Data, internet and security
Half this trade is running cable to places nobody planned for. The other half is cameras and alarms — easy to buy badly, expensive to redo.
What gets posted
Data points and cabling
A hard-wired point to the study, the TV, or the desk you've been working from since 2020. It's a common job here, because plenty of Canberra houses went up before anyone needed one.
WiFi that reaches the back of the house
Usually fixed with a cabled access point, not another repeater. Double brick and foil-backed insulation are why your extender isn't doing anything.
NBN lead-in and internal relocation
The newer Gunners, Molonglo and Wright-era estates are largely fibre to the premises. A lot of the older suburbs aren't. Moving where the connection lands inside the house is customer-side work.
CCTV
Cameras, recorder, and cable to every position. The recorder and the cable runs are the job. The cameras are the easy bit.
Alarms
New systems, replacing a dead panel, or getting an existing one back onto monitoring after the phone line changed.
Intercoms and access control
Common in Kingo, Braddo and Belco unit complexes. Usually a body corporate job rather than an individual one.
TV points and antennas
Dodgy reception around the ACT is nearly always the antenna or a splitter, not the TV.
Commercial and office
Racks, patch panels, structured cabling for a fit-out, and certification test results at the end.
Before you install cameras
Cameras are the one part of this trade with rules attached, and the rules are about what they can see, not what they cost.
- Point them at your own property. Recording a neighbour's yard, windows or a shared space is where camera installs turn into disputes.
- Audio is treated differently to video. Recording conversations is more restricted than recording pictures, and plenty of systems have the microphone on by default. Ask for it to be turned off unless you've got a reason.
- In a workplace, tell people. Surveillance of employees has its own requirements and signage expectations.
- Rental or strata property? Fixing cameras to a building you don't own usually needs the owner's or the owners corporation's approval first.
General information, not legal advice. If a camera will see past your boundary or into a workplace, it's worth getting that checked properly.
What to tell us
- How many points or cameras, and roughly where.
- Single or double storey, and is there roof space and subfloor access? That's the whole difference between an easy cable run and a hard one.
- Brick, brick veneer or double brick. It decides how the cable gets down a wall.
- Where the modem or recorder will live.
- Existing system, if there's one, and the brand if you know it.
- Are you renting? You'll need the owner's permission for anything fixed.