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Controlling the Cable Congestion? 110

Posted by Cliff from the preventing-the-rat's-nest dept.
JaytheMover asks: "I've just moved, and my wife won't allow me to set up my desk as I had before. I had a gaggle of cables under my desk which only NOW seems to bother her in the new house. How do you guys keep this mess under control? I Googled 'Cable Organizer' and found this thing called the cable organizer at cable-safe.com which hangs the cords like in a closet or this cable snake thing which binds them all together. What do Slashdot readers use to keep their cable clean and their wives happy?"
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Controlling the Cable Congestion? More

Controlling the Cable Congestion?

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  • I just wire everythinig unvisibly behind furniture and boxen. If you take the time to look behind crap, you see a mess. But if you look at the surface it's totally clean looking and uncluttered. It's cheap, efficient, and very easy to setup ;)

    • Re:Mine (Score:3, Interesting)

      by x00101010x ( 631764 )
      I combine that with the use of zip-ties and brackets.

      I have a nice corner desk, but the box is on the left and the keyboard and mouse cords come from the right, I also have a ton of periphirals. I got tired of kicking the mouse out of my hand and wanted to be able to streach out my feet without fear of unplugging stuff, so...

      First, I decided to group things by device, so i zip-tied the mouse and keyboard together, leaving enough slack to pull out the keyboard tray and get full range on the mouse. I then z
      • I tend to use velcro instead of zip ties. Easier to use, reusable, and won't pinch wires.
        • That does sound much better, but i just used what i had on hand, which was a bundle of zip ties. also, in theory, the cats could undo the velcro. if applied correctly, the zip ties don't pinch the wires, and are probably cheaper... but for most people, who are looking to go get supplies for the solution, velcro would definately be the way to go. i actually used one bit that came attached to my keyboard cable, i assume to either bundle a mouse with, or to coil up slack.
      • I have 8 PCs running on a network in my home office/lab. I hate wires hanging about so I manage my cables in a couple of ways.

        For wires that are visible from the front of the desk I use wire loom that can be found in the automotive department of any big retail store (Wal-Mart). It comes in many sizes I would get 3 different sizes 32mm - 10mm. I also use colored zip ties vs the white ones, the color ties let me manage my runs so I know where a group of bundled cables end up. The black ties also are not visi

  • prenuptial agreement (Score:5, Funny)

    by Froze ( 398171 ) on Friday January 23, 2004 @08:26PM (#8071639)
    Well, almost. Before we bought our new house I bargained with her. I get the garage and the nerd room (home office), she gets the rest of the house.

  • Avoid straight lines at all costs (Score:5, Funny)

    by MarkusQ ( 450076 ) on Friday January 23, 2004 @08:26PM (#8071645) Journal

    What do Slashdot readers use to keep their cable clean and their wives happy?

    First off, I avoid straight lines like that at all costs.

    -- MaruksQ

  • I have two separate 3" split tubes for AC and data, ducttaped around the ends. Easy, cheap and stylin'!

  • I'm cheap. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by TheSHAD0W ( 258774 )
    To organize cables, I usually use my staple gun and a bunch of twist-ties. It's (to some extent) adjustable and reusable, and certainly effective.
    • Simple is probably best here. I took one look at the Cable Snake and realized that it was stupid. Look how it pulls on those wires! And, of course, there are many potential desk configurations. You want to be flexible. Do it yourself is best here.

    • Zip or Twist Ties (Score:4, Funny)

      by cgenman ( 325138 ) on Friday January 23, 2004 @08:34PM (#8071710) Homepage
      I've seen too many accidents with staple guns to recommend going that route...

      • If you can't be trusted with a staple gun, you'd better stay away from them wires, then. Some of them carry lethal voltages, you know!

      • Just to be clear... (Score:3, Interesting)

        by TheSHAD0W ( 258774 )
        I do *NOT* staplegun the wires to my desk. I staplegun the TWIST TIES to the desk, then hang the wires on them.

        For heavy wires, doubling up the staples and doubling or tripling up on the twist ties is a good idea.
    • Ain't nothin wrong with zip-ties either. :)
    • If you've worked in telephony much, you've probably seen masses of crossconnects (the same function as a cat5 patch panel, but on the analog side of things, and cheaper.) Look closer, and you'll see that the telco guys organise this stuff with plastic cable runs, but also use scraps of crosconnect (fine solid core) wire as twist ties.

      If you do your own cabling, this makes sense. You just take a scrap of cat5 (if you had crossconnect wire, you'd probably already be clued to this) strip and cut to an appropr

  • laptop (Score:2, Redundant)

    by Parsec ( 1702 )
    w/wireless

  • Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper... (Score:3, Funny)

    by HotNeedleOfInquiry ( 598897 ) on Friday January 23, 2004 @08:41PM (#8071758)
    Just to find a different wife? One that would go into the kitchen and make you some pie instead of bitching about cables?

  • keep her out (Score:3, Funny)

    by yorgasor ( 109984 ) <ron@tr[ ]chs.net ['ite' in gap]> on Friday January 23, 2004 @08:47PM (#8071801) Homepage
    I just keep my wife out of the office. It's worked so far.
  • "How do you guys keep this mess under control?"

    I don't. I keep my gf under control. My TV has DVDs of DS9 constantly running on it, she stays out when it's on.

  • Give her the requirements (Score:5, Funny)

    by MerlynEmrys67 ( 583469 ) on Friday January 23, 2004 @08:51PM (#8071827)
    And have her arrange the cables anyway she wants. All you care about is your stuff is connected - who cares what it looks like, so tell her what needs to run to what - and have her do it
    • No way, man. Maybe I'm a bit of a control freak or something but I don't think I could handle this.

      Every once in a while I need to disconnect something and it had better be accessible. If I had to crawl under my desk to undo the cables she had so nicely braided for me I think I'd lose it.

      I like that 3" split cable idea.
  • What do Slashdot readers use to keep ... their wives happy?

    A. Most slashdot readers are sadly (?) not constrained by this requirement. Perhaps you could explain to the majority of the readership here, what a wife is, and how you get one.

    B. Most slashdot wifes probably accept the cable mess as "one of those things I love about him." Anyhow, I suspect slashdot wives in general have a fairly high tolerance of cable messes.

    C. Which those married readers with wives who aren't particularly tolerant of

    • A. Most slashdot readers are sadly (?) not constrained by this requirement. Perhaps you could explain to the majority of the readership here, what a wife is, and how you get one.

      This is a common assumption, but how true is it? This would make an excellent question for a Slashdot poll.

      Are you:
      * hetero & single
      * hetero & married
      * hetero with girlfriend/fiancee
      * gay & single
      * gay & virtually married
      * gay with partner(s)
      * bi & single
      * bi with girlfriend and boyfriend
      * bi engage

  • Wire Management (Score:5, Insightful)

    by linuxwrangler ( 582055 ) on Friday January 23, 2004 @08:55PM (#8071854)
    Probably the cheapest is wire-ties. Simply bundling similarly routed cables (say keyboard, monitor and mouse for a given machine) helps a lot. Then coil and tie excess wire at the end. Use flush-cutting diagonal cutters to trim the ends of the wire ties so there are no scratchy points and you will have a reasonably tidy setup. Unfortunately, this is a PITA if you frequently move things since it requires cutting/replacing lots of wire ties and pretty soon you will be back to a mess.

    You can try wire duct of the type that Panduit sells [panduit.com]. Run a long channel or two along the back of your desk and you can pop the top and stuff all your extra cable inside the channel and route the wire neatly out the slots where they are needed. More expensive but easier to reconfigure.

    Now, as to part two - keeping my wife happy:
    I try to hit the toilet when urinating and wipe up if I don't. I do my share of the dishes, cooking, laundry, etc. I take out the trash. I surprise her with flowers when she isn't expecting any. I help fix problems at her mother's house. I stop what I'm doing and give her a hug and kiss when she gets home from work. Somehow, the issue of a couple of stray cables hidden under the back of the desk hasn't concerned her at all.

    • I used to have a huge mess every place I lived, but when we moved into the current place, I decided to do it right. The wire ties worked just fine.

      I have a ton of equipment all interconnected in the main room (3 cpus, 2 monitors, wireless router/switch, cable modem, keyboards/mice, mixer, guitar amp, effects processors, guitars, keyboard (musical), midi equipment, DAT, power conditioner, dv camera (firewire), digicam, iPod, speakers, headphones, audio ins/outs, etc... you get the idea!). After figuring o

    • Old Stage Hand Trick (Score:3, Informative)

      by Marillion ( 33728 )
      Stage hands have needed to deal with cable management for years. Granted 50amp power cables are much heavier than cat5 cable, but the problem remains. And theatres with rotating productions need to reconfigure the lighting and the cabling with each new production.

      The most common technique is to use good old fashioned string. Most hands refer to it as Tie Line [production...online.com]. Run a wire where you need it, tie it up. Tie line is usually cut to about half a yard (or metre), tied in a clove knot [geocities.com], and finished with the s

      • The 50 Amp cables are not the pains to deal with. Its the 20 Amp 18 conductor snakes that are a pain. The other secret is use a long enough cable for the job and not longer. If you need a 10 ft extension, don't use a 30 ft cable, use a 15. Using the proper length of cable makes cable management so much easier.
        • Ahh, yes - Socapex [socapex.com]. The ones I've used were fairly flexible and not bad. Much better than six individual 20 Amp circuits. they are overkill if you only need three circuits. I couldn't agree more with what you said about cable length! More cable requires more cable management. I thought socapex were 19 conductor [electronics2000.co.uk]. I'm going to have to check the house I work in if pin 19 is used or not.
          • I've never taken an exact count on our socapexes, I just know there are 18 conductors minimum. I genereally get to manage 875 ft of it for a show - unspool and run, then respool afterwards on the same day. One cable isn't the problem, its the huge mass of them. Definately better than running 36-48 individual circuits thought. Between them and our camlocks, new audio people tend to get very scared.

      • The most common technique is to use good old fashioned string. Most hands refer to it as Tie Line. Run a wire where you need it, tie it up. Tie line is usually cut to about half a yard (or metre), tied in a clove knot, and finished with the same knot you tie your shoes with. After a year or two, they wear out, but it's cheap and easy.

        When my submarine was in the shipyards, the yardbirds used heavy gauge wire about a foot long for securing temporary cables, ducts, etc... (As well as to stash coffee cups,

    • I misread that title as "Wife Management". Imagine my disappointment when you mentioned wire-ties. I can tell you, they do not work for wife management! And I would personally encourage you to avoid the temptation to even try. You might seem successful inially, but it will soon overload your audio circuitry and cause the "plug and play" to malfunction.

      BTW, before you go too far down this path, duct tape is a bad idea also.

    • instead of normal cable ties, get velcro cable ties, they hodl tie, and are reusable. Be sure to seperate data, from power.

      In my new office I made sure to arrange furniture so that I have access to the back of everything, But even with cable ties it looks like shit. My main cumputer desk is 4' tall, so I doubled over an old blanket, and stapled it to the back of my desk. It makes things look nicer, and keeps dust down. As for heat, only the monitors sit on that desk. So all you see from the back is 2

    • Man, you got it.
      I wish more people will read this.
      Give your wife what she really needs, with love and respect, and you'll get the same (or you'll find out you married the wrong person).

      Marriages comprising of spoiled, selfish and moody children (vs adults) rarely work out.
  • They're kind of like the plastic zippy wire ties with a slot to help hold the cables together, but being Velcro they're reusable. These work out really well if you need to tame the wires but still want to move stuff around a lot.

  • Velcro straps (Score:4, Informative)

    by nmnilsson ( 549442 ) <magnus@NoSpaM.freeshell.org> on Friday January 23, 2004 @08:56PM (#8071862) Homepage
    Firstly, my s/o always complained about cables, until I got her her own computer.
    Only then did she realize that cables aren't just there to annoy her.
    I'm not meaning she's dull either; we're often annoyed by stuff we experience the point with it
    (think road work: "What the hell are they digging up the road for. Can't they see I'm trying to drive here?..." etc).

    Second, velcro straps are good for getting the cables off the floor.
    Our cables are now basically hanging rat's nests, but without the monstrous dust bunnies, and it's easier to vacuum.

  • My method: (Score:3, Insightful)

    by sakusha ( 441986 ) on Friday January 23, 2004 @09:09PM (#8071971)
    I use gravity to keep my cables in place. It's effective and free, the cables just stay there on the floor with no additional power or hardware necessary. I shove my subwoofer in front of the pile of cables so nobody sees it.

    This neat crap bugs me, it reminds me of an incident many many years ago, on the first PC network I ever used. I was a developer and we had an early Corvus OmniNet. It used flat cable, and we bought only 100ft cables, that was the max length and we figured better too much cable than too little, and we planned to move to bigger offices where we would need longer runs. But some of us were within 20 feet of the server, so we had huge piles of ribbon cable bunching up behind our desks. So one day the office manager came in on a weekend and decided to clean up, and coiled the extra 80 feet into a nice coil, put a wire tie around it, and put it back behind our desks. Then on monday we came to work and the network was shot to hell, we couldn't get decent speed or reliable file transfers. I checked cabling and found the coiled cable behind my desk. I uncoiled it and instantly got back to reliable net use. I went to the manager and informed her that you can't coil 80 ft of ribbon cable in a nice neat cylinder, you're just making an induction coil, signals can't pass through it. He didn't believe me, so we had to call Corvus, and they confirmed. They said that if you wanted to neaten up your cable, you had to make a loosely bundled accordion fold about 3 ft long. So he made us all rebundle the cables. Total loss of productive time, about 1 business day. Neatness can be destructive, never let neatness interfere with productivity.

  • Personally (Score:2, Flamebait)

    by El ( 94934 )
    I just tell my wife to stay the hell out of my computer room!

  • Some wires must be. However wireless keyboards and mice are nice. Wireless networking isn't THAT expensive either (compare to divorce if you must) so keep the internet connection in the basement or something. That gets rid of a few.

    Put a USB hub on your desk (one wire, 2 if powered), when you need the printer, scanner, real keyboard/mouse (wireless doesn't always work for games), game pad, steering wheel, external CD drive, webcam, and so on, pull it out of the closet, plug it in and use it. Put away

    • I don't know if its always the case, but my logitech wireless mouse actually does have a wire which runs from the usb port to the transceiver. So I guess using wireless won't clean anything.
  • 1. Accumulate and Twist-Tie excessive cable to eliminate congestion.
    2. If #1 doesn't make your wi(fe / ves) happy, paint a shoebox to the room color (or use wallpaper if your room has wallpaper) and stuff all the Tied excess cable into it.
    3. Kill your wi(fe / ves).
    4. Problem(s) solved!
  • If your desk faces the wall as most do, hang a piece of black burlap behind it to hide the cables behind.
  • ... Or do you mean to manage the cables?

  • A Possible Scenario (Score:3, Funny)

    by DynaSoar ( 714234 ) on Friday January 23, 2004 @10:23PM (#8072392) Journal
    Disconnect the main cable from the car's battery. Get a handful of likely looking wires which could have come from the car. Wait.

    "Sweetheart? The car won't start."

    "I know. I thought about what you said about the wires on the computers and decided you were right. They're an eyesore. So when I was working on the car, I decided all those ugly wires under the hood had to go. See?" [Hold up handful of wires].

    "But the car won't run without those!"

    "I know. Neither will the computers."

    If she's not fully convinced yet, walk over to the TV and start fiddling around with the coax cable.

  • Last time my wife & I were at IKEA, we got some cheap home office organizing stuff like what you seem to be looking for here. One promising item they had was a cable organizing tray [ikea-usa.com] that can be attached to the back of your desk. They also have these donut-shaped reels [ikea-usa.com] that can be used for spooling up excess cable. But the main one, which I can't seem to find on their website, was a simple slitted black tube that you could use to snake all your cabling together.

    Note that I don't have anything to push b

    • No need to go to Ikea. The "custom computer cable tube" is called split loom. You can find it at most electronics stores, car/home stereo shops, auto parts stores, etc... Look under the hood of your car and you will find the manufacturer used it extensively as it is also great at reducing the heat on the cable and keeping the nasty chemicals off. Here [allelectronics.com] is the first link to a place that sells it that I found on google [google.com]. It does work great.
      • The "custom computer cable tube" is called split loom. You can find it at most electronics stores, car/home stereo shops, auto parts stores,

        And probably in your (or your buddy's) garage in a pile of junk. It's called an old garden hose, and you can just cut to length and split that down one side and away you go. For larger cable runs, use an old vacuum cleaner hose. Same idea, same price. Probably free out of a junk pile, as I said.
  • First off, I get as much wireless stuf as possible. Printers, scanners, mice, keyboards, all these things can and should be wireless. There's just no reason not to, if its worth the money to you. Second, its' not about the wires it's about the desk.

    For the past two years I had a store bought desk made of particle board that comes as a kit. It was cool, but it broke when I moved out over the summer. When I got back to school I built my own desk. I took a tape measure and determined how high, wide and d
    • One word of warning when using Wireless devices such as keyboard and mouse. Be careful when using them in an area where more than one person may have wireless devices.

      In my college we had a case where a student was "magically" seeing someone typing on her computer, when in reality it was a girl about 50 feet down the hall who's wireless keyboard signal was being picked up by this girl's wireless keyboard receiver. (Of course, how that signal made it thru about 7 cinder block dorm room walls is still beyo

  • Find all the groups of cables that go from one place to annother, ie (Desktop->Back of computer (mouse, keyboard, microphone, monitor, video camera)) and (Shelf of computers->Powerbar (power cables)) and (Shelf of computers->Router (Cat-5s))

    Now tape each group together so it forms one mega-cable.

    Just be really carefull when you replace a device that you don't cut any cables when you cut the tape. I did this myself; last time I replaced my mouse I also had to replace my keyboard.

    • When you buy keyboards, repeat-buy the same brand. In my experience, 60% of keyboards die due to the board dying, while 40% die due to the cord dying. If you buy multiple instances of the same brand, you can often combine cord-from-a-dead-board with board-with-a-dead-cord, turning 2 dead keyboards into 1 working keyboard. I've done this several times.
  • hm... I assume they have battery powered devices for that purpose?
  • ...testosterone boosters and a backbone transplant!

    Failing that, get some velcro and a staple gun.
  • The 3M velcro straps (Hook and Loop Fasteners) are great and don't cost much. They have multiple types (length, width, colors) perforated or not.

    I like the 600" x 1" roll with 8" perforations. Allows me to cut them down the middle and in half if needed. 300 1/2" x 4" straps for less than $7. Great for all kinds of organization tasks.

    Here are some of the places I've found them:

    Mouser [mouser.com]
    Jensen Tools [jensentools.com]
  • the key to useing zip ties, it to keep each cable separate and zip tie it only to itself. If you do need to bundle cables, keep power and data cables separate, and only bundle cables that go to and from the same box (ie: a cable modem that uses a cat5 cable, but your computer has a TV tuner card coming from the cable modem also, the same place as the network cable)the zip ties should only be used to shorten cables, not to secure them to things. If you do sercure them, use a separte one to shorten them. Use
  • Never tried them, but http://www.cordkeepr.com/

  • draw the line (Score:3, Insightful)

    by frAme57 ( 145879 ) <snakefeet&gmail,com> on Saturday January 24, 2004 @12:19AM (#8072896) Homepage
    It has been said above, but I am going to emphasize it. This is not a problem of cable storage; this is a problem of territory. You're the guy and she's the wife. In most cases that means it is her house and you are effectively a long term guest there.

    You don't believe me? Look at the living room, the kitchen and your bedroom, for example. Are they arranged and decorated as they would be if you lived there alone, or as they would be if she lived there alone? I thought so.

    But as you are a long term guest, and because of your various useful functions (getting things off high shelves, opening jars, killing icky things and changing fluids) you should be alloted some small parcels of guy space.

    Traditionally, guy space is found in the garage, the basement, the attic or sometimes in a room in the house that the wife can find no other use for. They are filled with things; guy things; things that the wife will not tolerate anywhere else in the house but cannot outright ban. Your power tools, your games [wizards.com], your books [oreilly.com], your semi-abandoned projects, your things that are too close to working again to throw away,

    This is where your computers should be.

    Once you establish that your computers are in your space - where everything is as it should be - let your cables be as they should be. The general condition of the guy space must constantly remind her that here, she is the guest A rat's nest of computer cables on the floor sends that message subtly but strongly.

    • I'm very surprised by the percentage of men who will let themselves be pushed around like this. I can't help but think that most of these relationships are mismatched.
      I appear to not be one of those mismatches, but only time will tell. (Though lasting 12 yrs as of age 30 is better than anyone I've ever met my age, period.)

      My point? Give your wife a spanking.

  • I must co-habitate as well, and this is what I did. I have a very long (3 monitors fit on the top shelf) desk, which used to have a whole mess of cables behind it. I managed to procure some surplus large-diameter PVC (3-4 inch or so) piping, which I cut in half. Lay cables carefully along baseboard of wall, set piping covering cables, thread cables through gaps between segments, and suddenly, no more cable mess. Sure, you have to move the PVC to rewire stuff, but it's as simple as tilting it back. It
  • I had a gaggle of cables under my desk which only NOW seems to bother her in the new house. How do you guys keep this mess under control?

    Simple, we didn't get married. Now, if you'll excuse me, my frozen pizza is done.

    Karma: desrever

  • Just say "I can hide all these cables by running them through the wall", then punch a hole in the wall using a hammer. She won't even notice your cables at all after that.
  • You obviously don't have enough stuff. You need enough stuff to provide a solid face on the desk. Multiple PC's and monitors.
    All the cables are tangled up out of sight behind the big boxes. All I have visible is mouse/keyboard cables, and a camera connection cable, tucked under a monitor until I need it.
  • .... remind her that you don't go around asking her to change things around the house.

    If you do, then the compromise should be that you will stop doing that if she stops messing with your stuff.

    Honestly, some times you have to say no, and make clear how unfair it is to be told how to put things like a child,

    Now, if you do not ever do anything to keey the house tidy then, yeah, sucki it up and follow the advice of other /.ers around here that are obviously more accomodating that I would ever be :-)
  • What happened to having an extra plug in the computer power supply for another device such as a monitor? How about two, one for the monitor and another for the printer. Or an extra plug in the printer for the scanner?

    Other things to consider are things such as: combo cable modem/wireless router, combo scan & fax printers, wireless kerboard and mouse combos.

    Having said that, the area behind my computer looks like a rats nest too.

  • You guys need to have a chat. Geeks need space of their own. If you let her control the cable behind your computer, she will think she can control everything in the new house, including _YOU_. She needs to come to an agreement that you get some space of your own. Even if it is in combined space (which will probably be required if you have kids), it needs to be completely under your control. She should respect you enough to not move so much as an empty gatorade bottle. It's only fair (but always give h
  • Wireless stuff, USB hub, etc...

    A cool project in and of itself. I am waiting for a 17" Flatscreen with built in speakers, a USB hub, and USB speakers. That way I can just run one USB wire to the PC for all that (still need power though).

    I like having the mouse and keyboard attached, keeps the kids (and me) from running off with them (like they do with the remotes).
  • The solution isn't with the cables, it's with the desk. Just get a desk which has a back to it, and the cables are invisible. There are some desks which have a plastic hallow back which can be opened when you need to work on something.

    Using zip ties doesn't really reduce the clutter, they just lump it all together. And it's also a PITA when you need to find out where a particular cable goes.

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