals for computational chemistry and agricultural information dissemination are among its areas of focus.^[13] IIITM–K is located at present in Park Centre.

The Asian School of Business (ASB) used to have its flagship post graduate management programme Technopark, before moving it to its own 16 Acre LEED-certified campus in 2011.^[14] The Asian School of Business is managed by a board of governors, which includes Tata Consultancy Services CEO S. Ramadorai and Infosys CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan.^[15]

Infrastructure[edit]

Technopark aims to provide the infrastructure and support facilities needed for IT/ITES and electronics companies to function. In addition to office space, it provides utilities and connectivity. This is done either directly or through private partners. In addition, Technopark provides business incubation facilities for start-up firms as well as some social infrastructure for the personnel working in the park.

Buildings[edit]

Interior of Bhavani building

Nila building

Amstor building

Bhavani building

There are currently about a dozen buildings on the Technopark campus intended for software development. Seven of the buildings are named after rivers in Kerala—the Pamba, the Periyar, the Nila, the Chandragiri, the Gayathri, Bhavani, and the Thejaswini, the seventh building, which was commissioned in February 2007, with over 600,000 sq ft (56,000 m²) and 60,000 square metres (650,000 sq ft) of carpet area. There are also independent buildings of private enterprises inside the Phase I campus: Amstor House, Padmanabham, and M-squared. These buildings have an aggregate floor area of about 3,500,000 sq ft (330,000 m²)^{[citation needed]}.

Key parameters of buildings in Technopark^[16]

Name	Number of floors	Total area (in thousand sq ft)	Number of elevators	Generator backup
Pamba	4	60	1	50%
Periyar	4	60[citation needed]	None	50%
Chandragiri	4	57[citation needed]	2	100%
Gayathri	3	129[citation needed]	4	100%
Nila	7	400[citation needed]	6	50%
Amstor	5	350[citation needed]	4	100%
Bhavani	6	480[17]	6	100%
Thejaswini	12	850[18]	8	100%
M-Squared Building	4	45[19]	2	100%
TCS Peepul Park	4 to 5	325[20]	N/A	100%
Tata Elxsi Neyyar	4	100[citation needed]}	4	100%
IBS Campus	4 to 10	450[21]	2	100%
Leela Info Park / Carnival Technopark	14	460[22]	6	100%
Quest Global Towers	7	400[citation needed]	6	100%
IIITM Kerala	4	4	100%
N/A indicates no information available
10 sq ft.=~1 m².

Thejaswini building

Other facilities in the campus include:

• Technopark Club – Includes a gym, swimming pool, restaurant, and sporting facilities.
• Technomall – shopping complex
• Technopark guesthouse
• Private IT parks of individual companies
• Special Economic Zones (SEZ)
• Technology Business Incubator

Utilities and support facilities[edit]

Technopark infrastructure facilities include power backup, uninterrupted water supply, and ambient air conditioning;^{[clarification needed]} for all buildings. 100% of electric power is available from the Kerala State Electricity Board Limited (KSEBL) and the diesel generators operate with less than 5% annual downtime (with at least 95% uptime, generating electricity). Technopark has its own 110kV electric transformer substation and a 25 mega volt-ampere dedicated internal power distribution system with built-in redundancies at all levels. The water supply is maintained through a dedicated water distribution system.

Technopark has other support facilities such as a satellite earth station, a 200-seater convention centre, a club, guest house, a shopping complex (Techno-Mall), banks, ATMs, restaurants and conference rooms on campus. Furthermore, setting up of new units is accelerated by exemption from state-level clearances as well as through ready-to-use incubation facilities.

Transport facility[edit]

Technopark Express service is a public transport system for Technopark employees. It was inaugurated on 17 April 2017 by Hrishikesh R Nair, the CEO of Technopark, Infopark, and Cyberpark.

Connectivity[edit]

Technopark offers multiple Internet Service Providers, including Reliance Infocomm, STPI, BSNL, Bhari, and VSNL.^[23] Leased-line fiber connectivity is available to all buildings on the campus, guaranteeing that connection breaks are a thing of the past.

FLAG Telecom—a subsidiary of Reliance Infocomm—has its FALCON global cable system at Thiruvananthapuram, providing direct connectivity to the Maldives and Sri Lanka. Technopark is connected through fibre link, with a self-healing redundant ring architecture, to Reliance Internet's data center and gateway at Mumbai, directly connecting to FLAG, the undersea cable system backbone that connects 134 countries including the U.S., U.K., and other countries, in North America, Europe, the Middle East, South East Asia, and Asia Pacific.^[23][24]

Park Centre, the administration office of Technopark

Technopark Business Incubation Centre (T-BIC)[edit]

The Kerala Startup Mission, formerly known as the Technopark Business Incubation Centre (T-BIC), aims to provide economical plug-and-play facilities to start-ups in the IT/ITES fields.^[25] This facility has given rise to over 47 successful ventures, many of whom have expanded by taking up space elsewhere in Technopark.^[26] T-BIC currently has 8,000 sq ft (740 m²). (800 sq m.) at Park Centre, and this is being expanded with another 10,000 sq ft (930 m²). (1000 sq m.) in the newest Technopark building, Thejaswini.^{[clarification needed][27]}One of the latest companies started at T-BIC is Entiresoft Technologies Private Limited.^[26]

Expansion and new projects[edit]

Phase II[edit]

Technopark has acquired 86 acres (0.35 km²) of land, for its Phase II expansion.

• Out of this, 50 acres (0.20 km²) has been earmarked for Infosys and 36 acres (0.15 km²) for UST Global.^[28]
  • Infosys is planning to create up to 2,500,000 square feet (230,000 m²) of space to eventually accommodate up to 15,000 professionals. It plans to set up 600,000 sq ft (56,000 m²) in the first phase.^[29]
  • UST Global was to set up a 32,000,000 square feet (3,000,000 m²) campus to be completed by 2015. 800,000 square feet (74,000 m²) of space was to be completed by January 2012.^[30] Work on the campus was started on 24 October 2007.^[31]
• Tata Consultancy Services has been allotted 25 acres (0.10 km²) within the campus for their software development centre.^[32] This is in addition to the 14 acres (0.057 km²) of land allotted to them for setting up their new training centre—Peepul Park.
• IBS Software Services is constructing a 450,000 sq ft (42,000 m²) office on 5 acres (0.020 km²) of land.^[33] The first phase of the campus was inaugurated on 23 October 2007.^[34]
• Tata Elxsi Limited, which is the product design arm of the US$68 billion Tata Group, has taken 3.5 acres (0.014 km²) on which to build its design and development centre. The first phase of the campus was commissioned on 7 September 2007.^[35]
• The NeST group has also been allocated land to build a development centre, on which work has almost been completed.
• OXOMO Systems International is one of the fastest growing IT Company in the area, concentrating in software development, Digital Marketing and IT outsourcing sectors.

Technopark Phase III[edit]

GANGA and YAMUNA of Technopark Phase III Campus

View towards Phase II Campus

Technopark has completed acquisition of 100 acres (0.40 km²) of land for Phase III expansion. Firms like Larsen & Toubro and the Rahejas are planning major developments within and around Technopark as well. L&T has already announced its plans to set up a 35-acre (0.14 km²) hybrid IT-and-residential park as part of Technopark Phase III.^[36][37]iGate (formerly Patni Computer Systems) has already announced that it will set up a Rs 150 crore ($US 32 million) development centre in Phase III.^[38]

The second and third phases of expansion of Technopark along with the ramping up of operations of the existing IT units are expected to see an investment of around Rs. 3000–4000 crore (US$0.75 billion) and an additional creation of 80,000–100,000 jobs.

Phase IV expansion – Technocity[edit]

The fourth phase of Technopark is also referred to as the 'Technocity' project. It involves a mixed use—IT, biotechnology, nanotechnology, commercial and residential development—spread over 500 acres (2.0 km²) of land, about 5 km (3.1 mi) from the present campus. It will be a self-contained IT township with the potential to employ 100,000 people.^[39][40] The expected investment in the project is around Rs 60 billion (over US$1.5 billion), according to 2007 estimates.^[41]

Once Technocity's land acquisition is complete, Technopark will have an extent of close to 850 acres (3.4 km²), making it one of India's largest IT satellite townships in terms of geographic area, comparable to that of projects like Mahindra World City in Chennai.

The government of Kerala has decided to partner with multiple private developers for Technocity and has formed a special company – Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited (KSITIL) – to take up the work.^[42] 204 acres (0.83 km²) of the project area has already been acquired.^[43] A Request for Qualification was issued on 1 June 2008, and nine major developers, including international majors Emaar and Forest City Enterprises, have applied for qualification.^[44]

Special Economic Zones in Technopark[edit]

There are three Special Economic Zones (SEZs) inside Technopark. Each economic zone encompasses one of Phases I, II, or III.^[45] Phase IV will also become an SEZ once land acquisition is completed and will provide a range of economic benefits to the companies operating within Technopark.

Technopark Club[edit]

A sports and recreation club on the campus of Phase I provides diverse facilities where professionals can unwind.^[46] These include a gym; a swimming pool; and courts for basketball, badminton, table tennis, and beach volleyball. The Club has a massage parlour, Vaisakha, a multi-cuisine restaurant, and supports tour operators in organising recreational travel of employees and their families.

Technopark Adventure Club[edit]

A small sacred grove inside the campus

The Technopark Adventure Club provides adventure activities to employees of Technopark and their families. It organises activities such as parasailing, rock climbing, rappelling, trekking and camping, paragliding.^[47] It administers a camp at Munnar, as well as corporate training camps.^{[citation needed]}

Tech-A-Break[edit]

Tech-A-Break is Technopark's annual cultural extravaganza.^[48] Typically held over the course of a week, it kicks off with a Carnivalparade and ends with performance by top-notch professional bands, dance groups, and musicians.^[49]

See also[edit]

• Technocity, Thiruvananthapuram

Notes[edit]

1. ^ ^ab'Economic Review 2017'(PDF). Kerala State Planning Board. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
2. ^'Kerala's Technopark to Be India's Largest IT park'. The Indian Express. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
3. ^'Exports from companies in Technopark: Chapter 21, page:502, section:21.8'(PDF). Information And Communication Technology. Planning Board, Government of Kerala. 1 December 2009. Archived from the original(PDF) on 6 August 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2010.Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)
4. ^'Exports from companies in Technopark: Chapter 21, page:220, section:21.66'(PDF). Information And Communication Technology. Planning Board, Government of Kerala. 1 December 2010. Archived from the original(PDF) on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2011.Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)
5. ^'Campus Notes of Technopark'. Technopark. Archived from the original on 8 February 2007. Retrieved 5 March 2007.
6. ^'Mission of Technopark'. Technopark. Archived from the original on 8 February 2007. Retrieved 6 March 2007.
7. ^'Thejaswini dedicated to the nation by Chief Minister'. Technopark. Archived from the original on 12 February 2007. Retrieved 6 March 2007.Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)
8. ^Rajeev PI (3 March 2007). 'God's own country to house largest IT park'. The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 5 March 2007. Retrieved 14 August 2006.Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)
9. ^Vipin V. Nair (1 August 2005). 'We're catching up'. The Hindu. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 27 February 2007.Cite uses deprecated parameter |dead-url= (help)
10. ^'UST Global in 3-yr deal as Virgin Racing tech partner'. SportzPower. 23 February 2010. Archived from the original on 31 July 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2018.Cite uses deprecated parameter |dead-url= (help)
11. ^'About Technopark'. Thiruvananthapuram Technopark. 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
12. ^'About the institute'. IIITM-K. Archived from the original on 6 May 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2007.Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)
13. ^'R&D Projects and Servuces'. IIITM-K. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2007.Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)
14. ^'About ASB'. Asian School Business. Archived from the original on 31 March 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2007.Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)
15. ^'Board of Governors'. Asian School Business. Archived from the original on 31 March 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2007.Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)
16. ^'Infrastructure'. Technopark. Archived from the original on 8 February 2007. Retrieved 6 March 2007.
17. ^Technopark.orgArchived 5 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
18. ^Technopark.orgArchived 4 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine
19. ^Technopark.orgArchived 29 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine
20. ^'Vagroup.com'. Archived from the original on 26 March 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2011.Cite uses deprecated parameter |dead-url= (help)
21. ^'Ibsplc.com'(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 12 August 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2011.Cite uses deprecated parameter |dead-url= (help)
22. ^Siproperty.in
23. ^ ^ab'Connectivity'. Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram. 1 December 2009. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2011.Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)
24. ^Sanjay Anand. 'Falcon to connect Middle East'. The Times of India. Retrieved 22 February 2007.
25. ^'New Technology Startup Policy to boost entrepreneurship in Kerala'. Kerala IT News. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
26. ^ ^ab'Technopark TBIC'. Technopark. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
27. ^Sankar Radhakrishnan (22 February 2007). 'Technopark to expand T-Bic facility'. The Hindu. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
28. ^'US Technologies to set up own campus in Technopark'. The Hindu Business Line. 28 February 2006. Archived from the original on 15 September 2006. Retrieved 24 August 2006.Cite uses deprecated parameter |dead-url= (help)
29. ^'Infosys plans expansion in Thiruvananthapuram'. CIOL. 30 October 2006. Archived from the original on 9 November 2006. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
30. ^'VS to launch work on UST campus'. The Hindu. 23 October 2007. Retrieved 5 November 2007.
31. ^'Stone laid for UST Global campus'. The Hindu. 25 October 2007. Archived from the original on 23 August 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2007.Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)
32. ^Nevin John (8 March 2006). 'TCS to setup new campus in Technopark'. Rediff Money. Retrieved 24 August 2006.
33. ^'Work on IBS campus on'. The Hindu. 24 May 2006. Retrieved 28 August 2006.
34. ^'IBS opens new campus'. The Business Standard. 24 October 2007. Retrieved 5 November 2007.
35. ^'Tata Elxsi opens its new office'. Technopark. 7 September 2007. Archived from the original on 16 October 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2007.Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)
36. ^'Campus Notes of Technopark'. Technopark. Archived from the original on 14 February 2006. Retrieved 16 February 2006.Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)
37. ^T. Ramavarman (6 February 2007). 'Technopark expansion to begin soon'. The Hindu. Retrieved 21 February 2007.
38. ^'Patni to set up Rs 150 Cr center in Technopark'(PDF). Business Standard. 6 February 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
39. ^'Infrastructure of Technopark'. Technopark. Archived from the original on 8 February 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2007.
40. ^Priya Padmanabhan (30 October 2006). 'Infosys plans expansion in Thiruvananthapuram'. CIOL News. Archived from the original on 9 November 2006. Retrieved 21 February 2007.
41. ^Krishna, KR (May 2019). 'Education Consultancy'. Info. Archived from the original on May 2019.
42. ^'Multi-developer strategy for Kerala Technocity'. The Hindu. Retrieved 21 September 2008.
43. ^'Acquisition begins for Technocity'. The Hindu. Retrieved 21 September 2008.
44. ^'9 Majors in the race for Technocity'. The New Indian Express. Retrieved 21 September 2008.^{[dead link]}
45. ^T. Nandakumar (1 March 2005). 'New block to be opened at Technopark by October'. The Hindu. Retrieved 27 February 2007.
46. ^'Technopark Club'. Technopark. Archived from the original on 8 February 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2007.Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)
47. ^'Technopark Adventure Club'. Technopark. Archived from the original on 18 February 2007. Retrieved 25 February 2007.
48. ^'Cultural fete at Technopark'. The Hindu. 15 February 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2007.
49. ^'Tech-A-Break'. Technopark. Archived from the original on 19 February 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2007.Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)

External links[edit]

Coordinates: 8°33′29″N76°52′52″E / 8.558°N 76.881°E

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Technopark,_Trivandrum&oldid=914357977'

In my years as a custom AV integrator, I’ve seen manyhomeowners placed in difficult situations because of poor pre-wiring by either themselves or a contractor. The possible pitfalls are many, but so are the tips to help ensure you run the right wires, to the right locations, properly. Hopefully these tips will save you time and money, and allow you to have abetter finished product. Each of them come from personal experience, butI'm sure I've missed a number of great options. Please share additions tips in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

Cover exposed wiring

While you may take care handling your 50’ $200 HDMI cable,don’t think that the rest of the people working on your home will equallyappreciate its delicacy. After you’ve wired your entire home,cover all exposed wiring with plastic bags. Wrap electrical tape around the bags to ensure they don't fall off. If you don't protect exposed cables you will likely come back toa freshly textured and painted home, only to discover that you also have freshlytextured and painted cables. While you’re at it, ensure the cables are bundled upin such a way that the drywall installers can actually get the wires throughthe holes they will have to pre-cut in the drywall.

Covering exposed wiring helps protect it from being damaged as the home is constructed

Use 4-conductorspeaker wire

If you're wiring for a whole-home speaker system, save yourselftime and money by running 4-conductor speaker wire. Most speaker wire isclassified as 2-conductor, meaning that there are two separate wires, enoughfor a single speaker. 4-conductor wire has four separate wires, enough to hookup two speakers. By using 4-conductor, you only have to pull a single speaker cable toeach room that has a pair of speakers.

When shopping for 4-conductor wire, you will find it listedas “gauge/conductor count.” For example, a 16 gauge, 4-conductor wire would belabeled as 16/4 and typically called “sixteen four.” A 14 gauge, 2-conductorwire would be labeled as 14/2.

Always label wires. It's best to label them far enough up the jacket so as to avoid cutting off the label when you strip the wire

When running wire for whole-home speaker systems, I also recommend wiring as if you are planning to use volume controls. All this entails is looping the wire a bit, inside the wall, where a volume control would be. You can drywall right over the wire, and may never use a volume control, but at least if you ever want to install a volume control you could cut into the drywall and the wire would be right there for you.

Plan for PoE wirelessaccess points

As the number and capabilities of Internet connected devicescontinue to increase, so do the demands placed on residential wirelessnetworks. For many families, a single router is no longer powerful enough tohandle the strain modern devices place on a network. Therefore, I recommendplanning for a managed wireless network or at least multiple wireless accesspoints.

Most commercial wireless access points (WAPs) can be poweredwith only Ethernet. This is referred to as PoE, or power over Ethernet. Byrunning a few Ethernet cables to various locations in your home, you’ve alreadyset up yourself to expand your wireless range with PoE WAPs. All new homesshould be wired with Ethernet, but those wires are usually ran to the samelocation as cable jacks or AV equipment. That’s not where you would typicallywant a WAP.

In my home, I hid CAT6 cables behind blank wall plates inthe master bedroom, kitchen pantry, and hallway closet ceilings. This willallow me to easily add additional WAPs in centralized locations, out of sight, and away from theinterference of other electronics. If you didn't do this, there are still multiple ways you can increase the range of your wireless network.

Use low voltage boxes

High voltage electrical boxes work great for light switchesand outlets, but not so great whenrunning HDMI cables or installing volume controls. Whenever possible, youshould use low voltage boxes. They are the same size as high voltage boxes, butare not enclosed. These boxes are far more convenient to work with, andin some cases AV wall plates simply won’t work with high voltages boxes.

Low voltage boxes often times have loops you can zip tie wires to

Don’t rely on HDMI

HDMI is the standard connection when it comes to hooking upmodern home theater equipment, so what happens when a pre-wired HDMI cabledoesn’t work? Maybe a drywall screw went straight through it? Or what happenswhen the HDMI specification changes and the cable buried in your wall no longerworks properly? It’s for these reasons, and others, that you should always runtwo CAT6 cables along with any HDMI cable. The CAT6 cables act as a backup.Through the use of an HDMI balun, either one or two of the CAT6 cables can beused in place of an HDMI cable.

Record your finalproduct

Especially in the case of large projects, don’t trust thewiring diagram to memory alone. While you probably don't need an official wiring diagram home a residential home, always take notes about what is ran where.

I also always take photos of wires that will be hidden in the wall. Better yet, I use my phone to take a videoof every pre-wire I complete. In the video, I explain the purpose and thoughtprocess behind each wire. If, for some reason, you can only take photos, thenwrite notes on the wall and capture those notes in your picture. In the image below I needed to know the exact location of two studs in the wall and where wires were ran. Taking a photo with the tape measure in it allowed me to easily locate the wire and studs after the home was finished.

A picture + a tape measure = great record

Install rough-inbrackets

There are three basic methods to follow when wiring a homefor in-wall or in-ceiling speakers. You can simply loop wire in thewall/ceiling and pull it out when you cut holes for speakers. Thismethod works well when you’re not sure precisely where you want speakers.It also makes sense when you’re not sure when you will actually install speakersbecause the wire will be hidden out of site.

The second method is to purchase and install rough-inbrackets, also called new construction brackets. These brackets are installedbefore drywall. When the drywall is hung, the installers will cut out aroundthe brackets. This method has several advantages. For example, you canprecisely place your speakers during construction, install speaker back boxesto dampen sound transfer to other rooms and increase sound quality, and there’sno drywall to cut when installing the speakers. One downside to this method isthat you have to know exactly where you want speakers before the home isfinished. A second drawback is that you will have to pay for the brackets,which can be anywhere between $20 and $40 a pair.

Left: The RBH Sound rough-in brackets seen here don't yet have back boxes installed over them

Right: This image shows the rough-in brackets before they are assembled and installed. It also shows an RBH Sound foam back box that can be install before or after drywall goes up. It's one one of the few back boxes on the market that can be installed after a home is finished

The third method is a bit of a hack between the first two.Instead of buying actual rough-in brackets, you staple cardboard between studsand poke the speaker wire through the cardboard. If you’re lucky, the drywallinstallers will cut out around the wire. If you decide to move your speakerslightly, the hole can be easily patched with spackle. If you’re unlucky, thedrywall installers won’t cut a hole and your wire will be completely hiddeninside the wall.

The DIY cardboard rough-in bracket alternative might not look pretty, but it is functional

Run conduit upexterior walls

After your home is finished, you will likely still be ableto run new wires by stringing them through the attic. And as long as you arerunning the wire to a location on an interior wall, the process should bepretty painless. However, running wire down an exterior wall can be difficult.Exterior walls are insulated, so you will need wire fishing tools, like a fiberglassrod. Additionally, and more importantly, you will need to contend with limitedspace between the top of the wall and the roof. This may require you tobelly-crawl to the exterior wall, and use a combination of an angle drill and multiplelengths of drill bits.

Therefore, if you aren’t going to run conduit all over thehome, at least pre-drill holes in the top plate of a few exterior walls and runabout 5’ of conduit down the wall and leave 5’ in the attic. This will allowyou to easily add wires in the future. I don’t use this technique often, but it’sa cheap, quick, and easy way to at least partially run conduit in your home.

Wire for multiplesubwoofer locations

If you’ve followed Audioholics for long, you will know thatwe believe the subwoofer is the most important speaker in a surround soundsystem. It’s also the most difficult speaker to properly place in a room.Subwoofer location has a profound effect on sound quality, which is why you shouldwire for multiple subwoofer locations. This will allow you to test thesubwoofer’s performance in multiples spots around the room and select the optimal location(s) for the best bass for your listening area.

Better yet, wiring for multiple locations will allow you to usemultiple subwoofers. Seldom can one subwoofer provide great sound across severalseats, but adding as second subwoofer can go a long way in ensuring alllisteners hear smooth, even bass.

Use large conduit andrun a pull string

Running conduit is a great idea. It gets you as close tofuture-proof as you can get, as long as you use the proper conduit.

About six years ago, I performed a consultation for a client whowanted to mount a TV above a patio door – yes, directly above the door. He wasbuilding a beautiful four season porch with glass walls and ceiling. I advisedhim to run HDMI, plus have his electrician run a conduit from the equipmentlocation up to the TV. A few months later I was back at the home to install theAV gear,= and noticed that no HDMI had been run. The electrician only ran theconduit and the homeowner expected me to run the HDMI through the conduit. Thisnormally wouldn’t be an issue, except that this conduit was only about ¾” indiameter. I couldn’t even fit a coax cable through it. I was able to fish asingle CAT6 cable through and the homeowner had to shell out $700 for an HDMIbalun – baluns are much cheaper now.

This Carlon conduit clipped right into the low voltage box