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.

It is true that my collection of cables is uncommonly large. Three monitors with integrated USB hubs means a triplicate set of power, DisplayPort, and USB cables. 5.1 surround sound creates a quintet of cheapo Monoprice speaker cable, along with a lone RCA cable for the subwoofer. Wired Ethernet is still the fastest, most reliable form of network connectivity, so I have Cat 5e (or maybe it's 6, who even knows?) in abundance; a cable for my receiver, two for my PC, an upstream link to my router, a cable for my phone, and yet more for a second PC. And then there's USB. So much USB. USB for charging phones. USB for an Xbox 360 controller. USB for a colorimeter. USB for mouse, USB for keyboard, USB for USB hubs, USB for a webcam, USB for a memory card reader, USB for a Wi-Fi adaptor. And on top of all that, there's the weird USB-on-one-end, registered jack-on-the-other-end that's used for my UPS.

Oh, right, yes. Electricity. All of these things need electricity. Some of them warrant battery-backed electricity. Others merely surge protected electricity. But they all need it. And the abundance of devices, combined with the dearth of UPS outlets, means that time-honoured practices such as plugging one power strip into another are an integral part of my computer setup. As a bonus quirk, I have a UK power strip being operated at a non-UK 115V because I have a couple of useful devices that have English wall warts. I'm sure they'll get phased out eventually.

It's not great.

I asked my colleagues for advice. Did they have any? Did they hell. It turns out that nobody has a great idea of how to keep cabling neat and out of the way. At best, there are ways to keep cables tidy... once. As soon as you ever actually need to do any maintenance, whether it be adding an extra device, replacing a bad cable, upgrading to a newer technology, or just moving stuff about.

There are a few brave efforts. Eric Bangeman's cable set-up uses those spiral cable tie things to keep things looking tidy.







But that Surface Pro in the third picture is serving a purpose that is more aesthetic than functional. Fold it up and the truth is revealed: even with the best of intentions, cable mess is inevitable.

Aurich Lawson's effort was also commendable. With a shelf hidden under his desk, he has at least kept the mess off the floor, ensuring it isn't too tangled. In his own words, "I built my own desk out of butcher block and hairpin legs, and one thing I wanted was better cable management for all my gear. The solution was to build in a custom shelf on the bottom, back enough that my knees don't hit it, that would hold my extra gear, like routers and hard drives etc. I mounted a 12 outlet power strip to the back of it so that I could have one main power cable coming down off my desk. Then each outlet has a hook screwed into the desk near it, so I can bundle up the cables and hang them free of the floor."

Aurich Lawson





But even this effort still doesn't eliminate the confusion of stray cables, and I'm left wondering just how easy to maintain the setup is. The human factor is always a problem in any system that requires manual maintenance. As Aurich himself says, "It's not a perfect system. I purposefully didn't tidy up anything before taking photos, so this is a "real world" test, where things fall off hooks, or a I get sloppy about putting things back right. But given how many things I've got plugged in there, the few dangling cables are not too bad, and the floor isn't cluttered, so it's easy to sweep up the copious cat hair that likes to collect down there."

Lee Aylward uses a similar concept, but less elegantly executed. I believe this is a now-discontinued Ikea GALLANT cable management shelf. I actually own one, but I've never taken the time to screw it to the bottom of my desk, because I'm not entirely sure if it will actually help. Lee's photo isn't really convincing me, either, as he still has a mess of connections on the floor, and, it would seem, on his desk, too.

One straightforward solution is to have a simple setup. Megan Geuss's cable situation is, by the standards of many Ars writers, quite clean and simple. Megan tells me that "when I first moved into this place I went out and bought a bunch of zip ties to keep the excess length of my computer, speaker, and monitor cables neat, but three years later that system has proven itself to be a total joke/waste of time." But even without the zip ties, things aren't too bad.

The most unusual part of her picture is the space heater on which she's resting her foot. As she lives in the permafrost of the Bay Area, she needs the heater to warm her toes.

Lee Hutchinson has also tried, and failed, to use cable ties.

Lee Hutchinson

Lee Hutchinson

Lee Hutchinson

Lee's pictures do give a hint at perhaps the perfect cable management solution: erect a curtain and hide all the mess behind it.

One solitary cable tie does appear to have survived the rigors of the real world; Jennifer Hahn has a single solitary tie creating a bundle of Ethernet cables.





Jennifer's situation is compounded by her video editor job; not pictured, alas, she has more than two dozen USB hard disks with their inevitable wall warts.

Jon Brodkin also strives to keep things simple, but in his case, the simplicity is deceptive. For while his computer setup is remarkably clean, his TV setup is catastrophic.





So dire is the TV situation that Jon cannot even keep his PlayStation 3 permanently attached; he doesn't have enough HDMI ports.

Sam Machkovech, who works from a laptop, often in a coffee shop, is another for whom the computer is relatively cable-free. But like Brodkin, he too has not escaped the rat's nest, but merely transferred it to the back of his TV.









It's at this point that I am appealing to our readership. Surely some among your number has solved this problem. Clearly in The Future™ we'll have wireless power, wireless displays, wireless networks, and perhaps even wireless wires, but in today's reality, where gigabit Ethernet is better than 802.11ac, and where 115V AC is best delivered through insulated cables, there is a problem. How do any of you solve it?