Colocation suite build-out
18 cabinets, structured copper and fiber cross-connect, overhead tray, and a labeling scheme their NOC could actually navigate at 3am.
18Cabinets
1,240Terminations
Structured cabling · Central Texas
The cable is the part nobody replaces. Get it right once.
Datum designs and installs structured cabling, fiber backbone, data center infrastructure, and wireless for Austin-area commercial and industrial facilities. Every link is certified to standard, tested, and handed to you with the results and as-built drawings. That's not an upsell — it's the deliverable.
- BICSI RCDD on staff
- 25-year manufacturer warranty
- 100% of links tested & delivered
140,000+Drops installed since 2012
100%Links tested, results delivered
25 yrManufacturer system warranty
RCDDBICSI-credentialed design on staff
What we install
Infrastructure that outlives the equipment plugged into it
Switches get replaced every five years. Access points every four. The cable in the walls stays for twenty-five — which is why it's the one part worth over-engineering, and the one part most jobs cut corners on.
Copper
Structured cabling
Cat6 and Cat6A horizontal cabling, patch panels, work-area outlets, and pathway. Installed to TIA-568 and certified link by link.
From $185 per drop → Data centerBuild-out & MACs
Rack and cabinet build, structured cable management, cross-connects, and ongoing moves-adds-changes with change control that holds up to audit.
How we price MACs → FiberFiber & splicing
Single-mode and multimode backbone, fusion splicing, LC/SC termination, and OTDR plus insertion-loss certification with results you keep.
Testing & certification → WirelessWi-Fi & DAS
Predictive and on-site surveys, AP placement and mounting, and in-building cellular for concrete and metal buildings where phones don't work.
Survey options → ClosetsMDF / IDF build-outs
New closets built right, or existing ones untangled, re-dressed, labeled to TIA-606, and documented so the next person can find anything in ten seconds.
Remediation work → AdjacentAV, paging & low-voltage
Conference room cabling, overhead paging, and the infrastructure side of camera and access-control systems, coordinated with your security integrator.
What we do and don't →Published pricing
What a drop costs, before you call us
Cabling is one of the easiest trades to price honestly, because the units are countable. We publish ours. If someone quoted you a lump sum with no drop count in it, this page will tell you a lot.
Unit
Typical installed
What moves the number
Cat6 dropPer outlet, accessible ceiling
$185 – $310
Run length, ceiling type, and whether the pathway already exists. Above 100 drops the per-unit price falls noticeably.
Cat6A drop10G-capable, shielded where required
$240 – $420
Cable diameter drives pathway fill and bend radius, so tight conduit costs more here than it does with Cat6.
Fiber backboneInter-closet, 12-strand OS2
$2,200 – $6,800
Distance, riser vs. plenum vs. underground, and whether we're coring floors. Terminations priced separately below.
Fiber terminationPer strand, fusion spliced
$45 – $95
Connector type, cassette vs. pigtail, and whether it's a clean lab bench or a lift over a live production floor.
Rack build & dressPer rack, including cable management
$1,800 – $4,500
Port density, vertical and horizontal managers, PDU and grounding work, and the state of what's already in the rack.
MAC workMoves, adds, changes
$115 / hr · blocks from $2,000
Prepaid blocks run 20–30% under hourly and get you scheduled first. Most facility clients run 10–40 hours a quarter.
Certification testingPer link, copper or fiber
included
Not a line item. Every link we install is tested and the results come to you as a PDF plus the raw tester file. Testing someone else's install: $12–$25 per link.
Volume genuinely changes the price
A 30-drop job and a 600-drop job are different businesses. Mobilization, pathway, and closet work amortize across the count, so large jobs land near the bottom of every range above — sometimes below it. We'll show you the break points rather than making you negotiate for them.
What isn't in these numbers
Core drilling, firestopping beyond standard penetrations, conduit and tray installation, ceiling and wall repair, after-hours premiums, and permits where required. All of it appears as its own line on your quote — never buried, never a surprise.
How a job runs
Five stages, and you know where you are in all of them
Walk & count
We walk the space with your drawings, count drops, check pathway, and photograph anything that'll surprise us later.
Line-item quote
Drops, pathway, terminations, testing, documentation — each priced separately so you can cut scope without renegotiating.
Install
Rough-in, terminate, dress. We work around your schedule, including nights and weekends for live facilities.
Certify
Every link tested to standard. Failures get fixed and retested, not explained away.
Hand over
Test reports, as-built drawings, labeling schedule, and warranty registration. In your hands, not just in our file.
The deliverable
Most contractors leave. We leave documentation.
The difference between a cabling job that ages well and one that becomes a nightmare is entirely about what exists on paper when the crew drives away. Ask the last contractor who worked in your closet for a labeling schedule and see what happens.
- Certification reports for every link — PDF summary plus the raw tester file, so any third party can verify our work independently.
- As-built drawings showing actual routes and outlet locations, not the plan we started with.
- TIA-606 labeling schedule matched to physical labels on both ends of every run.
- Warranty registration filed with the manufacturer in your company's name, not ours.
Recent work
Central Texas jobs from this year
Tech campus tenant fit-out
640 Cat6A drops across three floors on a 9-week GC schedule. Finished four days early and every link passed on first test.
640Drops
0Retests needed
Distribution warehouse Wi-Fi
Scanners dropping in the racking aisles. On-site survey found the real problem was AP placement, not AP count — we moved 14 and added 6.
20APs, 6 new
0Dropped scans since
What clients say
The same compliment, three different ways
"They handed us a binder. An actual binder, with every test result and a labeling schedule. We'd hired four cabling contractors before Datum and not one of them had ever given us paperwork."
"640 drops, nine-week schedule, and they finished early without one RFI to us. Our GC asked for their number before we'd even closed the job out."
"Another vendor quoted us twelve more access points. Datum surveyed it and told us we needed six, and to move the ones we had. That conversation cost them money and earned them a client."
Common questions
What people ask before they call
What does a network drop actually cost?
$185 to $310 per Cat6 drop installed and tested; $240 to $420 for Cat6A. Run length, ceiling construction and existing pathway are what move it, and jobs above 100 drops land toward the bottom of each range. Certification testing is included, not a line item. The full table is above — we publish it so you can sanity-check any bid you receive, including ours.
Cat6 or Cat6A — what do we actually need?
If the run supports desks and phones, Cat6 is genuinely fine and will be for years. Choose Cat6A when you're feeding Wi-Fi 6E or 7 access points, running multi-gig to workstations, or when you're building infrastructure meant to survive twenty years of unknown equipment. The cost difference is roughly 30% per drop — and re-cabling later is roughly 400%. We'll tell you which situation you're in without upselling you into the other one.
Will you work around our operating hours?
Yes. A large share of our work is nights and weekends in live facilities — hospitals, distribution centers, and data centers don't stop. After-hours carries a premium and it appears on the quote as its own line so you can decide whether it's worth it.
Do you work under a general contractor?
Regularly. We hold current insurance at levels commercial GCs require, we show up to coordination meetings, and we submit closeout documentation in whatever format the project requires. Ask any of our GC references how many RFIs we generate. It's the number we're proudest of.
Can you fix a closet somebody else made a mess of?
It's some of our favorite work. We'll trace and label what's live, remove what's abandoned, re-dress the rack, and hand you documentation for a room nobody had documentation for. Usually a two- to four-day job per closet, and it pays for itself the first time someone needs to find a port fast.
What does the 25-year warranty actually cover?
It's a manufacturer system warranty covering both components and installation workmanship for the full channel, registered in your company's name. It requires certified installers and full test documentation on file, which is why we test everything — the paperwork isn't bureaucracy, it's what makes the warranty real.