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I have a problem. It is a problem I try to hide out of sight and out of mind, one I try to pretend doesn't exist. But it does, and every so often it raises its ugly head to bite me. Most recently, I needed to replace an Ethernet switch as I needed more ports. As I unplugged the old switch, my monitor turned off. Why? Because under my desk I have a cable catastrophe. The mere act of unplugging the old switch had so disturbed and enraged the rat's nest of cables under my desk that in retaliation it decided to turn off my monitor.
So intertwined and confused is the mess beneath my desk that even the most mundane of acts—plugging in a new gadget, removing an old one, sometimes just even moving my feet—threatens to destroy everything.
TFA addresses the perennial problem of cable jungles. I use zip ties. What are the best solutions Soylentils have come up with, and what are their pros and cons?
(Score: 2) by Username on Thursday September 10 2015, @03:36AM
Paint a sheet of 2’x4’ 3/4" thick plywood with two coats of white fire retardant paint on all side. Find a spot to mount the plywood on the opposite side of the wall that has the external demarc, so the telco/cableco idjit can find it. Give it 24" from any electrical cables runs and near enough to a preexisting outlet or wiring you can tap into. I like to mount it below the data cable hole so the wires hang down so when I unplug them so they don’t wander too far away, and above the electrical outlet. Set plywood on table and trace out hole patterns for router and modem. You will want to have them positioned so the power cord comes out sideways, and not facing towards the ground or it will just unplug itself. If your router is standard rack size, buy or fabricate a wall rack to give it that professional look. Make sure to leave 6" between devices. Measure twice. Mount plywood directly to wall with sufficiently long screws making sure you go into the stud. Most off the shelf routers will use 6-32 for mounting screws. Racks will most likely be 12-24 but the holes for mounting will not be threaded. Screw a piece of inch board to bottom of where your rack will be, balance rack on board and use selftaping screws to mount rack to backboard. Take off inch board and fill screw hole with putty and paint over. If you are mounting directly to backboard get wood inserts. They’re usually about 1/4" so drill holes one size smaller into plywood and screw the inserts into the plywood, attach screws and mount the hardware. If it doesn’t slide down or line up exactly and the hardware is light, use longer screws and tilt them to where they should be attached.
Go to your desk and measure 4" above the counter top and find an area for an electrical old work box that can supply as many outlets as your desk needs(3 gang is six), and for a single gang lowvoltage bracket for your tele/data com. Don’t put them right next to each other or ontop of a stud. Better to have them in separate bay between studs. Usually 16" on center between studs. Find out where you can drill into the stud bay or use a preexisting hole. Make the hole in the center or at least 1" from outside of the stud or joist. Do not use same hole for low voltage data cables, make another one. Make sure data will be 2" from electrical cabling. Make a 1/4" hole in wall in the center of where your outlets will be and make sure there isn’t any surprises behind it. Cut out holes with drywall knife. Place lowvoltage bracket into hole and leave the electrical box out. Push fish tape up through the hole and grab it out of wall through the cut outs and tape wiring to it and pull wire through the wall and all the way to where it connects to the patch panel or electrical box. If it’s from above can just drop through the hole and pull through cutout. Tack electrical to runners leaving enough at the end to work with, or if there isn’t any preexisting runs; nail on inch board runners then tack to runner. Can put data on hooks to look professional or just tack it, making sure it’s 2" from electrical cabling. Cut off cabling leaving 6" out of box. Bend electrical wire a bit so it doesn’t fall back into the wall, punch hole out of electrical box and stick wires through then mount box into cutout. Strip wires and attach to outlets, folding back into electrical box. White to light colored screws, black to dark colored screws, ground to green. Put electrical tape around screws and bare wire. Shut power off to box you’re taping into, open it up and attach wiring to its corresponding color with wire connectors that are big enough for the number of wires your connecting. Tape it. Turn power on and test outlets. Can do the same steps to do an outlet near the backboard if needed. Strip off 1" of the data cables jacket, use 110 punch down to attach data cable to keystone. Follow the colors on the wiring guide. Do the same on other end to terminate onto patch panel, or if there isn’t a rack do another keystone. Mount keystones into wall plate and screw onto bracket. Plates use the same 10-32 screws as your PC, I like to use pan head 10-32 pc screws instead of the crappy sloted ones that are covered with paint.
Plug in and power on the equipment attached to the backboard. Put PC ontop of desk counter instead of underneath. Use small patch and power cords to outlets so they do not hang under desk.
Problem solved.
(Score: 2) by Username on Thursday September 10 2015, @03:38AM
10-32 not 6-32 for off the shelf router/switches/ modems.