The things you're wondering

A black cable about the thickness of a phone charger lead, clipped along a line the building already has: a gutter, a soil pipe, an alarm cable. There's a photograph of one on how it works, and it takes a moment to find.

No. They're drilled sloping downward from inside to out, so water can't track along the cable, then sealed. Same method as an outside tap, an alarm box or a boiler flue.

At the socket, yes. Whether your computer can take it is a separate question: most laptops have a gigabit port and will see about 1 Gbps, which is still ten times what a back bedroom gets over wifi. Docks and monitors with a network port are almost always gigabit too. Tell us what you work on and we'll tell you honestly what you'll get before you book. More on this.

Usually, yes. Once the machines that matter are on a wire, your wifi has far less to do. The kids' tablets, the TV, everybody's phones get the airwaves to themselves. You keep the router and the mesh you already bought. They finally get a job they're capable of doing.

Not at all. We don't touch your ISP's equipment, your ONT or your account. The cable plugs into a spare port on the router you already have. Switch provider later and nothing here changes.

No. Switches and patch cables are in the price. If you want better wifi at that end of the house too, an access point in the new socket does it, and we'll tell you which one to buy.

You'll need your landlord's permission, since it means drilling an external wall. It adds a hard-wired network and leaves no internal damage, which is an easy thing to say yes to. Ask before booking a survey.

The cabling stays, the equipment comes with you. A documented hard-wired network costs the next owner nothing to inherit.

Most jobs are a day. You need to be in, we need access to the rooms at both ends, and it helps if the space around your desk is clear before we arrive.