How much does low-voltage prewire cost for a new home?
Prewire is priced per location — Ethernet jacks, access point drops, camera drops, TV and speaker locations — and it costs a fraction of retrofit work because the walls are open. The biggest cost risk is not the prewire itself but a location you skip and have to add after drywall.
Why timing matters more than anything
With open studs, a cable run takes minutes instead of hours. The same location added after drywall means fishing through finished walls, patching and painting.
Prewire is usually installed after rough electrical and before insulation, then terminated once finishes are complete.
What moves the price
Total location count, Cat6 versus Cat6A, conduit to the attic or a detached structure, and whether a rack or structured media enclosure is included.
Spare conduit and extra drops at TV walls, offices and ceilings for future access points are inexpensive at this stage and expensive later.
What the plan should list
Every location by room, the cable type to each, where everything homes back to, conduit runs, and what is terminated and tested at trim-out.
Best for
Owners building or remodeling who want to plan every location before drywall.