Ask Slashdot: Extreme Cable Management?

An anonymous reader writes "I am not a fan of wireless except for Wi-Fi to a notebook, but have gotten frustrated by the vast amounts of tangled cables around my computers: I have two machines, four monitors, multiple external hard drives, cable modem, network switch, router, USB hubs — everything requires power and connection to the other devices. The tangles and tangles make it almost impossible to move anything without spending twenty or thirty minutes under the desk. I'd rather untie balled-up fishing line than try to snake a monitor cable out from some thirty or so other wires. Anyone have good ways to prevent this?"

Comments

uh, label both ends?

[swschrad]

I have also been caught using colored CAT-5 cables.

Re:uh, label both ends?

[SeaFox]

I have also been caught using colored CAT-5 cables.

This.

Just recently picked up three Cat-6 Ethernet cables from Monoprice and redid my network connections. No longer will I have to figure out which beige cable goes where. Now using bright red to my main desktop, green to the secondary machine (10' each), and got a black 3' cable to the blu-ray player now (this is all on one desk). The colors will stand out compared to all the black power/monitor/usb cables in the mess, too if I'm de-tangling lines..

Also, as to the subject line I've been doing that for years with home entertainment components. Label the power cables at the mains plug/AC adapter (and at the other end if it can be detached from the device). No questions about what I'm unplugging under the desk when I need to move/change something, and no worries about accidentally plugging the wrong AC adapter plug into a device and potentially frying it.

The other thing I'd recommend is shorten cables where you can. The standard cable length may be between four and 10 feet for everything, but if you don't need it save lines. I have a one-foot Ethernet cable connecting the cable modem and the router (they are right next to each other after all).

Wire ties

[Anonymous Coward]

Buy wire ties, or flex-tubing, or some other sub $20 cable management and stop leaving your loose wires to get tangled?

Re:Wire ties

[ackthpt]

Buy wire ties, or flex-tubing, or some other sub $20 cable management and stop leaving your loose wires to get tangled?

Yes. Reusable cable ties, because you never know when you'll need to add another cable and don't really want to keep replacing cable ties.

Rubber bands eventually dry out and fall apart. Electrical and duct tapes leave a gummy mess. If it's a single cable and going to be along a wall for a while, get some of those little nail in cable holders from the hardware store, put then in along the baseboard, to keep your CAT5 out of the vacuum cleaner.

Re:Wire ties

[flirno]

I use velcro ties.

I do not advocate

[alphatel]

I cannot ask you to view cableporn as it is very addictive.

Re:I do not advocate

[klui]

But I advocate this: learn from other people's mistakes. http://www.reddit.com/r/cablefail

Binder clips

[slaker]

I stole a bunch of large-ish binder clips from work. I binder clip stuff together. Binder clips have loops, so I stuck some screws in the underside of my desk and hung the binder clips with excess cable on them.

It's not super-pretty but it works just fine.

Something tells me you don't work in IT

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

>> vast amounts of tangled cables

Really? How many?

>> I have two machines, four monitors, multiple external hard drives, cable modem, network switch, router, USB hubs — everything requires power and connection

Hmmm...something tells me you don't work in IT.

Re:Something tells me you don't work in IT

[realityimpaired]

for a *home* installation, that is rather a lot of stuff to have plugged in at a single desk.

That being said, there's wisdom to what you're saying about him not working in IT anyway... somebody in IT would probably opt for a monitor with a built-in USB hub, if they needed a USB hub at all. Worth their weight in gold, for how much space they save, and there are powered USB hubs built into some monitors (they draw power from the monitor's power connection). If you need a USB hub at all, that is... the 2.4GHz wireless dongle for my keyboard/mouse is plugged in to the back of my desktop, and the front connectors (2 USB2.0, 2 USB3.0) are plenty for the rare occasions I need to plug a thumb drive or external hard drive in. Haven't ever needed a USB hub.

Similarly, for persistent storage, most people who work in IT wouldn't opt for "multiple external hard drives", they'd opt for a NAS setup of some sort. There's some very inexpensive options available on the market, and having a decent NAS or two connected by GigE or faster should be significantly more useful than swapping USB drives. And don't argue about storage capacity... the off-the-rack diskless Buffalo NAS I'm using has space for two 3.5" SATA drives, and is running Linux, so the advertised "3TB" limit for drive size is most likely because you can't get drives bigger than that yet, not because it's actually a limit. A 6TB NAS should be plenty of space for most home use right now, and it's trivially easy to add more as needed.

For network switch/router/cable modem, you could at the very least drop the switch by replacing the router with one that has the appropriate ethernet speed built in to it. GigE routers have been available for quite some time, now. And if you need more than 4 ports of GigE, then there's no reason the switch can't be in a completely different part of the house. Come to it, there's no reason the cable modem can't be elsewhere as well. You could also check with your cable provider about replacing the modem... lots of providers now have cable modems with built-in wireless routers and GigE switches, so you might be able to replace 3 devices with 1. From the description in TFS, it certainly doesn't sound like you need that many Ethernet ports... there's no mention of NAS, printer, TV/STB, or stereo, only the two computers which would require an Ethernet connection.

As for 2 machines, 4 monitors, cable ties is probably the best suggestion I can make, though depending on the monitor you're using it may be possible to daisychain the displays and use a single cable to drive both of them. One of the many advantages of displayport... you can have a single cable running to a splitter, and drive two monitors from a single output on the computer.

So I guess, responding to the original question (of course, far enough down that nobody will read it), I'd say the first suggestion for how to deal with extreme cable management is to minimize the number of extra cables that don't really serve a function. The second would be to use tie wraps (preferably reusable) to bundle similar cables so you don't have to go fishing if one fails.

Move things less.

[Hatta]

Why are you moving things around so often? I have an eight port KVM that's filled up, and cabling is a disaster behind the computers. But that's where they live, and once they're there, I have no reason to move them until I move to a new home.

Move it out of the way.

[chill]

Specifically, the network switch, modem, router, etc. should be moved to the basement if you have one, or a dedicated area. You should almost never touch them, so get them off your desk.

Ditto for all the removable hard drives. Buy a little server with a crapload of storage (or a NAS) and put it in the basement with the network boxes. Access it remotely.

Get a wireless keyboard and mouse, hook it to a 2-port KVM. Move the computers under or behind the desk.

That way the only thing on the desk is the (wireless) keyboard & mouse, a USB hub and the monitors. Those cables should go right down behind the desk to the monitor and power strip.

If, for some reason, you use optical media frequently, plug a USB-based drive into the hub and leave it on the desk. You should almost never have to touch the computers at that point, so why have them in the way?

Google

[Synerg1y]

& Lifehacker have got you more than covered: http://lifehacker.com/364054/top-10-ways-to-get-cables-under-control

don't be a chump

[Thud457]

velcro cable ties

Whoa, dude, are you made of money?!!

You can get 45 feet of Velcro ties for like $3 over in the garden center.

Re:don't be a chump

[jeffmeden]

velcro cable ties

Whoa, dude, are you made of money?!!

You can get 45 feet of Velcro ties for like $3 over in the garden center.

Looks like someone confused Velcro the company with Velcro the "stuff". 45 feet of that and not an inch of it will stick to any other... You can get velcro the stuff at HD but dont bother with the garden variety (hah) get the version in the electrical/electronic aisle. It will run you closer to $6: find it here

...and don't forget...

[msauve]

cover all your cables with this stuff.

Re:...and don't forget...

[cdrudge]

Be sure to buy the large bucket of it. Leave any extra nearby your computer. You might want to pick up a box or two of tissues.

Labels are half the issue.

[Jaywalk]

Labeling helps you if you need to unplug or move one cable, but it's still a mess if you need to remove a cable from the snarl, as when replacing components or swapping out a bad cable. The answer to that is to eliminate all the extra wire that causes the snarl by taking up the slack. There are a bunch of gadgets that can be used for that. My personal preference are the velcro cable ties. I wrap the excess cord around my fingers and then wrap it with the velcro tie to keep it out of the way. I like them because they're reusable, cheap and can be used when storing cables as well.

Re:Labels are half the issue.

[aztracker1]

+1 for velcro cable ties... I will also put a couple strips of vecro on the underside and back of my desk.. once you've got the cable wrapped, it just sits against the desk out of the way... works great... same for the back of my entertainment center.. also, my surge strips are often velcroed to the inside/back of the desk, so that they are closer to the devices... much less clutter. usually have one trunk of cables coming up from my tower as the only visible from the front.

Unless you have rabbits.

[Jaywalk]

If you have pet rabbits -- or any other critters that chew cables out of instinct -- you need to cover your cables with this stuff. We had one chew through a lamp cord and it dang near cooked the little beast.

Re:Unless you have rabbits.

[gtbritishskull]

We had one chew through a lamp cord and it dang near cooked the little beast.

Sounds delicious.

Re:Unless you have rabbits.

[swanzilla]

You really don't want to be electrocuting rabbits. They are best stewed or braised.

Re:Unless you have rabbits.

[PerformanceDude]

No need to waste money on something like that. Buy a Jalapeno, slice it open with a knife and rub it along the length of cable. Our cat used to chew into cables. Not anymore.... Poor thing soon learned that chomping on a cable meant a very quick trip to the water bowl. May sound cruel, but is sure better than a dead cat.

Re:Unless you have rabbits.

[c0lo]

You really don't want to be electrocuting rabbits. They are best stewed or braised.

Argh! What's he doing! Stupid fat hobbit. You ruins it!

Re:Unless you have rabbits.

[neiljt]

Time to introduce cat 6

Extreme Cable Management?

[Alotau]

Worst X-games event ever.