The lease is signed, the removalists are booked, and everyone's focused on furniture and floor plans. Then the new internet connection isn't live for another six weeks, and the whole team is working off phone hotspots on move-in day. IT is almost always the thing that gets planned last and causes the most disruption when it does. Here's what to line up, and when.
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Eight to Twelve Weeks Out: Internet and Connectivity
Order internet for the new site the moment the lease is confirmed, not closer to the move date. NBN business connections and fibre installs regularly take four to eight weeks depending on the building, and that clock doesn't care about your move-in date. If the new site has connectivity limitations, Starlink or a 4G/5G backup link is worth arranging now, not as a panic measure the week before.
Six to Eight Weeks Out: Network and Phone System
Plan cabling and rack placement around the new floor plan rather than copying the old office's layout, and get Wi-Fi coverage mapped against the new space before move-in, not after staff start complaining about dead zones. If you're running VoIP, confirm number porting timelines with your provider early, porting delays are common and can leave incoming calls in limbo.
Two to Four Weeks Out: Security and Access
Set up guest Wi-Fi separately from the start rather than retrofitting it later, and confirm physical security for server or comms rooms at the new site before equipment arrives. Update any address-dependent configurations, firewall geo-restrictions, backup offsite locations, and insurance details tied to the physical premises.
Move Week: Minimising Downtime
Where possible, keep the old connection live in parallel until the new one is confirmed working, a short overlap costs little compared to a week of downtime if something doesn't connect as expected. Test everything, internet, Wi-Fi, phones, printers, before staff arrive on day one, not during the first meeting of the day. If anything goes wrong, know who to call, our guide to the first hour of an IT emergency applies just as well to a move gone wrong as any other outage.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the single most common mistake businesses make when relocating?
Ordering internet for the new site too late. Connections can take four to eight weeks to install depending on the building and provider, and that timeline doesn't move just because the lease start date is fixed.
Should we bring our old phone system to the new office?
If it's a cloud VoIP system, moving is usually just a matter of internet being live at the new site, handsets work anywhere. If it's an older on-premise phone system tied to physical lines, that's worth reviewing as part of the move rather than reinstalling as-is.
How far ahead should we start planning the IT side of a move?
Eight to twelve weeks minimum, driven almost entirely by internet lead times. Everything else on this checklist can be compressed into the final few weeks, but connectivity can't.
Do we need to redesign our network for a new office, or just replicate the old one?
It's worth treating a move as a chance to fix problems, not just copy the old setup into a new space. Wi-Fi coverage, cabling, and rack layout should be planned for the new floor plan, not assumed to work the same way.
We can plan and manage the entire IT side of your office move.
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Call 0433 087 091 to start planning connectivity before it becomes the bottleneck.
Book a Free IT Health CheckFor related reading, see NBN for Perth Businesses, Business Wi-Fi Design, and What to Do in the First Hour of an IT Emergency.