Did I missing something? "It Is Time For AV Enthusiasts To Rack Mount Their Gear?"

[BMXTRIX]

How many Roku and AppleTV models actually have an ethernet port?

At the risk of making some DIY'ers and tech-savvy customers more self-reliant and negatively affecting the CI industry, maybe it's time to inform them of the options for wire management- if they knew about it (rather than reading about special cables with batteries and other crap), they might be open to better equipment and cable management, other than cable supports that look to be no different from the wire insulators that are used on the poles near railroad tracks.

I agree completely that talking to people about better wire management is a big thing. Talking to them about PoE when almost nothing outside some pretty high end equipment uses it is really silly. It's better to talk about how people can better cable manage their existing gear and use proper techniques to manage cabling. I don't think the article even mentioned the importance of labelling cables. Cable labelling is one of the most important factors in doing a good job of managing cabling. If you don't know what is plugged in, or where a cable goes, or what it is for, then how can you put it where it is supposed to be?

Cable management, with or without a 19" equipment rack, is completely doable from the very low-end, all the way to top-dollar gear. But, let's not pretend that PoE is actually a major player for the vast majority of those here. It's almost a 1% or a 1% factor. The rest should learn about the options they have for good power strips. Vertical power strips. Horizontal power strips. Rackmount power strips. They are all over the place in terms of what is out there, and combine those with slim zip ties or velcro wraps and you can get good (probably not amazing) cable management with some of the most unruly of racks.

In my experience, the biggest single thing anyone should do with their equipment racks is label their cables properly. Even if that's just electrical tape with a bit of Sharpie written on it. Better yet...

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Then spend an hour behind the equipment with some zip ties and cable saddles to make it all come together.

 

[highfigh]

In my experience, the biggest single thing anyone should do with their equipment racks is label their cables properly. Even if that's just electrical tape with a bit of Sharpie written on it. Better yet...

One of my favorite things is digging into a system and finding a small pile of strips of Scotch Tape, masking tape, duct tape or cheap white electrical tape and feeling sticky cables when I unplug them for the installation of a new AVR. Another is seeing that whatever was written has faded to the point of uselessness.

 

[Trebdp83]

I used a label maker. I also use velcro wraps as I change out components and move things around much too often.

 

[Follower]

How many Roku and AppleTV models actually have an ethernet port?

All Apple TV models ever made have had an Ethernet port.

 

[sterling shoote]

I'll tell you what's important: component access and cooling. The rest is eye appeal, or presentation, which for some is important but others couldn't care less. The problem for those that do care is EIC racks and consumer components don't mix well. That's to say, consumer equipment usually ends up setting in a rack tray because such equipment can not bolt to rack roller rails for equipment pull out. Also, real EIC Racks are very deep, heavy, and need to be bolted to floor or roll on huge casters so as not to encourage top heavy equipment from tipping the rack over when pulled forward for maintenance. At any rate, I placed my equipment in a CWD cabinet designed for consumer gear. It is set 18 inches off the wall so I can wiggle around behind the cabinet to route cables according to changing needs. The only problem with my cabinet is operation of gear setting on lower shelves, which requires me to get way down on my knees, not real smart; but, overall, I like the look and functionallity.