Running external ethernet - cost?

MrRockliffe

MrRockliffe

MrRockliffe

Soldato
Joined
14 Apr 2014
Posts
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Location
Hampshire
Hi all,

I recently had FTTP 900 installed into my front room, and I'm looking to get a wired ethernet connection to my office.

I'd like to do this externally.

Floor plan below:

53EA4AB3-DA9D-43C6-99A2-428D743F4542.png


What would this sort of installation cost, and who should I enquire with? Electrician? AV Installer?


Thanks in advance.
 
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£300, either an electrician or AV installer would be able to do that. AV installer probably has a greater chance of knowing how to terminate the cable properly.

Edit: Just seen the price from above. I think I've probably gone in high and the above is very cheap, but you need to consider the differences in Newcastle and Sussex prices.
 
bremen1874 said:
Is the access difficult (dead image link so can't tell)?

Drilling a couple of holes and clipping some cable isn't a terribly complicated job.
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Caged said:
Looks to be second floor - what's the access like to the walls where you want this done?
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Access is good. Perhaps a slight restriction along the length of the of the living room, due to ladder access coming from a neighbours garden, but otherwise good access all round.
 
Don't fancy having a crack at it yourself? If it's just running a cable it can be really rather easy, assuming you have the right tools.

50m of external use CAT6 is a little under £17, and the jacks that they terminate into are less than £2 each.

Punching down/ terminating an Ethernet cable to a jack is surprisingly easy. I had no previous experience and managed it easily following along to a YouTube video.

The hardest part is drilling a big hole in your house!
 
doug_1986 said:
Don't fancy having a crack at it yourself? If it's just running a cable it can be really rather easy, assuming you have the right tools.

50m of external use CAT6 is a little under £17, and the jacks that they terminate into are less than £2 each.

Punching down/ terminating an Ethernet cable to a jack is surprisingly easy. I had no previous experience and managed it easily following along to a YouTube video.

The hardest part is drilling a big hole in your house!
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If I owned the house I would. However I am also very busy at the moment.

I’d rather just pay someone to do it :)
 
MrRockliffe said:
If I owned the house I would. However I am also very busy at the moment.

I’d rather just pay someone to do it :)
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Yeah, I can understand that. There's a certain point, which arrives really rather quickly, where it's just more economical to get someone in!

My advice then would be to avoid the dedicated AV / network installers. They tend to charge a premium, when really any standard Electrician can do this easily. The only difference between this and something like running electricity to a shed, is that instead of terminating 3 cables into a plug socket, they're terminating 8 cables into an Ethernet jack. It doesn't take hugely specialist training!
 
doug_1986 said:
Yeah, I can understand that. There's a certain point, which arrives really rather quickly, where it's just more economical to get someone in!

My advice then would be to avoid the dedicated AV / network installers. They tend to charge a premium, when really any standard Electrician can do this easily. The only difference between this and something like running electricity to a shed, is that instead of terminating 3 cables into a plug socket, they're terminating 8 cables into an Ethernet jack. It doesn't take hugely specialist training!
Click to expand...

I’ll get in touch with some locals and see if I can get some quotes together.

Will report back with figures - may provide a good reference point for the future.
 
I toyed with getting someone in but did it myself in the end. 20 metre run under the floor (victorian property), out of the wall under the door and then pinned in place up the exterior into my office.

Took about 2 hours but it's a doddle. Got quoted a similar figure of £70 and found that too steep for the labour involved, it's a rip off really. Electrician/AV installer would have likely done it in an hour so that's a canny rate!
 
Bear in mind that your £70 quote was probably done without knowing what the cable route would look like. Once you take into account their travel, running a business etc. I don't see how you'd expect any trade to make a living while charging less than that for the job.

£30 of that is going to be materials (2x Cat6 modules, faceplates, boxes, cable, clips), you won't find a spark happy to work for £40/hour for a single hour.
 
For me, this isn’t a case of being able to do it, it’s
  • Having the time
  • Liability

I.e. if I mess it up (unlikely, but possible), then I’m going to have to fix it.

If a qualified individual messes it up (even more unlikely, but possible), it’s their responsibility to resolve.


£70 is (relatively) nothing - I’d much rather just pay someone to do it and do it properly.
 
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