Home networking comparisons
HideWire vs Ethernet Cabling
Ethernet is either ugly or expensive, getting the cable through a finished home requires either tearing it apart at great expense or living with an eyesore. HideWire gives you a fine fibre connection that disappears along room edges, without opening walls or paying to put them back together.
At a glance
| Consideration | HideWire | Ethernet cables |
|---|---|---|
| Installation | DIY; removable fasteners | Concealed cable routing |
| Wall work | No chasing or replastering | May require drilling and chasing |
| Cable route | Along skirting boards and door frames | Inside walls, floors or existing conduits |
| Device ports | 2.5Gbps | Depends on connected equipment |
| Room-to-room link | Up to 10Gbps over fibre | Depends on cable and equipment |
| Equipment | Switches and optical modules included | Sockets, cable and equipment specified separately |
| Cost | £125 kit | Cable, labour and any redecorating |
The cost is in hiding the cable
Running Ethernet through a finished house can mean lifting floorboards, drilling through walls or chasing channels into plaster. Then there is the filling and repainting. A cheap reel of cable tells you little about the final bill.
Fit it without opening the walls
HideWire follows skirting boards and door frames on clear removable fasteners. The £125 kit includes the fibre and networking equipment. You can fit it yourself without paying an installer to conceal the cable or repair the decoration afterwards.
Leave the old wiring in place
If an existing connection is stuck at 100Mbps, HideWire gives you a new route without pulling cable out of the walls. Old switches, damaged wiring or incomplete terminations can cause that limit; age alone does not make Ethernet slow. Correctly installed Cat5e can support gigabit.
See the HideWire kit
30m of 0.9mm fibre, switches, optical modules, Ethernet leads and removable fasteners.
View the £125 kit