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My girlfriend wants to run ethernet cable along the corners of the walls of her apartment, but is rather particular in that it needs to be discreet. Cable covers are NOT an option here, as the trimmings would only run up one corner of the room, then along one corner of the ceiling until reaching a wall mounted PoE (power over ethernet) camera placed over the front door of her living room. I have suggested command strips numerous times, but she insists that these are unacceptable, as they would not allow the cable to rest flush against the corners of the wall.

I've thought about double-sided tape, but she reasonably suggests that it would last all of 15 minutes before falling off the wall. This is an apartment, so drilling holes or nailing anything down is completely out of the question.

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  • Do you have a question to ask? If so, please edit your post to ask it. As it stands, this sounds like some (not entirely unreasonable) venting about your girlfriend. Better here than to her face, I suppose, but that's not what this site's for.
    – FreeMan
    Sep 24, 2020 at 18:12
  • Perhaps if she spent hours on the internet doing research she would A - learn something and B - find an option that is suitable to her. There are attractive nondescript options available. amazon.com/Raceway-Quarter-Round-ft-White/dp/B00DAI1EOU/…
    – Alaska Man
    Sep 24, 2020 at 18:28
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    In Victorian times, they ran Ethernet cables behind the picture rail. Either in a void routed into the picture rail prior to installation, or just lain in the cove/hollow on top where it meets the wall. Depending on the rail, this can be fairly large. Sep 24, 2020 at 18:38
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    Nay, nay - those were not cables - they were pipes full of Ether (or was it Aether?) upon which the networks between the difference engines ran... ;-)
    – Ecnerwal
    Sep 24, 2020 at 19:36

2 Answers 2

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Command strips "cord bundlers" and a nice hunk of decoy fake Ivy or other imitation vining plant (unless there's enough light and willingness to care for to use a real plant - unlikely.)

Alternatively, fairy lights, etc.

Basically, it will be in plain sight any way you slice it, so might as well just make it disappear by having something more noticeable that makes it non-obvious (the decoy need not stop where the ethernet wire does, either, which can help.)

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One typical solution is cable staples:

Gardner Bender cable staples on Amazon

Yes, each one has a nail. The main part is white, so assuming the apartment has typical neutral white or off-white walls they should look OK (or as good as you're going to get under the circumstances).

Yes, each one has a nail. Most apartments will allow for small nail holes for picture hanging and things of that sort, and these aren't that much different. Many apartments get painted between tenants, which easily covers up small nail holes.

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    Or the tenant can spackle the holes on the way out, usually with Colgate or Crest spackle :) Sep 24, 2020 at 18:32
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    Wow, I haven't rented in years, but I sure wish I'd known about Crest™ Brand Spackle when I was a broke college kid!
    – FreeMan
    Sep 25, 2020 at 14:18

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