The technician who installs and terminates network cable — running structured cabling through walls, ceilings, and risers, terminating jacks and patch panels, and testing cable performance. Half installer, half low-voltage technical professional.
Most days tend to involve a steady rotation through job sites or building floors — pulling cable, installing jacks and patch panels, terminating connections, labeling, and testing. You'll often spend part of the time on physical work at heights or in tight spaces, and part on the documentation and testing fabric that structured cabling requires.
The harder part is often the physical demand of running cable in commercial buildings combined with the technical precision termination requires — a poorly terminated jack creates problems that show up only after the customer is using the network. You'll typically coordinate with electricians, general contractors, and IT teams through projects.
People who tend to thrive here are physically capable, comfortable on ladders and in ceilings, and meticulous about termination and labeling. The trade-off is the physical demand and travel to job sites and the cumulative wear of the work. If you find satisfaction in building the physical infrastructure that networks actually run on, the role can be a steady, hands-on technical career.
Where this role sits in the broader career landscape — and where it can take you.
Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
Roles with similar work and overlapping career paths
View all Technology roles →The technician who installs and terminates network cable — running structured cabling through walls, ceilings, and risers, terminating jacks and patch panels, and testing cable performance. Half installer, half low-voltage technical professional.
Median pay for a Network Cable Installer is about $67K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $42K to $105K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Troubleshooting, Repairing, Quality Control Analysis, Operations Monitoring, and Critical Thinking.
Most people in this role hold a high school diploma.
Employment in this field is projected to decline about 3.65% through 2034, with roughly 252,250 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Network Director, Maintenance Technician, and Test Technician.
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