The number of connected devices in the home has grown significantly over the last few years. To adequately support this continuing trend it is important to build your wireless network on an organized, residential structured cabling foundation.

Residential structured cabling takes concepts from demanding commercial structured cabling applications and combines it with multimedia to accommodate the convergence of audio/video, Wi-Fi, tablets, personal computers, telephone, Internet, smart appliances, and more. The smartest home networks use wired connectivity for stationary devices like IPTV, Blu-Ray®, set top boxes, and gaming consoles, then add on a wireless router to provide the strongest Wi-Fi signal to portable devices, such as tablets and laptops.

To prepare for home network growth, it is important to organize your connected devices. A Structured Media® enclosure serves as the central hub for your network, and it is an excellent option for housing all of your network devices (routers, switches, modems, etc.) in one place. Mantles, entertainment centers, and desktops can quickly become messy, overcrowded, and cluttered, making it difficult to troubleshoot any problems. By organizing your network in a Structured Media enclosure you will save valuable space, eliminate clutter, and have easy access to all of your connected devices, all while maintaining a clean aesthetic.

With modern homes using an average of six connected devices per household, as reported by the NPD Group, it is important to have a backbone that adequately supports your home network. The Leviton 8-port Gigabit Switch can accommodate more wired connections for home network devices. Its small form factor allows you to connect more devices without taking up valuable space.

Once you've got a structured cabling foundation, your Wi-Fi router will be able to better support wireless devices throughout your home. For optimal Wi-Fi performance, reliable service, and greater bandwidth, the Leviton Wireless 802.11n Dual-Band Gigabit Router delivers four ports of maximum Gigabit connectivity for your hard-wired networks. This wireless router allows multiple users to share a single, secure, high-speed broadband (DSL or cable) Internet connection, making it ideal for any home or small office environment.

And to further optimize your network, the Leviton RF Transparent Structured Media Enclosure is made of ABS polymer plastic to permit the full reach of your wireless signal. It allows you to keep all of your wired and wireless networking equipment in one place, and it can increase signal range 65% over traditional metal enclosures.

When building your home wireless network, having a strong structured wiring backbone in an organized central hub is crucial to supporting optimal Wi-Fi performance. This will keep your home looking clean and clutter free while providing unburdened wired and wireless signals to all of your connected devices.