TIME Internet goes beyond mesh WiFi with 'invisible' cables

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WiFi has got to be the best thing since sliced bread, ensuring a connection to the internet without cables. But, if you live in anything other than a studio apartment, you’d have a mental map of WiFi dead zones – areas where your WhatsApp calls drop or your YouTube video starts dancing the spinning ring of death.

Unless you want wires trailing all over your house, mesh WiFi seems to be the best solution… except that it could affect internet speed and latency depending on your setup and equipment.

At the launch of their Gig Speed Home WiFi at the Ikano Power Center today, TIME and Huawei a new solution: Huawei’s latest Fibre to the Room (FTTR) F30 technology that delivers TIME’s 1Gbps internet with unmatched speed and reliability. To simply explain it, it’s like a wired mesh system except you don’t really see the wires unless you’re actively looking for it.

See if you can find it in the pictures below:

FTTR WiFi modem to splitter — Usually you’ll see a fibreoptic cable somewhere

And the answer is that the fiberoptic cable is actually trailing along the edge of the wall. Here’s a closeup from a different part of the exhibition “house”:

Essentially, these are fiberoptic cables that link multiple “child” nodes placed throughout your house to the “parent” router, ensuring low latency, higher speed and – most importantly – ensuring that no one knows it’s even there. It’s like if TIME didn’t tell us what was going on, we would have been left wondering why they were asking us to walk through an IKEA showroom. Yes, everything was IKEA since this exhibition is happening at Ikano Power Center.

According to our guide, the fiberoptic cables are thinner and able to “melt” into place; meaning that they aren’t easily detachable, don’t require drilling, and are transparent enough that they won’t stick out (you can also paint over them).

Huawei's Fibre to the Room (FTTR) cable — Here’s what the cables look like

Early bird promo prices start at RM1,320 (or RM55 x 24 months) not including RM199/month for TIME’s 1Gbps package. Check out the packages here.

But wait – if you’re a Time Fibre Home subscriber, you can win a full installation!

All you need to do is spend a minimum of RM500 in up to 3 receipts across Ikano Power Center and IKEA stores, and submit your entry at the Gig Speed Home exhibition popup at IPC Concourse. You’ll stand to win a Grand Prize worth RM10,000 that includes full Gig Speed Home installation, Ikea vouchers, and a year of free internet.

But even if you don’t plan on participating, drop by anyway to see if you can spot all the cables. They’ll be there from October 19 – 22 2023.