Who does what, in what order, so the house is online and working on move-in day. Move-in is September 12.
Three jobs, three people, in this order. Each one finishes before the next one starts.
John is at the house for the appointment. The Wi-Fi goes up that same afternoon. This happens before anything else, so the house is online before Tracey arrives.
Hang the TV, the soundbar and the kitchen screen. Mount the cameras and the doorbell. Stick the alarm sensors where they go. Power things up. Take photos. Done.
One afternoon, on Tracey's iPhone, with Tracey there. Nate makes everything talk to each other, tests it, and turns the monitoring on.
The crew mounts. Nobody opens an app.
Every Ring sensor, camera and doorbell has a plastic battery tab. Leave every tab in. Mount the device with the tab still in it. If tabs get pulled early, the sensors wake up all at once, the pairing fails, and Nate has to add thirteen of them by hand instead of watching them join on their own. Same for the cameras: mount, aim, leave the app alone.
The only exception is the Wi-Fi box on Verizon day, and Terry walks whoever is there through that one by phone.
| Room | What goes there |
|---|---|
| Office (off the primary bedroom) | The Verizon box, and the Ring Alarm Pro base right next to it. The base is the Wi-Fi router. This is the brain of the house. |
| Front door | Ring doorbell. Alarm keypad on the wall inside, by the door Tracey actually uses. |
| Kitchen / dining pier | Echo Show 21 on a swing arm, so it turns to face the kitchen or the table. |
| Living room | Echo Dot. The rolling Samsung screen for Bible study parks in a corner. Nothing goes on the fireplace. |
| Den (downstairs) | 75" TCL on the wall bracket, Sony soundbar under it, Fire TV Stick behind it, Echo Dot, eero extender. |
| Primary bedroom | Tracey's own Echo Spot. Panic button by the bed. No TV, no camera. That room stays quiet. |
| Main bathroom | Echo Dot on the far counter, away from the shower. Panic button. |
| Outside | Three Ring cameras: driveway, the shared side path, the back deck. |
| Doors and windows | Contact sensors on every outside door and the door to the apartment. Two motion detectors inside. Water sensors at the sinks, washer and water heater. |
Anything about where a thing goes or how it mounts: John. Anything about accounts, apps, Wi-Fi names or passwords: Terry, or Nate on setup day. If something on this page and something in a box disagree, stop and call Terry before improvising.
Your job is the physical work: mount it, wire it, aim it, power it up, photograph it. No app setup, no accounts. When the crew leaves, the house is ready for Nate.
Tracey books the appointment and puts you down as the site contact. The old Verizon box on the outside of the house is being replaced, so the tech is doing outside work too. Plan on being there the whole window.
| Where | What | How | Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| Den, TV wall | 75" TCL television on the monTEK full-motion bracket | Bracket into two studs. Height set from the recliners: center of screen at eye level when seated. Confirm the height with Lani before drilling. | Outlet behind the TV. The 12-outlet surge strip goes behind the TV. TV, soundbar, sub and Fire TV Stick all plug into that strip. |
| Den, under the TV | Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 6 + wireless subwoofer | Bar on the wall under the TV or on the floor stand it comes with. One HDMI cable from the bar to the TV port marked eARC or ARC. Sub anywhere on the floor nearby. | Bar and sub each plug into the strip. |
| Den, behind the TV | Fire TV Stick 4K | Plugs into any spare HDMI port on the TV. Do not set it up. | Its own power cord into the strip. |
| Den | Echo Dot, eero extender | On a shelf or table, out of the way. | Any outlet. |
| Kitchen / dining pier | Echo Show 21 on the Mount-It swing arm | Arm into solid blocking on the pier, screen at standing eye height. Use the mounting plate and screws from the Echo Show box. Swing it toward the sink, then the table, to make sure it clears everything. | Recessed outlet behind it. The Show's cord is only about 5 feet, so the outlet has to be close to the arm. |
| Living room | Echo Dot | Shelf or side table. | Any outlet. |
| Living room | Samsung 32" Movingstyle rolling screen + its own Fire TV Stick | Nothing to mount. Unbox, stand it up, put the Fire TV Stick in its HDMI port. Park it in a corner. Do not set it up. | Plugs into a wall outlet. Cable runs through the stand. |
| Main bathroom | Echo Dot | On the counter at the far end from the shower. | Counter outlet. |
| Primary bedroom | Tracey's own Echo Spot | Nightstand. She brings it with her. | Nightstand outlet. |
| Front door | Ring Battery Doorbell | In the existing doorbell spot. If there are doorbell wires there, connect them to the two screws on the back. It keeps the battery topped up all winter. Photograph the transformer plate first (see photo list). | Battery, plus the doorbell wires if present. |
| Driveway | Ring Stick Up Cam | Wall or eave, beside or below the floodlight you already put up, never looking into it. A light in the picture blinds the camera at night. Aim at the driveway and the walk to the front door. | Battery. If an outdoor outlet is within about 20 feet, tell Terry; a plug-in cord gets added so it never needs charging. |
| Shared side path | Ring Stick Up Cam | Wall mount looking along the path. Aim so it sees the path, not the tenant's door or windows. Nate masks those in the app later. | Battery. Same outlet question. |
| Back deck | Ring Stick Up Cam | Wall or eave, looking across the deck and the door. | Battery. Same outlet question. |
| Inside, by the front door | Alarm keypad | On the wall at a comfortable reach height, next to the door Tracey actually comes in through. The second keypad goes by the den's outside door. | Battery. It can also plug in if there is an outlet. |
| Every outside door, and the door to the apartment | Contact sensors (8 in the kit) | Big piece on the frame, small magnet on the door, lined up within a finger's width. Tab stays in. | Battery. |
| Hallway and living area | 2 motion detectors | In a corner, 6 to 8 feet up, looking across the room. Not at a sunny window, a heat register or the fireplace. | Battery. |
| Kitchen sink, both bathroom sinks, washer, water heater | 5 flood & freeze sensors | On the floor where a leak would show up first. Under the sink cabinet, behind the washer, beside the water heater. | Battery. |
| Bedside and main bathroom | 2 panic buttons | Bedside one within reach lying down. Bathroom one on the wall near the toilet, not in the shower. | Battery. |
| Office | Alarm range extender (in the kit) | Plug it into an outlet roughly halfway between the base and the den. It helps the sensors reach the base. | Any outlet. |
Short list. Everything here is outlets and blocking.
No blocking where the kitchen arm needs to land. The TV bracket cannot hit two studs at the right height. A camera will not reach its spot. A battery tab got pulled by mistake. The Ring base light is still red after five minutes. Anything asks for a Wi-Fi name or password.
That last one matters most. Once the network name is set, the thermostat and everything else expects it. Changing it breaks the house all at once.
| Device | Good | Still working | Problem |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ring Alarm Pro base / eero extender | Solid white (eero) or solid blue (base) | Flashing while starting | Red means no internet. Blue on the eero means it is waiting to be set up. |
| Echo Show / Dot | No light | Spinning blue while starting | Orange means it cannot find the Wi-Fi. Solid red is just the microphone muted, harmless. |
| Ring doorbell / cameras | Steady | Spinning white | Flashing that never settles, usually signal or power. |
If a light does something not on this list, match it to the card in the box before calling. Manufacturers change these.
Everything mounted and powered, boxes and cards left in the house, photos sent to Terry. Nothing else is needed from the crew after that. Terry books Nate's setup day.
One session, about four to six hours. Everything is already mounted and powered. Your job is to make it all talk to each other, test it, and turn the alarm monitoring on last.
The Wi-Fi already exists from Verizon day. The alarm base is already the router. So you start with the sensors and end with the monitoring.
Weak Wi-Fi at the spot is the usual reason. The Ring app shows a signal strength for each camera. If the back deck or a far corner is weak, that is what the second eero extender is for. Tell Terry and it gets ordered.
Your part is short. Book Verizon, turn on two subscriptions, and send this guide to John.
Two shipments. The Ring alarm kit and the eero extender come from ring.com and should be ordered first, timed to arrive before the Verizon appointment. That box is your Wi-Fi. Everything else can arrive with the crew.
The tenant goes on the guest Wi-Fi network, not yours. Nate sets it up. It gives them working internet with no way into your cameras, alarm or thermostat. Give them that name and password only, before they move in.
Just the link to this guide. He has his own tab. Nothing about prices is on here.
The full list, grouped by where it comes from, so a box can be matched to a spot on the John tab.
| Item | Goes |
|---|---|
| Ring Alarm Pro 14-piece kit: base station with built-in eero Wi-Fi router, 2 keypads, 8 contact sensors, 2 motion detectors, 1 range extender | Base in the office. The rest around the house per the John tab. |
| eero 6 extender | Den |
| Ring Alarm panic button x2 | Bedside, main bathroom |
| Item | Goes |
|---|---|
| Ring Battery Doorbell (2K) | Front door |
| Ring Stick Up Cam, 3-pack | Driveway, side path, back deck |
| Echo Show 21 | Kitchen pier, on the arm |
| Mount-It full-motion arm | Kitchen pier, for the Echo Show |
| Echo Dot x3 | Living room, den, bathroom |
| Fire TV Stick 4K x2 | Den TV, rolling screen |
| Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 6 with wireless subwoofer | Den, under the TV |
| Samsung 32" Movingstyle rolling screen | Living room |
| monTEK full-motion TV wall bracket (already ordered) | Den TV wall |
| ALESTOR 12-outlet surge strip x2 | Behind the den TV, office |
| Item | Goes |
|---|---|
| Ring Alarm flood & freeze sensor x5 | Kitchen sink, both bathroom sinks, washer, water heater |
| Item | Goes |
|---|---|
| TCL 75" QM7L television (already bought) | Den TV wall |
| Item | Goes |
|---|---|
| Echo Spot | Primary bedroom nightstand |
| ecobee thermostat | Already on the wall |
No smart lock (she keeps a regular key). No separate Wi-Fi router (the Ring base is the router). No battery backup box (the Ring base has its own battery and cellular backup on the Pro plan). No smoke or glass-break listeners. No TV in the bedroom, and no camera pointed anywhere inside.