Home Networking

Even for job that takes 10 hours I would only charge 500

3 years ago I paid $100 per drop for Ethernet from a certified electrician. Now, he was here to replace my panel, add some circuits, and the Ethernet, so I’m not sure if the $100/drop fee was discounted in some way based on the total size of the job, but it seemed very reasonable to me.

This job was a C-note if it took them 30-45 mins.

I considered running my own a few months ago--even to the point of buying some ethernet cable and wall jacks and then I learned about ethernet over coax--MoCA. Omg it's fantastic. For like $60 I have a wired connection upstairs and see no loss in speed. Amazing!

Damn, I went through 2x4s and walls to run cat6 from the basement and to upstairs. I saved myself a bundle!

I knew a friend of a friend who used to do tons of Ethernet drops at a hospital, which he stopped doing and does office IT work nowadays. When I bought a house, I asked him for his rate per drop. I paid $1500 for 13 Ethernet drops, and he even brought/sold to me a $200 switch panel (likely barely used hospital gear that was being thrown out) for $50. He also installed and labeled all my drops.

I work as a network cable tech in the US. Perhaps I could give a breakdown of the cost of this installation. For my labor, it's $85/hr for a site visit, then $85/hr billed in 15-minute increments. Standard plenum cable costs somewhere around 0.37 cents a foot. A low voltage ring for the drywall costs somewhere around $5, and a keystone jack costs about $13 (although this does vary with the brand). A single port white faceplate costs around $2. I've done similar installs to this in residential areas, and if it's an older home, getting a cable from point A to point B can be pretty difficult and time-consuming. That being said: I still don't think this sort of install should cost upwards of $900.

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Im sorry this happened, overapaid a lot, but In my mind this sounds like:

-Do you want to get scammed

+yes dear

When I bought my house 25 or so years ago, one of the first things I did was have Ethernet and cable drops installed to every appropriate room (5 rooms). Cost me $2000 and they left me with the leftover cable. I installed drops myself in the cellar. Now everything is on Wi-Fi and I've discontinued cable. Oh well.

You were overcharged.

I paid about $500 for a licensed technician to install an outlet for my bidet and two cable drops. Unfortunately, she got ripped off :(

So charge a range, according to time! This is a rip-off!

Yeah that’s an over charge. I think I paid someone $1,500 to wire my whole house with CAT6A shielded I think I have 20 drops, two per room give or take a few extras in places.

She should have never hired an electrician always hire the actual low voltage companies. Electricians HATE doing low voltage because it’s tedious compared to running romex and requires more specialized tools and considerations.

I think was all the posts here are missing is that she hired a licensed electrician. If it would have been one plug that would have been a similar cost without anyone batting an eye. The money is not for the knock, it’s knowing where to knock. I wish I could say I’m defending them because I’m an electrician but I’m not. We lose work to those guys all the time, and they never have the right low voltage trainings.

sparkies have no business installing network cables

Every time I inherit a job from a sparkie I want to punch them in the nuts

Did your mom hire a chain electrical contractor, like a Mr Sparky or similar? because they are notorious for charging ~$4-500 an hour or more and hiding it behind a flat rate pricing system.

Yeah way over paid. I run low voltage for a living. 1cat5-6 drop is $80 per line and $144/hr for labor, and even I think our prices are a little high but I am also poor so everything is expensive to me.

Outrageously overpriced, but I don’t think they were being dishonest about it. It really isn’t worth it to do a dinky LV job installing a single drop. It would have cost 60 bucks and a YouTube video of you DIYd it.

Rule #1: don't hire an electrician for datacom work.

What city are you in? I’m not too surprised for electricians especially in pricey states. Unfortunately it is a bit of work to run cable between floors, and worse when digging out drywall.

I feel an AV company might be a better help

Looks cost seems excessively high for a simple Ethernet drop installation, and it might be worth seeking a detailed breakdown of the charges

Field nation seems like it’s geared towards commercial? Maybe can find someone on there to do a residential job though.

LV guy here. Sorry,but your mom got F'd by that sparky. Show a pic of the actual cable he ran. A clear shot of the jack at the wall and the end at the rack.

CAT5e thru drop ceiling, no certification just working test, $150 - $200 tops depending on area.

Did she already pay him ?

I did ethernet myself earlier this month. 2 60 foot cat6 runs, through a wall, down outside the house, then back up and in at the other end, cable running through the crawl space. It was about 40$ in material and took me and my father an hour with full termination on both ends and so far stable gigabit. Ethernet is not something that needs an electrician (no notable current) to install, although some of the same skills apply.

Overall, a single ~25 foot cat5e run? Based on information in the posts and comments, if you paid more than 100$ you got ripped off, and I would probably have done it for 75.

The problem is that there's a minimum amount someone like that will charge to do a job. She probably would have paid the same amount if she'd had him put 4 drops in that room. He just wasn't going to waste his time going out there without making a certain amount of money.

hence the old rule get 3 quotes.

Why is anyone installing anything less than CAT6 today??

While its overpriced, I'd love for someone to point me to someone that can do this for less, NC Durham area. I need two drops done for access points that I dont feel like doing myself. A little more complex and longer but yeah 1k a visit minimum is the best ive gotten so far.

Given what you have said, the high end this should have cost no more than $250.

Look on the bright side. It works! I've run into many many many electricians, licensed and not, who have no idea how data works. They'd splice stuff together all day long, leave twisted pairs exposed for like a foot and so on and so forth.

Before I even saw the price, I said 1k per run in my head. Learn how to pull cable yourself if you don't like it. Shit can be challenging sometimes. You charge 1k per run because some runs should cost 2k and some should be 500. When you only want 1 run done, you pay the premium then. Having said that, probably should have adjusted this one after the fact and said "Hey that was a pretty easy one, here's 30% back".

licensed electrician

She hired a plastic surgeon to pop a zit when a nurse would have been more than qualified. The electrician probably has a minimum hourly rate as well as a minimum number of hours that they bill to make any job worth it to them.

Av lead tech here and yeah that price is absurd. 250$ job max

I would never hire an electrician to do low voltage, I would find someone who specializes specifically with Ethernet wiring, like in Minnesota I used Correct Cabling.