Cables in the home: prevention, therapy and damage minimisation
23.2.2018
Translation: machine translated
Cables in the living room are about as popular as cockroaches in the bathroom. And about as persistent. For many of us, the question is: How do I deal with the problem? An overview of the various strategies.
Cables get in the way, cables are ugly and there are more and more of them. Even supposedly wireless devices need charging cables. It must be those "wireless cables" people are always talking about.
Empirical studies from Massachusetts and from my living room prove it: The WAF (woman acceptance factor) of a fully wired living room is in the unmeasurable range.
It's just bizarre, grotesque, bizarre and absurd how many cables I have in my flat. I've often wondered how I can make this thicket more or less homely so that I don't get nausea when I trip over a foot loop I've laid myself.
Possible measures and my experiences with them
First of all, I collect the possible strategies and measures. They can of course be combined with each other.
Use Bluetooth and other wireless technologies
Almost everything is available wirelessly: notebooks instead of desktop PCs, wireless mice, keyboards, headphones (Bluetooth or radio), WLAN router, audio speaker. Only large screens and hi-fi systems still need cables. Whereby the TV cable clutter could be significantly reduced with Google Chromecast.
A few years ago, I seriously tried to replace as many conventional devices as possible with wireless ones. However, the strategy caused me more frustration than joy at the time. Because I hate agonisingly slow response times and delays in operation even more than cables. Especially when it comes to audio. As I play music myself, even short latencies with wireless headphones annoy me massively. What's more, wireless devices need either batteries or a rechargeable battery and therefore a power cable.
Technology has come a long way since then. Not all wireless devices are latency-free, but if wireless headphones have been specially developed for gaming (where milliseconds can sometimes be crucial), then I assume that the sound will be delivered by express. When we tested the HyperX Cloud Flight the other day, we didn't experience any annoying latency.
I'll wait until my headphones break before I replace them with wireless ones. Experience has shown that this doesn't take too long.
When it comes to mice, even professional gamers now play wirelessly. This means that the response times are certainly fast enough for every purpose.
Wireless charging with induction ("Qi") sounds great at first. As I mentioned, the many charging cables are particularly annoying. But of course the charging plate also needs a cable. Qi mice need a mouse mat (with a cable, of course). I'm glad that the nineties are over and I no longer need a mouse mat.
In general, the everyday mislabelling of the term "wireless" bothers me. If, for once, something really is wireless, the manufacturers have to call it "true wireless" or something similar because they have already devalued the normal "wireless" with their exaggerations.
Reduce the number of devices
Simplify your life! We all have far too many devices that we don't even need. Courage to leave gaps, less is more, keep it simple, reduce to the max, blabli blablubb - there is no shortage of nice slogans for this strategy.
In theory, I think this is the most effective and best idea. Get rid of the PlayStation 3, which is just gathering dust. Ideally, the TV and all the clutter should go too!
But I'm hesitant to take the radical step. What if I want to watch a film or a football match on the big screen? The optimist in me says: then I'll go to the cinema, a friend's house or a bar. And how does that fit in with my job as a tech editor? Surely trying things out for yourself and using them privately is the most effective way of acquiring in-depth technical knowledge? Answer: My six-year-old television is so hopelessly outdated anyway that it's no longer any good for journalism. I can just about dispose of it. However, as of February 2018, I still haven't been able to bring myself to do so.
Clean up cables
If you're going to use cables, at least keep them organised and hidden. So: lay cable strips, use cable ties, run them discreetly behind furniture, set up closed cable boxes. Use white cables in front of white walls instead of black ones, as they are less noticeable.
I've already done all this as best I can. But there are always visible cables somewhere. And somehow I'm not a fan of "out of sight, out of mind." The evil is still there, lurking behind every piece of furniture, in every box, under every doorstep. What's more, if I tie the cables together, they are blocked. As I often move a lot of cables around, I find this impractical.
Especially bad: For aesthetic reasons, the wooden box also contains the ugly cable modem. It was forced on me by the cable network operator and has a strong tendency to roast itself. As a result, I have to leave the box open when the modem is running. Otherwise it would get too hot in there. And the modem is always running when I'm in the living room. The whole box exercise is actually a waste of time, but I didn't want to admit that to myself for a long time.
Set up zones
This strategy works like this: there is a room where men can still be men and cables can still be cables. Total chaos reigns here, and that's a good thing. A kind of nerd workshop, man cave, gaming den or similar. Instead, the stuff disappears from the living room and bedroom.
If I had a big flat, that might be something. But as it is, I limit myself to keeping the bedroom cable-free apart from a small lamp. The guitar amp will probably go into the practice room. However, the TV is still on top of it and there are speaker cables hidden behind it ...
How do others do it?
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to this topic. Everyone has different appliances, every home is different, sometimes the sockets are very practical, sometimes it gets very complicated. And above all, tastes differ. That's why I asked around the editorial team a bit to find out how others are coping with the problem. And whether they see a problem at all.
Dominik pursues the zone strategy. "I have a room at home where I kaboom like a maniac. I've laid about 70 metres of cable there." This is because Dominik often finds wireless transmission too slow. In the rest of the flat, he tries to hide the cable clutter wherever possible. With the emphasis on "tries".
Livia lives in a flat share without a TV, so the number of cables is limited. "But the power cable for our Wi-Fi router snakes through the corridor, goes under the door and is annoying. That needs to be changed." Here we go again, the wireless cable. Livia's strategy is a mixture of few devices and keeping things tidy: "In my room, I've already banished all the cables to a drawer and only take them out when I need them."
For Tanja, buying this cable box was the solution, plain and simple. I envy her. It's not that easy for me.
Pia takes a similar approach: "I always endeavour to use multiple plugs to create little islands where everything happens, in order to limit the commotion. I then hide them with a cable box, wine crate or a piece of furniture. I minimise cables that are too long with cable ties."
Philipp sounds just as frustrated as I am: "No matter how many times I've tried to stop my chaos with cable ties, cable ducts, etc., I've never been able to find a solution. No matter how many times I've tried to put a stop to my chaos with cable ties, cable ducts etc., at some point I have to cut them open again and then the whole mess starts all over again." He's already dreading the next time he has to pull a cable out of the knot. "Fortunately, because I have a wide TV cabinet, you can't see the mess."
Martin: "In my house, all the cables are neatly laid in cheap white cable ducts. The only problem: the adhesive on the ducts doesn't really want to stick to plastered walls. The solution: my hot glue gun."
Raphael: "Actually, everything (audio cabling of the 5.1 sound system, Playstation 4 Pro and cablecom box, controller of the PS and Harmony Remote) is messed up. I had my trusted carpenter make a wooden furniture and board combo that perfectly conceals the whole mess behind my TV unit." The carpenter doesn't want any photos to be published - apparently he fears copycats of his ingenious idea.
Fabio doesn't work for us on the editorial team, but as a category sourcing specialist in the audio department. I mention him because he is currently testing a wireless audio transmission system at home.
Fabio: "The transmitter makes my living room more attractive in that I don't have to pull cables through the skirting boards and along the wall everywhere." The thing is intended for the rear speakers, while the system itself is usually at the front. There is no cable between the system and the rear. "But between the two rear speakers, there is necessarily a cable harness," Fabio relativises. The system is much less susceptible to interference than its predecessor and emits minimal noise. This can also be positively influenced by increasing the rear level on the receiver and turning down the level on the receiver.
Aurel clearly has the most pragmatic attitude: "I embrace the chaos."
Conclusion: I'll give it another go
The wireless living room is a similar illusion to the paperless office. All that remains is damage limitation. The question is how much effort you want to put in. And also which devices you really want. The answers depend on how much the cables bother you.
What's your situation? Do you recognise yourself in one or two of the statements in this article? Or have you found the ultimate solution? Describe your situation in the comments!
For my part, I have now realised that I want to try wireless devices again, as the transmission has become better and faster. Otherwise, I've resolved to at least not increase the number of devices: for every new device in the household, an old one has to go. <p
David Lee
Senior Editor
David.Lee@digitecgalaxus.chMy interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.
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