Running CAT5e Cables

jeffk · 03-03-2015 10:00am #1

Not sure what forum to put this in.
Im looking at running two cables from a UPC router in the hall, out the wall and back into a room on the same side of the house.

I’ve had one electrician out and he wants €160 to do it.

I do a quick google on outdoor cat5e cable and find the cable for less than a tenner, am I missing something here?

http://www.freetv.ie/outdoor-cat5-ethernet-cable.html

bk · 03-03-2015 10:11am

Nope, you are paying for the electricians time and experience and potentially tools.

You could always do it yourself, ethernet isn't particularly difficult.

jeffk · 03-03-2015 10:12am

bk wrote: »

Nope, you are paying for the electricians time and experience and potentially tools.

You could always do it yourself, ethernet isn't particularly difficult.

140 or so to drill three holes and put a few hooks to hold the cable in place.

I would buy the ready-made cables with the tops on, but then its the drilling the holes.

ED E · 03-03-2015 11:13am

You don't want to use pre crimped cables. Drill small holes, run the length, weatherseal THEN crimp or push onto blocks.

€160 doesn't sound unreasonable tbh.

galljga1 · 03-03-2015 11:27am

I think he should do it for free. This is actually a simple job but does take a persons time both time actually worked and travel to and from location. Is there a reason why you are going to use 5e rather than 6 or even 7? You may never need anything greater than 5e but you never know.

jeffk · 03-03-2015 1:27pm

galljga1 wrote: »

I think he should do it for free. This is actually a simple job but does take a persons time both time actually worked and travel to and from location. Is there a reason why you are going to use 5e rather than 6 or even 7? You may never need anything greater than 5e but you never know.

If i get the cable etc will you do it for free?

jeffk · 03-03-2015 1:29pm

Rang another fella, €200 or so, take a few hours and there will be two doing it. Cable costs around €80 he says.

Rang clone wholesale electrical, €27.50 for cable, then fek all for heads etc,

bk · 03-03-2015 1:46pm

The mixer in my tape once broke. I called plumbers and they quoted about €200 to replace it.

I bought a new one off amazon for €10 and did it in less then 30 minutes myself with the help of a youtube video.

Nothing unusual about all this. What you have to remember is these people are running a business and need to earn enough to equal a normal wage and on top of that, pay for a van, tools, pay VAT, pay for the journey too and from your place. And even if the job only takes one hour, remember they may only get one or two jobs a day, so that fee needs to cover their wages.

If you are willing to take the time and effort to do it yourself, then it can often cost far less.

jeffk · 03-03-2015 1:50pm

bk wrote: »

The mixer in my tape once broke. I called plumbers and they quoted about €200 to replace it.

I bought a new one off amazon for €10 and did it in less then 30 minutes myself with the help of a youtube video.

Nothing unusual about all this. What you have to remember is these people are running a business and need to earn enough to equal a normal wage and on top of that, pay for a van, tools, pay VAT, pay for the journey too and from your place. And even if the job only takes one hour, remember they may only get one or two jobs a day, so that fee needs to cover their wages.

If you are willing to take the time and effort to do it yourself, then it can often cost far less.

AH I know that, but no need to take the piss and then lie bout cable costs, like almost treble what it costs in a shop. Make some off the cable but not that much.

I just need to get a drill to do the holes,otherwise id have it done myself

bk · 03-03-2015 1:55pm

jeffk wrote: »

AH I know that, but no need to take the piss and then lie bout cable costs, like almost treble what it costs in a shop. Make some off the cable but not that much.

I just need to get a drill to do the holes,otherwise id have it done myself

I agree, unfortunately almost every service men (electricians, mechanics, plumbers, etc.) almost always lie about the cost of the parts, as they don't want to answer the difficult questions about the real cost is labour.

BTW you could possibly rent a drill and do it yourself. It might even be the same cost to buy a suitable drill as getting someone to do it for you. With the advantage that you can then use the drill for future jobs or even, let/rent it to family and friends when they need to do the same.

ED E · 03-03-2015 2:09pm

An SDS or Hammer bit drill will run you a fair bit, and if you're not careful you'll make a larger hole than you intend. Wouldnt advise it unless you're already strong with your DIY generally.

Also, as always, be careful of mains power, check twice, drill once.

godskitchen · 03-03-2015 3:49pm

It might not be taking the piss on cable cost.

Not everyone has time to research the best price and have an account with a vendor they use all the time. This may well be their cost +30%.

You could do this yourself if you have free time but keep in mind if it's not done correctly it will cause connection problems. It's not rocket science but there is a nack to it.

I don't think the cost is unreasonable, I would be and do charge more in fact. That is with businesses though, dropped signal there is out of the question, each cable has to be tested and certified which = more cost.

jeffk · 03-03-2015 4:14pm

A quick google got me the freetv.ie price
A quick call to CWE got me a price

Both don’t know me; I have no trade account nothing, so in fact id be paying more.

Can I not get CAT6 or CAT5E off a site that sell it and have them put the connections on? Surely if they sell it they will be able to do it properly

my3cents · 03-03-2015 6:00pm

Isn't this the reason that WiFi and Power-line adapters are so popular?

OP if you terminate in a wall box with a female connection its much easier to make the connections you just need a punch down tool .

Edit> And if you get the stuff from Amazon then here's some cable if you don't need more than 50m.

hardCopy · 03-03-2015 6:07pm

Since when is marking up the price of materials considered lying? It's called profit.

If you sell anything at cost you'll eventually make a loss when something goes wrong and needs to be replaced.

Lots of mechanics will give you a quote for labour only, they'll tell you what materials you need and let you source them, maybe your electrician would do the same.

jeffk · 03-03-2015 7:17pm

my3cents wrote: »

Isn't this the reason that WiFi and Power-line adapters are so popular?

OP if you terminate in a wall box with a female connection its much easier to make the connections you just need a punch down tool .

Edit> And if you get the stuff from Amazon then here's some cable if you don't need more than 50m.

If i could get the speeds on powerline or wifi id defo go that route. The plugs I have only give me 40 and cant see gigabit ones with two Ethernet connections

Thanks for the links but one thing I wont chance is putting the tops on,tried it on a course and made a mess of it lol

jeffk · 03-03-2015 7:19pm

hardCopy wrote: »

Since when is marking up the price of materials considered lying? It's called profit.

If you sell anything at cost you'll eventually make a loss when something goes wrong and needs to be replaced.

Lots of mechanics will give you a quote for labour only, they'll tell you what materials you need and let you source them, maybe your electrician would do the same.

Profit or greed?
They are being paid well enough for the labour etc, then to make 200% on materials is a greed.

None of them have said that, I even said I seen the cable I needed for €20 online and 730 next morning he said he priced the job at €160,Id love to know what places are open at that hour(not very many)

kirving · 03-03-2015 7:40pm

OP, since you've said that you can't do the job yourself, that means there must be a level of skill involved, and tools that you dont own.

The electrician had to learn those skills, and buy that equipment. I'm no electrician but my guess at the costs.

€40 Cable
€10 Wallplate
€5 Sealant
€5 Wear and tear on tools
€10 Van at an average cost of €20 per day
€5 Petrol if he's local local
€5 Lunch since he's out of home

That leaves €80 euro for at the very minimum an hours labour, at probably an hours round trip, and a trip to the supplier to get cable and bits.

I honestly think €80 for the guts of three hour work for a tradesperson is a very reasonable expectation for the guy. I haven't even included insurance, or the possibility that something may go wrong.

jeffk · 03-03-2015 7:49pm

Make a profit not greed and if its three hours work then the UPC installer must have been good cause it took it about thirty minutes to do the same work

godskitchen · 03-03-2015 8:15pm

It doesn't matter if it is "greed" as you put it or not, that's the price he is willing to do it for. That is the market rate. Much the same as Apple making $18 billion profit last quarter. It's all business.

UPC doing the same job in 30 minutes is another world entirely. The upc guy has nothing else to worry about. Someone else does everything for him.

bk · 03-03-2015 8:18pm

But you are ignoring the fact that most installers might be only getting one or two jobs like this a day. So he needs to make enough from these jobs to make a living. It is irrelevant if it takes him 30 minutes or 3 hours.

The UPC installer on the other hand has dozens of jobs a day to do (scheduled by UPC) and is under pressure to do as many of these as speedily as possible.

It is very simple, either get multiple quotes and pick the cheapest that you are happiest with (remember cheap doesn't necessarily mean it will be a job well done) or do it yourself.

Complaining here isn't going to change anything.

kirving · 03-03-2015 8:21pm

jeffk wrote: »

Make a profit not greed and if its three hours work then the UPC installer must have been good cause it took it about thirty minutes to do the same work

Well it didn't really, did it? You haven't included the time it takes to travel to you or back to the depot, or stock up the van, etc. He spent a good bit more time than the 30 minutes at the house house. Plus, co-ax is far easier and quicker to crimp by hand, and more reliable than CAT5

ED E · 03-03-2015 8:23pm

UPC techs are scheduled for 8-10 jobs per day, theyre kept busy.

kirving · 03-03-2015 9:00pm

bk wrote: »

But you are ignoring the fact that most installers might be only getting one or two jobs like this a day. So he needs to make enough from these jobs to make a living. It is irrelevant if it takes him 30 minutes or 3 hours.

While I still think the €160 is a fair price, the fact the guy might only have a job or two and day is not a valid way to justify the charge. The charge has to be relative to the work done, not the guys personal finances.

mass_debater · 03-03-2015 9:26pm

Kevin Irving wrote: »

While I still think the €160 is a fair price, the fact the guy might only have a job or two and day is not a valid way to justify the charge. The charge has to be relative to the work done, not the guys personal finances.

Of course it is, if it takes half the day then the price should reflect that

godskitchen · 03-03-2015 9:43pm

There is also of course the possibility the guy doesn't want the job, for whatever rreason, and has priced himself out of it.

bk · 04-03-2015 9:20am

Kevin Irving wrote: »

While I still think the €160 is a fair price, the fact the guy might only have a job or two and day is not a valid way to justify the charge. The charge has to be relative to the work done, not the guys personal finances.

Given that the OP hasn't seemed to find someone cheaper to do it, then it in fact reflects the market price.

The market price of anything will of course reflect the resources put into it (time, tools, experience, etc.) and the level of competition in the market.

If you get a contractor of any type to come in, you are going to pay far more for an hour or twos work, compared to a person who is employed full time. That is because of the uncertainty of the amount of work they will get.

Just take a look at the hourly rates programmers earn doing contract work, crazy big numbers. But then you realise that they charge so much as they might only get work for 2 months and earn lots, but then have no work for the next 3 months, so they rate they charge for those 2 months needs to take into account the unstability of the job they are doing and needs to cover all those months when they have no work.

Running CAT5e Cables

Comments