Wireless everything sounds like it removes the need for wire. In practice the houses where smart tech works reliably are the ones where somebody ran cable during the renovation. If your walls are open, this is the cheapest hour you will spend.
Neutrals in every switch box
Smart switches need constant low-level power, which means a neutral. Older Maryland homes frequently have switch loops with only a hot and a traveler. Pulling neutrals during a rewire costs almost nothing. Retrofitting them later means opening walls.
CAT6 to the places that matter
Even in a Wi-Fi house: one drop per TV, one per office, and one to each ceiling location where an access point will live. Wired backhaul is the single biggest difference between mesh Wi-Fi that works and mesh Wi-Fi that does not.
Access points belong on the ceiling
Not in a cupboard, not behind the TV. Plan one central ceiling location per floor. Two AP locations in a normal Maryland row home or colonial beats any number of plug-in extenders.
Camera and doorbell power
Run cable to eaves and corners now. Battery cameras are convenient until you are on a ladder every eight weeks in January. A wired doorbell needs a working transformer - many older ones are 16V and will not run a video unit.
A structured wiring panel
One enclosure where the internet, the switch, the patch panel and the power live. It turns every future change into a five-minute job instead of a treasure hunt in a closet.
Make it work without the internet
Every scene we install keeps a physical wall control that works with no hub, no cloud and no Wi-Fi. If your lighting stops working when your ISP has an outage, it was designed wrong.
Talk to a smart home electrician in electrician in Columbia, electrician in Potomac, electrician in Ellicott City or call (888) 592-6466.