This was a great solution for a difficult yard shape.This fence cost me less than one 6 ft. fence panel would've cost, so that's why I took a chance on it. I'm so glad I did!!Installation: so easy, a cave man could do it! In seriousness, though, I used a sidewalk edger attachment on my weed eater, and cut a trench in the shape I needed. That allowed me to put the wire about 3-4 inches underground. You can do this in any shape you want, and you can even cordon off areas internal to the yard (like a flower bed or bird feeder, or whatever). All you need to do, then, is twist the wire together to cancel the signal on that part. The instructions are well-written about how to do this; again, just make sure you plan before you start digging and layer wire. Then, I just got a few bags of dirt and grass seed to cover up the trench. 3 months later, and I can't tell I even installed it!A few tips: make sure you plan ahead where you'll plug in the all unit because the wire has to start and end at that wall plug. Plan ahead to save yourself more work later. Tip #2, don't make sharp corners, or the signal will cancel out. Make an arc, not a 90 degree corner.Functionality: You can set the perimeter from about one foot to 10 feet. I have a small yard, so I set it to the lowest setting possible (about 2 ft., otherwise the signal cancels out on the corners).You can set this to 5 settings from audible warning only to major zapping. (It's not that big of a zap; my kids tested it at the highest setting in their hands, and really it just startles you. It's not painful, so don't worry that you're hurting your dog. It's minor! But, it still works!!)My dog learned this area very quickly. Put the little white flags up for a few weeks so the dog has a visual association with the sound and, if the dog gets too close, the "shock". Within a day, she would not go anywhere near the border. As soon as she hears the audible warning, she backs up slowly. I was amazed at how fast she learned the border. Now, this could be dog-dependent, but my dog learned right away.So far, so good. I could not be happier with this product. I also have enough wire to re-do the fence probably 3 times (again, I have a pretty small backyard area), so I didn't upgrade to a thicker gauge wire.