Top 5 Tools for a Structured Cabling Technician

In this video, we talk about the top 5 tools for a structured cabling technician. When I started out, I didn’t know which tools to use… these should help you get started for your first day on the job.
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Snips
The first item is the snips or some call them scissors. These are very common and a necessary tool for low voltage cabling, especially data cable. They are used to score cable, although some might advise against this. They are also used to trim wires, especially category cables.
Cutters
Next are cutters, diagonals, or dikes. These are commonly used for fire alarms and access control. They can cut thicker cables more easily than scissors. Milwaukee makes a solid pair of cutters. Go get you some.
Punch Down
If you are doing data cable, a punch-down tool is an absolute necessity. You’ll want to have a 66/110 punch down and to really speed things up, look into getting a keystone punch down tool like the vertical cable i-punch tool.
Copper cable and ethernet will be here for a long time to hone your skills with these tools and be prepared to punch down thousands of category cables, especially CAT6A, which is an entirely different beast.
Crimps
The preferred termination method is to punch down, but many times you will encounter the need to crimp RJ45 mod plugs. I highly recommend getting a solid pair of regular crimps, but if you really want to be prepared, get passthrough crimps.
Label Printer
An often-overlooked device is the label printer. This is such a critical part of structured cabling and if you have a solid unit and know how to utilize its advanced functionality, then you will position yourself as a valuable asset within the company. A great industrial printer that can be used for small, medium, and large projects is the Brother PTE550W
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[@sergiodelgado2775]

Great list of first day tools! Only thing I would add is a wire tracer/toner.

[@Henry_Jones]

I would add network cable tester, tone and probe kit, and wire snake kit.

[@davidsonshine9678]

Thanks - I'm studying for the Comptia Network + exam and your video is gold.

[@NolanRollo]

Excellent advice for first-day tools! Fluke makes a nice little pouch with punchdown and snips, flashlight and sharpie all in one!

[@LowVoltageNation]

thank you! Good advice on the Fluke pouch. The flash light and sharpie are also essential.

[@nyckid]

That's gotta be one heavy Sharpie! 😄

[@mw3blackopsglitches]

Great Video, I almost forgot about the label printer!

[@dontprayforme]

Not saying this is bad by any means, take this man’s advice. There’s a few things I’d add to it. That could just be the fact I have to work on a few different systems though.

[@juan19avila]

Hey Blake, I’m interested in becoming a Low Voltage Technician do you have any pointers or tricks and tips on how to become one? Or have a video I can watch if not would you have any interest in making one for the people that are interested in this career?

[@bojukakt222]

Do you need to have a CCNA cert (cisco cert network cert)?

[@LowVoltageNation]

Nah

[@gregoryhudson7013]

HB

[@elleon9895]

Wow, how could you forget wire strippers ? You can’t use snips for fire alarm

[@philipprice8806]

🍀 Ｐｒⓞм𝕠𝕤𝐌