Just Moved? A Tech Setup Checklist for Your New Home
Just moved? Here is what to sort out first: internet options, WiFi that reaches the whole house, power protection, and a clean start on your devices.
You sold the house. The truck came and went. You’re standing in the new place surrounded by boxes, and the first thing you need — before the couch is positioned, before the kitchen is unpacked — is internet.
Because without it, your phone is just a camera, your laptop is a paperweight, and that voice inside your head asking “did I make the right move?” gets a lot louder when you can’t distract it with email.
Let’s get you set up.
Step 1: Choose Your Internet
Do this before you assume anything: check what is actually available at that exact address, not in that town. Coverage changes street by street, and the answer you get from a national availability map is often wrong. Call the providers with the address in hand, and ask the neighbours what they actually use — that is usually the fastest honest answer you will get.
Fibre — If it reaches you, take it. Symmetric speeds, low latency, and the upload is the part that matters if you work from home.
Cable — The most common option in most places. Download is usually fine (100–500 Mbps); upload is often only 10–20 Mbps, which is what bites on video calls and backups.
DSL — Slow (10–25 Mbps) and worth considering only if nothing better reaches you.
Satellite (Starlink and similar) — Genuinely good now, and often the answer for a rural address. Expect 50–200 Mbps with occasional brief dropouts. The dish needs a clear view of the sky, so a dense tree canopy is a real problem.
Fixed wireless / cellular home internet — Worth pricing if a tower has line of sight to you. Latency is higher than fibre but usually fine.
What I recommend: take the fastest wired option available, and if you work from home and cannot afford to be offline, add a second, independent connection as backup. Two connections on different technologies means one bad day at one provider does not stop your week.
Step 2: Set Up WiFi That Actually Covers Your Home
Your ISP will give you a router. It will be mediocre.
Houses are rarely shaped the way a router wants them to be — long floor plans, thick walls, detached rooms, a porch where you actually want to sit and work. A single router won’t cover all of that.
Get a mesh WiFi system. A 3-pack of TP-Link Deco, Google Nest WiFi, or Eero will blanket most homes. Place one near your router, one at the back of the house, and one near the porch or the detached room.
If you have a detached cottage or garage that needs internet, you’ll likely need a weatherproof outdoor access point or a point-to-point bridge. I set these up regularly — it’s a one-time installation that gives permanent, fast coverage.
Step 3: Protect Your Gear from the Environment
A new place usually comes with a new set of environmental problems — humidity, heat, dust, or an unreliable grid. Your electronics need some consideration.
Get a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply). Power flickers everywhere. A $80-120 UPS keeps your router and modem alive during brief outages — and protects everything plugged into it from surges. Essential.
Keep electronics ventilated. Don’t stuff your router in a closed cabinet. Humidity and heat kill electronics faster than anything. Keep air flowing.
Surge protectors on everything. Lightning strikes are rare but not unheard of. A good surge protector on your TV, computer, and network gear is cheap insurance.
Consider salt and damp. If you are near the ocean, salt air corrodes electronics noticeably faster. Keep gear indoors and out of the weather, not on an open porch.
Step 4: Set Up Your Devices Fresh
Moving is a good time to clean house — digitally.
- Update everything. Run all operating system updates on your laptop, tablet, and phone before you get buried in unpacking.
- Change your passwords. New home, fresh start. Update your email, bank, and important account passwords. Use a password manager.
- Set up cloud backup. iCloud, Google One, or Backblaze. Pick one. Turn it on. Forget about it until you need it.
- Print your important info. WiFi password, ISP account number, emergency contacts, bank phone numbers. Tape it inside a kitchen cabinet. Paper survives everything.
Step 5: Think About Smart Home (But Keep It Simple)
Smart home gear can make a new house easier to live in — automated lights, smart plugs for fans, a camera for when you’re away. But keep it simple and local.
What works well:
- Smart plugs for fans and lights (easy, cheap, useful)
- A video doorbell (Ring, Wyze, or Reolink)
- Smart smoke/CO detectors
- A local Home Assistant hub if you want everything to work without internet
What to avoid:
- Anything that only works with cloud service and no local fallback
- Complex multi-room audio systems (unless you really want to)
- Smart locks that require WiFi (use ones with physical key backup)
Step 6: Find Your Tech Person
At some point, something will break, something won’t connect, or you’ll want to set up something beyond the basics. Having one person you trust saves hours of frustration and days of waiting on a support line that does not know your house.
That’s what I do. I come to your home, set things up right, show you how it all works, and leave you with the knowledge to handle the simple stuff yourself.
No contracts. No subscriptions. Just help when you need it.
The Short Version
- Internet: Spectrum if available, Starlink for backup or rural areas
- WiFi: Mesh system, not the ISP router alone
- Power: UPS + surge protectors
- Devices: Update, back up, change passwords
- Smart home: Keep it simple, prefer local control
- Tech support: Have one person you trust on call
Welcome to the new place. The moving hassle is worth it, and the internet is usually better than you feared.