A cable port top is a desk top with a grommet hole cut through it, usually at the back corner or centre back, so leads drop straight down to a cable tray or floor box rather than trailing over the edge. It is the standard top across most of the Impulse desking range and Oslo bench desking, on cantilever, panel end and cable managed legs. People pick a ported top when the desk sits against a wall or in a bank and the cabling has to disappear.
Choosing a cable port top desk
The port position matters more than the port itself. On a desk against a wall, a back corner port keeps leads out of the knee space and drops them behind a pedestal. On bench desking run back to back, a centre back port feeds into the shared beam so two people use one route down. Measure before ordering: a 1600mm top at 800mm deep takes two screens and a keyboard, while a 1200mm slimline suits a touchdown position with only a laptop on it.
The mistake we see most is ordering ported tops and nothing to catch the cables underneath, which just moves the mess from the desk to the floor. Pair them with a cable managed leg and its removable spine cover, or add a basket and spiral wrap from cable management and electrical. Where laptops come and go all day, an in-desk power module in the same aperture beats a four gang trailing underneath.
What goes underneath and on top
An under desk pedestal on castors rolls clear when you need to reach the cabling, which a fixed unit never does. A monitor arm frees the space a stand would eat and lets the screen cable follow the port down. In an open plan bank, desktop and bench screens sit on the back edge and mask the drop point at the same time.
Desks delivered and installed across Suffolk and Essex
Office Masters is the online side of Neil Andrew Office Solutions, a family run business at Edison Close on Ransomes Europark in Ipswich. Neil started with his father Malcolm in the 1980s and relaunched under his own name in 2017. We supply and install across Suffolk, Essex and Norfolk, with free UK mainland delivery inside five working days, a next working day upgrade, and optional pre-build.
Because we fit desks locally, we can see where the floor boxes really are before you commit to a port position. Ipswich, Woodbridge, Felixstowe and Stowmarket are a short run for us, and we work in Colchester and Bury St Edmunds regularly. Send a floor plan or a photo of your current desks and we will mark up which tops need ports, or ring 01473 464644.
