Howdy! My wife and I are beginning construction on a home that will be eventual retirement place but will serve as a weekend getaway for a few years until we're ready to retire.

Do you have any good resources for researching tech systems, future proofing the home for automation, security, etc.? Our current home has a hodge podge of devices and I have never really bothered trying to integrate everything together or really get into automation so am not familiar with the options out there.

Not sure where to even start. If you were building from scratch, what are some basic things you'd want to put in place from the start? I'm guessing a central cabling closet with ethernet cabling run to each room would be a minimum starting point but thinking about prepping for security cams, connection to a standalone shop, possibly even running wiring out to where a gate might be added in the future, etc.?

Sorry for the broad question - like I said, I feel like I don't know how to even approach it but we have not even started the foundation yet so hopefully we have time to get educated.

thanks!

I did a whole home renovation a couple years ago and ran cat6 cable to all the rooms. I have cables for tvs, computers, and wireless access points everywhere. I also ran the cat6 for security cameras. They all run to my server closet where the fiber comes into the house. I setup a ubiquiti server and host all my security camera onsite. All my lights/fans are Lutron and can be controlled by the app, Alexa, or the switch. I have some zigby controller electrical outlets with an antenna located in the server closet. All of this is consolidated and controlled on home assistant.

I know this sounds like a lot, but it's just stuff I learned by watching videos on YouTube. I started by writing out what I wanted to do and planning how many drops I would need.