Modern frustrations, wallwarts, cables, solutions.

Side-cutters wire-strippers Length of twin core low voltage cable Soldering iron + solder Heatshrink to cover joins Plus innate ability to solder wires.

Doesn't require need to identify, obtain a socket and plug that matches so you can make your own low voltage extension.

Indeed. Or use crimps if you don't like soldering. Make sure that the spliced-in cable has sufficient current carrying capacity and that you don't accidentally reverse the polarity. Not as neat as having a one-piece cable of the right length, but the joins will probable be hidden behind something or other.

What is to stop you curtting the cable and inserting a splice?

Extending the cable (either with a lead made up with matching power plugs either end, or cutting the wire and inserting extra) is one option. Only thing to watch is the voltage drop if you need to go too far.

The better solution for most out of the way networking kit is PoE. Now I appreciate for mesh kit you might not be expecting to run ethernet to all points, you will likely be running to at least one of them, and you could make that the one that is otherwise most difficult to power.

Which is why everything should just use USB. You can get up to 240W in the latest USB-PD versions, which will power most small appliances. Cable too short? Buy a longer one. Too many wall-warts? Buy one multi-port one instead. Also solves the issue of losing or breaking the wall-wart, since you can buy a new one anywhere. And you can use the device in a car, caravan or even on battery in a tent - just buy a suitable PSU.

Mike

Yes, but.... The USB Micro-B connector is a disaster, it's just not robust enough, they fail after almost any sort of minor accident. I have dozens (if not hundreds) of dead or dying USB cables, they're just about the only ones that fail. I have lots of other perfectly serviceable and much older cables, it's just the USB-B ones that die.

USB-C is better, I'll wait and see if it continues that way.

To which I say no you can't, not reliably, having just had a run-in with an Apple phone and a selection of non-Apple power banks and non-Apple cables, swapping cables and banks until it briefly worked until then deciding not to.

I think there is a (mandated?) move towards that, USB-C I think.

Thomas Prufer

The highest powered USB-C devices I have are 100W, and no, you can't run them over a cable that's only a couple of mm thick, but with a proper cable they're fine.

I don't see the O/P's wifi access points on the list?

Laptops are only included from April 2026, everything else on the list from December 2024.

The best solution, for simple charging, which I have found, is a magnetic plug adaptor and matching cable. The tiny adaptors come in various flavours, and adapt to a common magnetic plug. Just bring the magnetic cable end, near the device with it's adaptor, and they snap together and charge.

... and they negotiate the current and voltage.

One the one hand: fast charging, enough power.

On the other hand, negotiating a protocol means computing and handshaking, sometimes cable ID and proprietary cables. I can see why that's necessary, running 100 Watts over hair-thin strands of not-copper can go wrong:-)

This runs somewhat contrary to a "universal supply" where one can use any old USB supply, be it power bank, 12-Volt-powered, mains, oi-can-I-borrow-your for anything from a USB soldering iron to charging AA "battery" cells. But it's a hugre improvement on the host of different cables and plugs, with sometimes multi-voltage wall warts with Nokia, Ericsson, Siemens, ... plugs on them. I tossed bunch of those, must have been well over 10 pounds of wall warts.

(There is even an USB-C-powered wall hook which might even negotiate its USB connection -- not an April Fool, "Testing a USB powered wall hook and a look inside." by BigClive,

Thomas Prufer

Have splurged £35 on crimpers, assorted connectors, wire strippers and wire.

To be fair once that solution was the most obvious the prospect of using mini terminals to make the join, rather than a dedicated crimp seems attractive.