Programming vs Networking (just in terms of difficulty)?
Programming is one of the more difficult genres if IT. Networking has some programing but it's not that hard to master. A fun free program to get an idea of what networking entails is Cisco Packet Tracer. I used to built whole networks with it in my routing & switching class. There is a learning curve but since u have experience in programing it shouldn't be too much for you. Also learn SQL.