Cost guide
How much does data cabling cost?
A data point is £80 to £160 installed, falling toward £60 on a job with many. A domestic installation of eight to twelve points with a patch panel runs £700 to £1,600.
Typical prices
Ranges, not quotes. A quote depends on your room.
| Work | Typical UK price |
|---|---|
| Single data point added to a finished room | £120 to £220 |
| Data point during a renovation, walls open | £60 to £110 |
| Eight to twelve points with patch panel, domestic | £700 to £1,600 |
| Ceiling access point cabled and mounted | £150 to £320 |
| Patch panel and cabinet fitted | £180 to £450 |
| Testing and certification, per link | £8 to £20 |
Cable the ceiling positions for access points even if you have no plans for them. It is the single change that fixes household wireless, and doing it while the ceiling is open costs a tenth of doing it afterwards.
What moves the price
- Number of points, which is the main driver and where the rate improves.
- Whether walls and floors are open, which is the difference between cheap and expensive by a factor of several.
- Distance from each point back to the cabinet position.
- Whether the price includes testing and certification per link.
- Patch panel, cabinet and whether a socket and ventilation exist there.
- Access points and whether ceiling positions are being cabled for them.
Who quotes for it
1 of the 133 electricians listed on this site take on data cabling.
Most of them in one place: Leeds (1).
Questions about data cabling
Why does my connection drop when it is busy?
Often a link that was never certified. A cable can pass a basic continuity check and still fail on crosstalk or length, and that shows up as drops under load rather than as a dead port.
Can data cable run alongside mains?
Not closely, and not in the same containment without separation. Data run against power picks up interference, and once it is plastered in, the fix is another cable.