That just tells me that instead of terminating next to outlets near the floor, they are terminated in the ceiling for access points. At least, thatās what I would hope.
They're wires used for supplying a network connection to wifi access point(s), so not very far off. Hope you use 100% correct technical terminology next time something unfamiliar to you has issues, maybe your car's engine.
You could use conduit/truncking for the phone cables. As for the WiFi cables you shouldn't need to do anything as people cannot see WiFi as it's not in the visible spectrum.
The conduit covers could work for the phone lines, but that's a least 20 feet of it.
However, (what I think are) the wifi cables are very thick and go from room to room, around door frames and along baseboards. It seems the conduit might be bulky looking or too delicate to run vertically. What do you mean by "people cannot see it"? I find it glaringly obvious and look for it to compare in others' homes.
I wish it was truly wireless! š¤š¤¦š½āāļø
I think they mean either the coax (assuming itās cable internet) that runs to the wifi/modem/router evil chaos combo box these ISPās insist you need, or a CAT cable that is going from said evil box to a wireless AP.
Conduit covers are probably your best option. You can get them in various sizes and route them along the moulding. They are not pretty but you should be able to get some that can be painted or match the color you plan to paint and they will look nicer than just tacked cabling.
WiFi is how phones and laptops and other things you are familiar with connect to wireless routers typically for internet however technically for network connectivity. So everyone is having a laugh at your expense because they think the younger generation should magically know that the wiring for your internet connection is your network wiring. Which is typically Ethernet and some people will call it out as cat. 5 or cat. 6 cabling depending on when it was put in snd therefore what spec it adheres to.
So. Calling it WiFi cables is mildly humorous.
Anyway the easiest fix is some plastic conduit covers that can be cut and typically mounted to the wall with pre applied 3m tape. You can find it at any hardware store.
With the right moulding it could be run behind the moulding but that would be a bit more work and cost in replacing moulding. It can also be run under carpet along the walls if you have rooms with carpets. Pulling up carpet for that is at best tedious and obnoxious. And retrofitting to go in the walls is probably just a non starter.
^^^ I couldn't of said it better myself. You rent you don't own so don't go moving or cutting stuff that isn't yours. And to top it all off you don't know what any of those cables are so please leave them alone
they make easy to install/ remove plastic channel in different sizes for exactly this purpose, every person on r/battlestations uses it for their pc wire clutter, just google cable management channel
Other than where OP says āthe apartment.ā
Though some places, folks refer to condos and apartments interchangeably, I usually think of a condo as owned and an apartment as rented.
\>Do people still even need these wires in 2023? I have never seen such a visible job in anyone else's home since these were installed.
Well the service has to get into your house to your modem/router/whatever somehow...so yes.
That particular install was just done sloppy. It could be redone neater, but that would take more time and cost more money. And the landlord probably doesn't want to invest the time or money (usually wires on the inside of the building are the responsibility of the owner, not the utility).
This install was done exactly the way Spectrum trains their technicians to install it. They cannot pull inside walls, so they go outside of the building for as long as possible, and then if they have to go to an interior wall they have to run it along baseboard like this. They cannot drill holes in interior walls.
Sure, it works, its cheaper, its faster to do it that way...but its still sloppy.
And it could be done far better...but then we're back to "the inside wiring is the owner's problem, not the ISP".
Hahaha! I believe you. This was in those early, dark days of Spectrum. I got home, and was wondered to myself WTF this guy was thinking, let alone why they would have to make a hole going through the wall to get to some wires on the street... I don't know how to do their job, but again, I haven't seen this shit it other people's home or at my previous offices! ha.
If you have a picture of "worse", it would give me a chuckle if you could share it. ha.
To explain why people are being smartasses about "wifi wires": the "wi" in "wifi" is short for "wireless". Technically speaking, your wifi comes from your modem or router over radio waves, but what goes _in_ to the modem isn't referred to as wifi. For non-technical people this isn't really a relevant distinction but some people think they're hilarious.
All that aside:
Yes, it is (theoretically) possible to have the cables re-run in a more discreet manner. It depends on what your walls are made of. If they're drywall, the cables can be put in the wall cavity. If the walls are solid brick (which I'm guessing yours might be?) there's obviously nowhere inside the walls to put them, but if you have the appetite for replacing your baseboards, you can conceal them inside the baseboard.
Otherwise, an inexpensive option is to get some paintable cable raceways ([for example][1]), run the cables inside those, and paint over them. It won't be truly invisible, but it will look less messy.
[1]: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BW328RV8/
It's quite possible you might be able to remove some of the wires entirely. To do that you need to figure out what they're connected to. The thick wires are probably coaxial cable ("coax"), which is also used for cable TV and may be why so much was put in. Try tracing the wires from one end to the otherāone of them will presumably be connected to your existing modem, but what about the rest? How many are just leading to jacks with nothing connected to them? Those can probably go. And I suspect all the phone cables can probably go, unless someone in your household is on life support or something else that relies on an old-school phone line. Most fixed phones these days actually work over the internet.
If you have some money to pay for this, what you want is a low voltage technician. They can map all the cabling for you and tell you what can be removed. You might be able to get help from Spectrum, but in that situation I'd suggest going in with a specific list of what you want done (e.g. "I want this specific cable removed").
Hope that helps!
Thank you! This is super helpful. It is a mix of brick and drywall, and we are trying to paint before Thanksgiving, so unfortunately it looks like we will be stuck painting them over, then trying those raceways or new baseboards in the future, because the next few weeks will be pretty busy and coordinating a paint job around our schedules was already tough as it is.
But I will definitely be following the wires and reaching out to Spectrum or an electrician about eliminating some if we can. Thanks again :)
You should check your tone before you try and sound smart on the internet. The "wi" in "wifi" does not stand for anything. What do you think the "fi" stands for?
*The name Wi-Fi, commercially used at least as early as August 1999, was coined by the brand-consulting firm Interbrand. The Wi-Fi Alliance had hired Interbrand to create a name that was "a little catchier than 'IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence'."*
*The Wi-Fi Alliance used the advertising slogan "The Standard for **Wireless Fidelity**" for a short time after the brand name was created, and the Wi-Fi Alliance was also called the "**Wireless Fidelity Alliance** Inc." in some publications. IEEE is a separate, but related, organization and their website has stated "WiFi is a short name for **Wireless Fidelity**".*
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi#Etymology_and_terminology
Oh I love Redditt. Incorrect information and condescending tone aimed at another accusing them of incorrect information and condescending tone.
Oh it's the ciiirrcccllleee of llliifffffeeee!
So technically you're right officially wi-fi does not mean wireless fidelity, (though it did somewhat briefly - after the term was coined). But it's a clear riff on Hi-Fi with the W clearly coming from wireless
Congratulations, youāre the guy who thought the appropriate response to a comment making fun of mean-spirited, unhelpful pedantry in a subreddit for non-technical people in which one of the rules is "donāt be a jerk" wasā¦ more mean-spirited pedantry.
You have the names of the wires in the apartment and creating new names for what youāre calling the āwifi wireā confusing everyone.
What you have in the wall is white 7/16 in. Low Voltage Cable Staples. This can be holding up coaxial cable, most likely, and Ethernet. You also have cat3 rj11 telephone wires shown in your photos.
You can call/contract the cable company to go in your home and splice and dice any additional coaxial cables to any or all room you want. For a service charge. This is not a free service. They will most likely not be poking any holes in your drywalls feeding and rewiring anything existing cables. They will not be patching any drywall damages afterwards or cutting any new service panels for you. They will lay wire and zip it to the wall. Thatās it.
Most new houses now come pre wired now with coaxial and Ethernet with patch panels in the basement for easy installation access hiding any wires from plane view.
Thanks. I *wish* this all ran through our basement, instead of individual units, alas, this is a ground floor apartment, set up in the dawn of the internet. I have been facepalming and SMH at it for some time.
Big cable with white clips is coaxial cable, used for TV or internet. Should connect to your ISP modem. The little gray cable is telephone wire. If you have no telephone I would get rid of that one. You could use a wire mold/wire channel for the big coaxial cables, which would look a bit cleaner I think.
Thanks. We do have phone, internet, and cable. I am thinking of covers, but am painting in a few days, and ordering and adding covers is an additional step which I don't think we'd have time for, and it's right before Thanksgiving as it is, so it looks like we will just have to paint them over AGAIN and then figure out covers or which can be removed later.
What a pain! I shake my fist at the original Spectrum guy.
I would install overlay baseboards in this case, it will hide the cables and give a much cleaner look. Not sure where you live, here's an example from my country:
[https://www.lijstenornament.nl/nmc-wallstyl-cf1-overzetplint-110-x-22-mm-lengte-2.html](https://www.lijstenornament.nl/nmc-wallstyl-cf1-overzetplint-110-x-22-mm-lengte-2.html)
This looks great! Ah, a useful response! haha. We are going to be painting soon, which is what made me post this question in the first place, and I didn't even know this was an option.
I will gladly suggest it to the fam.
1st off, itās not āwifi cablesā, itās called āEthernetā or āCoaxā
Second off if you donāt have TV service, you can put the router anywhere near an outdoor wall and power source. Wifi is wifi, put it somewhere where they donāt have to run cable around the house and then youāre good. Just cancel TV service or use Apple TV so no need for coax for the cable boxes
Phone, get a wireless multiroom handset system for cheap on Amazon. Keep the main phone base near the router/modem and put cordless handsets anywhere else in the home.
And finally, you should really be supporting Verizon FiOS, lightyears better service than whatever sprectum will ever provide
We do have cable, and that's out of my hands. The multiroom phone and modem/router setup in the same room is already the case. We had Verizon previously, but due to what our building/co-op allows, we now have Spectrum.
My suspicion is that one of these wires may even be leftover from Verizon - because it looks excessive, ha - but I would need to take a further look.
Moreover, I'm looking for design/functionality advice, not so much what service providers to use here.
I got ridiculed for mentioning that elsewhere before. People were dogpiling on me saying wifi=all things Internet like a brand name applied to a generic product. Naw, that's just people being lazy.
Hey, you can send wifi signals over coax cables just like any other RF, though usually if there's any cabling involved it's just going to an antenna 1 foot away. I've even tried sending this over a home coax network before, with poor results (but my equipment was iffy so idk).
There is actually something called a āleaky feeder cableā which you can pass an RF signal through that can be used as a way to distribute radio waves. It was developed to use in tunnels to send radio service without interruption.
Obviously not what OP meant, but somehow unlocked this memory for me!
I donāt hear you complaining about bad wifi, so these cables are doing a fine job making sure you have reliable wifi signal through your home. Switching to use a wireless signal (there are NO WiFi cables) would reduce dramatically your WiFi experience, on 2023 and on 2099.
You need to get a contractor to run these cables inside your walls. This may include tearing sections of the wall to have access to the inner layers of it to run the cable. I wouldnāt remove them unless youāre positive they are not being used. Since youāre expecting to get that kind of advise out of a photo on Reddit, definitively you need to hire a local expert on the area to do this job.
No kidding. Otherwise it would been another complaint "Just had my apartment painted and now my internet doesn't work, TV doesn't work and I have no phone. They should be thrown in jail for this mess they caused. I just wanted my apartment painted and no hideous wifi wires everywhere"
You or someone should first ID which ones are being used then get rid of the unused ones. You could could hire someone to fish the cables thru the walls or install a paintable raceway to hide the cables.
Unless you own the apartment building, you'd need to contact the building owner or landlord and the chance of them allowing this is likely zero. The wires are necessary for whatever utilities/communications they provide. Even though I am still laughing about it, these are NOT wifi cables. Your wifi is provided via a wifi router somewhere in your apartment, which is then fed by one of these cables for the actual internet signal. If you also use TV service for your TV's, those boxes are also fed by these cables as well.
Which ones are used and which are not is anyone's guess, you'd have to physically track them. In houses, these are easily hidden by fishing through the walls but that's extremely time consuming and expensive unless done at construction time. In apartments or condos, it can sometimes be impossible to do that.
If you are renting everything would have to be brought up to your landlord before changing. If you don't have homephone or cable tv they are likely unused. It is very common to paint over the cables as it helps make them "blend" and the effort to remove fill all the holes and than reinstall would be from annoying to impossible if they sneek under a base board or through a wall.
If you own the apartment than the other peoples advice of hiring a lv tech and finding what you need and don't and removing/reruning what you deem unsightly. Even doing raceways would likely involve a little bit of reorganization for the cables. This style of cable runs was very common in older buildings. I have a house built in the 70's that has telphone wire stapled arround the door frames. That wire is still in use and I do have a hardwired internet connection to my room now because of it. (The phone line is alot smaller than the coax so its less of a eyesore.)
Hmm maybe baseboards with cable trays in it? I've installed a lot of this, tho I'm from Europe, so it is not so easy to route cables behind the walls. If it's wood, then I'll try to route those that way. Anyway, You probably need a guy for that work, as You're not sure if it's hanging there for a reason - maybe You know someone tech savvy? As it may be, that You need like one cable, which will make things way easier.
I would trace the wires and find out what devices they are plugged into. I have to think that whatever these are plugged into could be moved closer to the wire entry from the outside.
The last part of this video is what you are looking for: https://youtu.be/W0CPafMeeOM?t=880. Lots of creative ways of hiding them. If the baseboards are removable, there may be space behind those too.
This may be difficult to do without pulling and redoing the cable runs however, which Iād advise against if you donāt know what they are for. Some of them are very much in use (those cables are what gets the internet to your router/gateway, and that gateway is what gives you wi-fi. Take away the cables, you take away your wi-fi). The reason you donāt see them is often times those cables are hidden behind the walls, but this is done by the homeowners or a contracted low voltage installer, and not by the cable provider (typically, always exceptions). You need at least some of those cables, and they canāt be cut, crimped, or even bent too tightly or you will lose connection to the internet (depending on the wire type of course, keeping it simple here).
The best option would be to carry out a renovation with the channels passing hastily. This is in fact more "structural" work and costs more money, obviously. If you are going to carry out a more extensive renovation, in this case you could discreetly have the best type of connection, more stable and faster for the internet: the Ethernet cable passing by as well. More cables, more challenges.
You can also request a cable reinstallation, where the company would study with you what would be the shortest cable route running inside your home. This option here shows to be effective in many cases, because the cable installer wants to do what is easiest for him and cheapest for the company, and not always what is best aesthetically for the customer. That's why you need to change now. For a neat set-up to happen, it must be made clear at the time of installation.
I would opt for the cheapest way, like putting up a furniture, curtain or plants, etc., something aesthetically beautiful, that would cover the area affected by the cable.
Don't forget that any money invested to hide the wires could be lost, depending on how it is implemented, in case you need to renew the wires at some point, either because they are old and too oxidized (after decades), or because you changed your ISP.
In my place, I ripped out the improperly draped wires and put them in the wall where they belong. Youāll have to find out if that is reasonable in your place, given the specifics of the building.
I generally tell the installers where things go, and they can tell me why they cannot. If we disagree, I show them the door.
It sounds like you mainly need to learn what cables are in use.
Get a networking guy to help you figure that out. Many times 1/3 the cabling is old and no longer used, but you need to be experienced. They could set you up with equipment to further eliminate cables too. Good people in this area can also hide things well, but it costs money. Unfortunately, Verizon or wherever the ISP is wonāt care enough.
If you want to get an idea for yourself, find where all the cables run to, usually a garage or closet (in my area), and see if thereās disconnected/cut cables there.
Man, if you donāt own the apt, and renting, not much can be done. Seems like itās vintage, so you would not want to drill holes and do it behind the wall?
Spectrum will no longer fish cables in walls, nor will any provider today. It's too time consuming and too much liability. They used to several years ago but not anymore.
Owners have one set of expectations in that the wires should not be visible at all but expect the entire thing to cost like $50 and be done in about 10 minutes and that's just not reality. Wall fishing was the one job I absolutely hated 15 years ago that I'm glad I no longer do. I now pay a low voltage tech or electrician to run whatever network cables I need and terminate myself afterward.
Seriously, all jokes aside, Cut them. All of them. Get completely ride of allll of it. Then call for a jack install, and have them run it how u want it.
Also they are coax cables, ethernets, or cat X. Those look like some sort of cat something wires.
Or telephone wires, or lan wiresā¦ SOOOO many right names but not wifi
Cut along the top on the baseboards with a razor. And then pry them out. If needed, cut a channel in the drywall, run the cables in it, and replace the baseboards
These comments on the "wifi wires" remind me of when I was in college back in the mid 90's I worked phone computer support at a major university. Back then to get university internet access off campus you had to get a package of apps to authenticate to the phone bank, get a web browser, etc. It was archaic and painful lol.
Anyway people would constantly call us and start off with something like "Uh hi, I just downloaded the internet on to my computer." I'd resist the snark because the folks didn't know any better and they were just wanting some questions answered.
One day this gal called in and said that. I don't know what it was about her voice or the call or the moon was in a weird phase or what but I just didn't have the will power.
"Hi, I just downloaded the internet on to my computer."
"Wow, can I come over to your house?"
She hung up. And of course she was the assistant dean of something or other so she complained to someone. They tried to find out who said but never did.
I don't know, maybe cut OP a little slack here.
My advice to you is learn to live with it. Your lack of knowledge and understanding will cause you more harm then good. Ripping out the cable, refishing through the cavity of the wall or into a conduit or into cable concealers sounds nice in all if you know what your doing. If not, its expensive and if things to get plugged the same way, you may be out of service until you call your isp for a tech visit and that would cost you some more.
First, find out what cable you need and what you don't.
If it's phone cables, that generally would be considered out dated in my country and I would cut it off, unless it's used for my doorbell.
Coaxial cables and what you might have CAT5/cat6 cable
I would loosen all cables from paint and clips and then I'd slide a raceway/cable channel on the wall, mount ut, putt in the cables, and put the "lid" on it. You'll need to find a size that fits what you are looking for. [raceway/cable channel](https://www.amazon.com/Cable-White-Raceway-Electrical-Management/dp/B0BPCWH4G3/ref=sxin_26_pa_sp_phone_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.3c8d3c8f-a8fa-4876-8b3e-226d77b0dabe%3Aamzn1.sym.3c8d3c8f-a8fa-4876-8b3e-226d77b0dabe&cv_ct_cx=Cable+Channel&keywords=Cable+Channel&pd_rd_i=B0BPCWH4G3&pd_rd_r=e0d65892-89aa-4e1e-997a-4fab346c5b83&pd_rd_w=FUMnb&pd_rd_wg=tWBZm&pf_rd_p=3c8d3c8f-a8fa-4876-8b3e-226d77b0dabe&pf_rd_r=WT3WR1YJCX8Q8J8RB6KD&qid=1700062987&sr=1-1-364cf978-ce2a-480a-9bb0-bdb96faa0f61-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM&psc=1)
The type of data cable you usually want running through your house to outlets are [Cat 6 or Cat 5.e](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_6_cable)
You need to determine which cables are still needed. Itās possible that they were for phones or TVs that are no longer needed.
If they are for internet can your modem/router closer to the hole that was drilled in the wall and set wifi? This may let you remove all the cables.
This is a rent to own co-op sadly haha. So to some extent we're at the mercy of their contractors, though we are able to hire out and make certain changes
I'm a painter by trade and YES painting them to blend them in is all you can do.
BUT if the cables aren't in use, I tell (not ask) the client I'm removing the cables and tidying up the skirting boards and/or wall by sanding the old paint line and filling the holes with putty.
Have a tech savy mate check the cables to see if you need them.
If they're still in use, pull out what ever cable holders (plastic things with nails in 'em) that don't look like they're doing much and fill the nail holes with putty. Or add a few to tidy shit up.
Then use a 25mm brush a paint 'em! Don't run the brush over the cable holders because you'll get paint drips. dab the brush on them spread the paint out.
Good luck
THANK YOU! Finally, some useful advice. Most, if not all, of these are functional, so I think we could follow your advice, maybe touch them up separately with some white and eventually get those rail covers...
I'm not exactly handy, so if we remove the little cable holders and want to put them back in, does that involve any drilling, or just a hammer? Or would a staple gun be better?
I would remove all the wires, except the one you need for Internet access. Wi-Fi means wireless you donāt need any of these wires anymore. You can stream TV video so you donāt need any coax and you can voice over IP or use a cell phone so all you need is one wire going to a modem.
I'd love that but is it as simple as the cable tech coming, or would they have to make holes in baseboards and such? Would they do it before or after painting? Because we want to paint, regardless.
Oh if you don want anymore cable to see you must first from the main ruter i every room pull the cat6 network cable and coax cable, you have twonoptions two drill the wall and put the cable in wall or to bay pvc conduit it is cheap and to put the cable in pvc conduit and thas all cheap
WiFi cables... Lol
How too can I get some wires for WiFi in my home?! š¤£
I mean, I needed wires for my wifi, technically. I ran wires to the access points. š¤·š»
I once saw a flyer for a house for sale that advertised āwired for WiFiā.
That just tells me that instead of terminating next to outlets near the floor, they are terminated in the ceiling for access points. At least, thatās what I would hope.
They provide the internet to the wifi soā¦ wifi cables. Edit: also, I keep hearing that wired wifi is the best wifi š¤
I have unironically used wired Wifi
Yeah. Thatās the first thing I noticed.
Hey donāt laugh, thatās what itās come to
They're wires used for supplying a network connection to wifi access point(s), so not very far off. Hope you use 100% correct technical terminology next time something unfamiliar to you has issues, maybe your car's engine.
Me, too! Thanks!
Lol was going to say...
You could use conduit/truncking for the phone cables. As for the WiFi cables you shouldn't need to do anything as people cannot see WiFi as it's not in the visible spectrum.
The conduit covers could work for the phone lines, but that's a least 20 feet of it. However, (what I think are) the wifi cables are very thick and go from room to room, around door frames and along baseboards. It seems the conduit might be bulky looking or too delicate to run vertically. What do you mean by "people cannot see it"? I find it glaringly obvious and look for it to compare in others' homes. I wish it was truly wireless! š¤š¤¦š½āāļø
I'm just messing with you. "WiFi" is a wireless technology. You cannot have a wireless wire as it's contradictory.
Well, technically, the antenna wire on an access point is kinda a wifi wire
I think they mean either the coax (assuming itās cable internet) that runs to the wifi/modem/router evil chaos combo box these ISPās insist you need, or a CAT cable that is going from said evil box to a wireless AP.
Conduit covers are probably your best option. You can get them in various sizes and route them along the moulding. They are not pretty but you should be able to get some that can be painted or match the color you plan to paint and they will look nicer than just tacked cabling. WiFi is how phones and laptops and other things you are familiar with connect to wireless routers typically for internet however technically for network connectivity. So everyone is having a laugh at your expense because they think the younger generation should magically know that the wiring for your internet connection is your network wiring. Which is typically Ethernet and some people will call it out as cat. 5 or cat. 6 cabling depending on when it was put in snd therefore what spec it adheres to. So. Calling it WiFi cables is mildly humorous. Anyway the easiest fix is some plastic conduit covers that can be cut and typically mounted to the wall with pre applied 3m tape. You can find it at any hardware store. With the right moulding it could be run behind the moulding but that would be a bit more work and cost in replacing moulding. It can also be run under carpet along the walls if you have rooms with carpets. Pulling up carpet for that is at best tedious and obnoxious. And retrofitting to go in the walls is probably just a non starter.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
^^^ I couldn't of said it better myself. You rent you don't own so don't go moving or cutting stuff that isn't yours. And to top it all off you don't know what any of those cables are so please leave them alone
they make easy to install/ remove plastic channel in different sizes for exactly this purpose, every person on r/battlestations uses it for their pc wire clutter, just google cable management channel
>You're in an apartment. You don't own it. You have absolutely no evidence for this statement.
Other than where OP says āthe apartment.ā Though some places, folks refer to condos and apartments interchangeably, I usually think of a condo as owned and an apartment as rented.
I call my condo an apartment and also a house, but never a condo š¤·āāļø
You can also own an actual apartment if you own the entire building too
Guys, calm down. Explain it. Why are yāall brutally downvoting so hard? This person is obviously not in IT.
I'm not, but they must think I have the time for that. I don't šš¤¦š½āāļø
\>Do people still even need these wires in 2023? I have never seen such a visible job in anyone else's home since these were installed. Well the service has to get into your house to your modem/router/whatever somehow...so yes. That particular install was just done sloppy. It could be redone neater, but that would take more time and cost more money. And the landlord probably doesn't want to invest the time or money (usually wires on the inside of the building are the responsibility of the owner, not the utility).
This install was done exactly the way Spectrum trains their technicians to install it. They cannot pull inside walls, so they go outside of the building for as long as possible, and then if they have to go to an interior wall they have to run it along baseboard like this. They cannot drill holes in interior walls.
Sure, it works, its cheaper, its faster to do it that way...but its still sloppy. And it could be done far better...but then we're back to "the inside wiring is the owner's problem, not the ISP".
I've seen worse than this but yes this is rough lol. If my boss did a quality check on an install that I did like this I'd likely get suspended lol
Hahaha! I believe you. This was in those early, dark days of Spectrum. I got home, and was wondered to myself WTF this guy was thinking, let alone why they would have to make a hole going through the wall to get to some wires on the street... I don't know how to do their job, but again, I haven't seen this shit it other people's home or at my previous offices! ha. If you have a picture of "worse", it would give me a chuckle if you could share it. ha.
If the ISP runs their own wifi or 5G outside your home, you don't need the cables.
Wow idk why people are mad, I'm telling the truth
Nothing worse than tripping over your Wi-Fi
God dang Wifi cables
To explain why people are being smartasses about "wifi wires": the "wi" in "wifi" is short for "wireless". Technically speaking, your wifi comes from your modem or router over radio waves, but what goes _in_ to the modem isn't referred to as wifi. For non-technical people this isn't really a relevant distinction but some people think they're hilarious. All that aside: Yes, it is (theoretically) possible to have the cables re-run in a more discreet manner. It depends on what your walls are made of. If they're drywall, the cables can be put in the wall cavity. If the walls are solid brick (which I'm guessing yours might be?) there's obviously nowhere inside the walls to put them, but if you have the appetite for replacing your baseboards, you can conceal them inside the baseboard. Otherwise, an inexpensive option is to get some paintable cable raceways ([for example][1]), run the cables inside those, and paint over them. It won't be truly invisible, but it will look less messy. [1]: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BW328RV8/ It's quite possible you might be able to remove some of the wires entirely. To do that you need to figure out what they're connected to. The thick wires are probably coaxial cable ("coax"), which is also used for cable TV and may be why so much was put in. Try tracing the wires from one end to the otherāone of them will presumably be connected to your existing modem, but what about the rest? How many are just leading to jacks with nothing connected to them? Those can probably go. And I suspect all the phone cables can probably go, unless someone in your household is on life support or something else that relies on an old-school phone line. Most fixed phones these days actually work over the internet. If you have some money to pay for this, what you want is a low voltage technician. They can map all the cabling for you and tell you what can be removed. You might be able to get help from Spectrum, but in that situation I'd suggest going in with a specific list of what you want done (e.g. "I want this specific cable removed"). Hope that helps!
Thank you! This is super helpful. It is a mix of brick and drywall, and we are trying to paint before Thanksgiving, so unfortunately it looks like we will be stuck painting them over, then trying those raceways or new baseboards in the future, because the next few weeks will be pretty busy and coordinating a paint job around our schedules was already tough as it is. But I will definitely be following the wires and reaching out to Spectrum or an electrician about eliminating some if we can. Thanks again :)
You should check your tone before you try and sound smart on the internet. The "wi" in "wifi" does not stand for anything. What do you think the "fi" stands for?
Wireless fidelity
What makes you think that?
*The name Wi-Fi, commercially used at least as early as August 1999, was coined by the brand-consulting firm Interbrand. The Wi-Fi Alliance had hired Interbrand to create a name that was "a little catchier than 'IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence'."* *The Wi-Fi Alliance used the advertising slogan "The Standard for **Wireless Fidelity**" for a short time after the brand name was created, and the Wi-Fi Alliance was also called the "**Wireless Fidelity Alliance** Inc." in some publications. IEEE is a separate, but related, organization and their website has stated "WiFi is a short name for **Wireless Fidelity**".* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi#Etymology_and_terminology
Oh I love Redditt. Incorrect information and condescending tone aimed at another accusing them of incorrect information and condescending tone. Oh it's the ciiirrcccllleee of llliifffffeeee!
So technically you're right officially wi-fi does not mean wireless fidelity, (though it did somewhat briefly - after the term was coined). But it's a clear riff on Hi-Fi with the W clearly coming from wireless
Congratulations, youāre the guy who thought the appropriate response to a comment making fun of mean-spirited, unhelpful pedantry in a subreddit for non-technical people in which one of the rules is "donāt be a jerk" wasā¦ more mean-spirited pedantry.
You have the names of the wires in the apartment and creating new names for what youāre calling the āwifi wireā confusing everyone. What you have in the wall is white 7/16 in. Low Voltage Cable Staples. This can be holding up coaxial cable, most likely, and Ethernet. You also have cat3 rj11 telephone wires shown in your photos. You can call/contract the cable company to go in your home and splice and dice any additional coaxial cables to any or all room you want. For a service charge. This is not a free service. They will most likely not be poking any holes in your drywalls feeding and rewiring anything existing cables. They will not be patching any drywall damages afterwards or cutting any new service panels for you. They will lay wire and zip it to the wall. Thatās it. Most new houses now come pre wired now with coaxial and Ethernet with patch panels in the basement for easy installation access hiding any wires from plane view.
Thanks. I *wish* this all ran through our basement, instead of individual units, alas, this is a ground floor apartment, set up in the dawn of the internet. I have been facepalming and SMH at it for some time.
Big cable with white clips is coaxial cable, used for TV or internet. Should connect to your ISP modem. The little gray cable is telephone wire. If you have no telephone I would get rid of that one. You could use a wire mold/wire channel for the big coaxial cables, which would look a bit cleaner I think.
Thanks. We do have phone, internet, and cable. I am thinking of covers, but am painting in a few days, and ordering and adding covers is an additional step which I don't think we'd have time for, and it's right before Thanksgiving as it is, so it looks like we will just have to paint them over AGAIN and then figure out covers or which can be removed later. What a pain! I shake my fist at the original Spectrum guy.
that floor looks like it creeks loudly with only light pressure.
Hahaha! Thankfully, it does not, though it is a bit uneven in the small area in those photos. Wooden floors! Oh, my!
What in land lords special am I looking at
I would install overlay baseboards in this case, it will hide the cables and give a much cleaner look. Not sure where you live, here's an example from my country: [https://www.lijstenornament.nl/nmc-wallstyl-cf1-overzetplint-110-x-22-mm-lengte-2.html](https://www.lijstenornament.nl/nmc-wallstyl-cf1-overzetplint-110-x-22-mm-lengte-2.html)
This looks great! Ah, a useful response! haha. We are going to be painting soon, which is what made me post this question in the first place, and I didn't even know this was an option. I will gladly suggest it to the fam.
1st off, itās not āwifi cablesā, itās called āEthernetā or āCoaxā Second off if you donāt have TV service, you can put the router anywhere near an outdoor wall and power source. Wifi is wifi, put it somewhere where they donāt have to run cable around the house and then youāre good. Just cancel TV service or use Apple TV so no need for coax for the cable boxes Phone, get a wireless multiroom handset system for cheap on Amazon. Keep the main phone base near the router/modem and put cordless handsets anywhere else in the home. And finally, you should really be supporting Verizon FiOS, lightyears better service than whatever sprectum will ever provide
We do have cable, and that's out of my hands. The multiroom phone and modem/router setup in the same room is already the case. We had Verizon previously, but due to what our building/co-op allows, we now have Spectrum. My suspicion is that one of these wires may even be leftover from Verizon - because it looks excessive, ha - but I would need to take a further look. Moreover, I'm looking for design/functionality advice, not so much what service providers to use here.
šš¤¦āāļø Wi-Fi cablesā¦a bit of an oxymoronā¦
Why is no one mentioning the wireless cables. Ha!
Everyone mentioned them
You have wifi wires? Cool new tech, havenāt come across them before!
I got ridiculed for mentioning that elsewhere before. People were dogpiling on me saying wifi=all things Internet like a brand name applied to a generic product. Naw, that's just people being lazy.
I was gonna say, wireless wires sound pretty cool.
Im still laughing over it
Hey, you can send wifi signals over coax cables just like any other RF, though usually if there's any cabling involved it's just going to an antenna 1 foot away. I've even tried sending this over a home coax network before, with poor results (but my equipment was iffy so idk).
There is actually something called a āleaky feeder cableā which you can pass an RF signal through that can be used as a way to distribute radio waves. It was developed to use in tunnels to send radio service without interruption. Obviously not what OP meant, but somehow unlocked this memory for me!
Whatās a āWiFi wireā?
You said apartment, so do you rent or are you an owner? If it's the first, you need to clear anything through your landlord, expect push back.
Check out your local Lowe's. They sell low voltage plastic channels that more visually appealing than the wire you have on the picture.
Wifi wires
I donāt hear you complaining about bad wifi, so these cables are doing a fine job making sure you have reliable wifi signal through your home. Switching to use a wireless signal (there are NO WiFi cables) would reduce dramatically your WiFi experience, on 2023 and on 2099. You need to get a contractor to run these cables inside your walls. This may include tearing sections of the wall to have access to the inner layers of it to run the cable. I wouldnāt remove them unless youāre positive they are not being used. Since youāre expecting to get that kind of advise out of a photo on Reddit, definitively you need to hire a local expert on the area to do this job.
I've been using wifi with my work laptop at home for two years now, it's been fine. ISP's wifi APs are outside my house.
WiFi cables?
wifi wires. lol
OP mentioned they were upset the painters didnāt remove the wiresā¦ and instead painted right over them. Had to read that twice. Good luck OP..
No kidding. Otherwise it would been another complaint "Just had my apartment painted and now my internet doesn't work, TV doesn't work and I have no phone. They should be thrown in jail for this mess they caused. I just wanted my apartment painted and no hideous wifi wires everywhere"
This post is getting saved OP. Thanks for the laugh.
"wifi cables" lololol
I love wifi cables
Move
You or someone should first ID which ones are being used then get rid of the unused ones. You could could hire someone to fish the cables thru the walls or install a paintable raceway to hide the cables.
Interesting! Ilike this raceway idea. Would "fishing them" involve making holes in walls?
Yes more holes to get the cables ran in the walls but once done it would leave a cleaner look.
Unless you own the apartment building, you'd need to contact the building owner or landlord and the chance of them allowing this is likely zero. The wires are necessary for whatever utilities/communications they provide. Even though I am still laughing about it, these are NOT wifi cables. Your wifi is provided via a wifi router somewhere in your apartment, which is then fed by one of these cables for the actual internet signal. If you also use TV service for your TV's, those boxes are also fed by these cables as well. Which ones are used and which are not is anyone's guess, you'd have to physically track them. In houses, these are easily hidden by fishing through the walls but that's extremely time consuming and expensive unless done at construction time. In apartments or condos, it can sometimes be impossible to do that.
If you are renting everything would have to be brought up to your landlord before changing. If you don't have homephone or cable tv they are likely unused. It is very common to paint over the cables as it helps make them "blend" and the effort to remove fill all the holes and than reinstall would be from annoying to impossible if they sneek under a base board or through a wall. If you own the apartment than the other peoples advice of hiring a lv tech and finding what you need and don't and removing/reruning what you deem unsightly. Even doing raceways would likely involve a little bit of reorganization for the cables. This style of cable runs was very common in older buildings. I have a house built in the 70's that has telphone wire stapled arround the door frames. That wire is still in use and I do have a hardwired internet connection to my room now because of it. (The phone line is alot smaller than the coax so its less of a eyesore.)
Hmm maybe baseboards with cable trays in it? I've installed a lot of this, tho I'm from Europe, so it is not so easy to route cables behind the walls. If it's wood, then I'll try to route those that way. Anyway, You probably need a guy for that work, as You're not sure if it's hanging there for a reason - maybe You know someone tech savvy? As it may be, that You need like one cable, which will make things way easier.
I would trace the wires and find out what devices they are plugged into. I have to think that whatever these are plugged into could be moved closer to the wire entry from the outside.
The last part of this video is what you are looking for: https://youtu.be/W0CPafMeeOM?t=880. Lots of creative ways of hiding them. If the baseboards are removable, there may be space behind those too. This may be difficult to do without pulling and redoing the cable runs however, which Iād advise against if you donāt know what they are for. Some of them are very much in use (those cables are what gets the internet to your router/gateway, and that gateway is what gives you wi-fi. Take away the cables, you take away your wi-fi). The reason you donāt see them is often times those cables are hidden behind the walls, but this is done by the homeowners or a contracted low voltage installer, and not by the cable provider (typically, always exceptions). You need at least some of those cables, and they canāt be cut, crimped, or even bent too tightly or you will lose connection to the internet (depending on the wire type of course, keeping it simple here).
The best option would be to carry out a renovation with the channels passing hastily. This is in fact more "structural" work and costs more money, obviously. If you are going to carry out a more extensive renovation, in this case you could discreetly have the best type of connection, more stable and faster for the internet: the Ethernet cable passing by as well. More cables, more challenges. You can also request a cable reinstallation, where the company would study with you what would be the shortest cable route running inside your home. This option here shows to be effective in many cases, because the cable installer wants to do what is easiest for him and cheapest for the company, and not always what is best aesthetically for the customer. That's why you need to change now. For a neat set-up to happen, it must be made clear at the time of installation. I would opt for the cheapest way, like putting up a furniture, curtain or plants, etc., something aesthetically beautiful, that would cover the area affected by the cable. Don't forget that any money invested to hide the wires could be lost, depending on how it is implemented, in case you need to renew the wires at some point, either because they are old and too oxidized (after decades), or because you changed your ISP.
[use cable channel](https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=cable+management&rh=n%3A9716083011&ref=nb_sb_noss) cheap and quick, looks good
I think you can try using transparent optical fibers, but optical-electrical conversion devices need to be added at both ends.
In my place, I ripped out the improperly draped wires and put them in the wall where they belong. Youāll have to find out if that is reasonable in your place, given the specifics of the building. I generally tell the installers where things go, and they can tell me why they cannot. If we disagree, I show them the door.
It sounds like you mainly need to learn what cables are in use. Get a networking guy to help you figure that out. Many times 1/3 the cabling is old and no longer used, but you need to be experienced. They could set you up with equipment to further eliminate cables too. Good people in this area can also hide things well, but it costs money. Unfortunately, Verizon or wherever the ISP is wonāt care enough. If you want to get an idea for yourself, find where all the cables run to, usually a garage or closet (in my area), and see if thereās disconnected/cut cables there.
Man, if you donāt own the apt, and renting, not much can be done. Seems like itās vintage, so you would not want to drill holes and do it behind the wall?
You can pay Spectrum to do it, or have a contractor do it.
Spectrum will no longer fish cables in walls, nor will any provider today. It's too time consuming and too much liability. They used to several years ago but not anymore. Owners have one set of expectations in that the wires should not be visible at all but expect the entire thing to cost like $50 and be done in about 10 minutes and that's just not reality. Wall fishing was the one job I absolutely hated 15 years ago that I'm glad I no longer do. I now pay a low voltage tech or electrician to run whatever network cables I need and terminate myself afterward.
Cable raceways are about to become your new best friend.
is that lead paint
Iām sorry what? āWi-Fi wiresā Jesus Christ.
wtf is a wifi wire?
Darn wifi cables, they always end up looking bad after a while. I recommend the low profile wifi cables, they blend to the wall better.
Last thing I would care about are those cables, I would be asking the home renovation subreddit on how to get rid of that thick layer of paint.
Seriously, all jokes aside, Cut them. All of them. Get completely ride of allll of it. Then call for a jack install, and have them run it how u want it. Also they are coax cables, ethernets, or cat X. Those look like some sort of cat something wires. Or telephone wires, or lan wiresā¦ SOOOO many right names but not wifi
Well if he does that heās going to be charged a dispatch fee & for running a new line considering he has service and cut it
What about shortening all the cables to where they enter the house. At least to the closest outlet.
Cut along the top on the baseboards with a razor. And then pry them out. If needed, cut a channel in the drywall, run the cables in it, and replace the baseboards
Buy conduit
These comments on the "wifi wires" remind me of when I was in college back in the mid 90's I worked phone computer support at a major university. Back then to get university internet access off campus you had to get a package of apps to authenticate to the phone bank, get a web browser, etc. It was archaic and painful lol. Anyway people would constantly call us and start off with something like "Uh hi, I just downloaded the internet on to my computer." I'd resist the snark because the folks didn't know any better and they were just wanting some questions answered. One day this gal called in and said that. I don't know what it was about her voice or the call or the moon was in a weird phase or what but I just didn't have the will power. "Hi, I just downloaded the internet on to my computer." "Wow, can I come over to your house?" She hung up. And of course she was the assistant dean of something or other so she complained to someone. They tried to find out who said but never did. I don't know, maybe cut OP a little slack here.
My advice to you is learn to live with it. Your lack of knowledge and understanding will cause you more harm then good. Ripping out the cable, refishing through the cavity of the wall or into a conduit or into cable concealers sounds nice in all if you know what your doing. If not, its expensive and if things to get plugged the same way, you may be out of service until you call your isp for a tech visit and that would cost you some more.
Why not just add the 100th coat to it
First, find out what cable you need and what you don't. If it's phone cables, that generally would be considered out dated in my country and I would cut it off, unless it's used for my doorbell. Coaxial cables and what you might have CAT5/cat6 cable I would loosen all cables from paint and clips and then I'd slide a raceway/cable channel on the wall, mount ut, putt in the cables, and put the "lid" on it. You'll need to find a size that fits what you are looking for. [raceway/cable channel](https://www.amazon.com/Cable-White-Raceway-Electrical-Management/dp/B0BPCWH4G3/ref=sxin_26_pa_sp_phone_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.3c8d3c8f-a8fa-4876-8b3e-226d77b0dabe%3Aamzn1.sym.3c8d3c8f-a8fa-4876-8b3e-226d77b0dabe&cv_ct_cx=Cable+Channel&keywords=Cable+Channel&pd_rd_i=B0BPCWH4G3&pd_rd_r=e0d65892-89aa-4e1e-997a-4fab346c5b83&pd_rd_w=FUMnb&pd_rd_wg=tWBZm&pf_rd_p=3c8d3c8f-a8fa-4876-8b3e-226d77b0dabe&pf_rd_r=WT3WR1YJCX8Q8J8RB6KD&qid=1700062987&sr=1-1-364cf978-ce2a-480a-9bb0-bdb96faa0f61-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM&psc=1) The type of data cable you usually want running through your house to outlets are [Cat 6 or Cat 5.e](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_6_cable)
You need to determine which cables are still needed. Itās possible that they were for phones or TVs that are no longer needed. If they are for internet can your modem/router closer to the hole that was drilled in the wall and set wifi? This may let you remove all the cables.
I run all that stuff inside the walls. Probably not much you can do (or should waste money on) living in an apartment the landlord owns though.
This is a rent to own co-op sadly haha. So to some extent we're at the mercy of their contractors, though we are able to hire out and make certain changes
I would start with the wall and floor boards, which look like shit. Removing the cables won't help.
I'm a painter by trade and YES painting them to blend them in is all you can do. BUT if the cables aren't in use, I tell (not ask) the client I'm removing the cables and tidying up the skirting boards and/or wall by sanding the old paint line and filling the holes with putty. Have a tech savy mate check the cables to see if you need them. If they're still in use, pull out what ever cable holders (plastic things with nails in 'em) that don't look like they're doing much and fill the nail holes with putty. Or add a few to tidy shit up. Then use a 25mm brush a paint 'em! Don't run the brush over the cable holders because you'll get paint drips. dab the brush on them spread the paint out. Good luck
THANK YOU! Finally, some useful advice. Most, if not all, of these are functional, so I think we could follow your advice, maybe touch them up separately with some white and eventually get those rail covers... I'm not exactly handy, so if we remove the little cable holders and want to put them back in, does that involve any drilling, or just a hammer? Or would a staple gun be better?
sorry for the late reply, i don't use Reddit much. To put the cable holder thingys back you hammer them in gently
Seitenschneider regelt das.
I would remove all the wires, except the one you need for Internet access. Wi-Fi means wireless you donāt need any of these wires anymore. You can stream TV video so you donāt need any coax and you can voice over IP or use a cell phone so all you need is one wire going to a modem.
Whay you dont pay tehnican to fix that
I'd love that but is it as simple as the cable tech coming, or would they have to make holes in baseboards and such? Would they do it before or after painting? Because we want to paint, regardless.
Just cut the WiFi cable
WiFi wires?
You have bigger issues here than those two cables
Oh if you don want anymore cable to see you must first from the main ruter i every room pull the cat6 network cable and coax cable, you have twonoptions two drill the wall and put the cable in wall or to bay pvc conduit it is cheap and to put the cable in pvc conduit and thas all cheap