The Short Take: Office internet and infrastructure take far longer to install than most companies expect: four to eight weeks for existing fiber, three to six months for a new build, plus cabling and electrical on top. The single best safeguard is to order internet the day you sign the lease. Late ordering is the most common cause of move-in chaos.
Furniture gets ordered months ahead. Movers get booked. Paint colors get debated at length. The technology the entire business actually runs on tends to get scheduled last, which is exactly why it is the most common cause of move-in chaos.
The problem is that infrastructure timelines run longer than people expect, and a business cannot operate without connectivity. Realistic Bay Area timelines look like this:
- An existing building fiber connection: four to eight weeks from order to installation.
- A new fiber build to a building with no existing infrastructure: three to six months, sometimes longer.
- Network cabling installation: one to three weeks, depending on scope.
- Electrical upgrades: two to six weeks, depending on complexity.
Lay those against a move date and the math gets uncomfortable fast. A company that orders internet a few weeks out, assuming "fiber available" means fiber ready, can find itself open for business with no way to connect.
The sequencing trap
Even when the overall timeline is right, sequence matters. Technology has to go in a specific order, and most of it has to happen before the team arrives. Cabling needs to be run before workstations are placed. The network has to be configured and tested before anyone tries to log in. Internet has to be active and verified, not merely scheduled to go live on the same morning everyone shows up.
When furniture delivery, cabling crews, and equipment installation all compete for the same freight elevator in the final week, something slips. It is usually the part nobody can see until the first Monday.
Early access is not a convenience
Getting into the space ahead of move-in is a prerequisite for a working first day, not a nice-to-have. A small office needs a few days of early access. A mid-size office needs one to two weeks. A larger operation needs two to three. Buildings vary widely in how much early access they allow and whether outside IT vendors can work independently, which is worth confirming before signing rather than discovering during the scramble.
The one rule worth following
If there is a single habit that prevents most move-in technology problems, it is this. Order internet service the day the lease is signed. Not when move-in feels close. Not when the build-out is nearly done. The day the lease is signed.
Internet installation delays are the most common and most avoidable cause of a rough first week. Ordering early turns the longest lead time in the entire move into a non-issue.
The takeaway
A smooth first day is not luck. It is the result of treating technology as an early decision with a real timeline, not a last-minute task. The companies that walk in and simply start working are the ones that put infrastructure on the same calendar as the lease.
FAQs
How early should we start planning an office move?
Most moves need four to six months of lead time, and the technology pieces, especially internet, drive that timeline more than the furniture or the movers do.
Can we operate if the internet is not ready on move-in day?
Sometimes, with a temporary connection. A cellular (LTE or 5G) failover or a short-term line can bridge a gap, but it is a stopgap, not a substitute for the permanent circuit, and it needs to be arranged in advance rather than scrambled for on day one.
This is one of the infrastructure realities covered in Before You Sign, a guide to the technology risks that get decided at lease signing. Ron DeAngelis, president of Jump Start Technology, drew on 25 years of Bay Area office moves to write it.
