Cable & Port Cheat-Sheet#

A picture guide to the wires and plugs around the house. Use it to figure out what a cable is, which hole it goes in, and what each computer’s ports are for.

How to use this page#

1. Hold the end of the cable up so you can see the metal/plastic tip.
2. Find the row below that matches its shape and the photo next to it.
3. The row tells you its name, what plugs into it, and where you’ll see it.

💡 When in doubt, don’t force it. Plugs only fit one way and the right one slides in easily. If it doesn’t go, it’s probably the wrong spot.

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Connectors at a glance#

USB-C / Thunderbolt#

Looks like	A small, rounded oval, about the width of a pencil. Both ends look the same and it plugs in either way up (no wrong side).
What plugs in	The MacBook Air’s charger, and almost any modern accessory or adapter.
Where you’ll see it	On the sides of Mom’s MacBook Air. Newer chargers and dongles use this.

USB-A (the “regular” USB)#

Looks like	A flat rectangle about ½ inch wide, with a plastic block inside. Only goes in one way — if it won’t fit, flip it over.
What the color means	Black inside = older USB 2.0. Blue inside (and often a blue cable) = newer, faster USB 3.0. They fit the same socket and both work — blue is just quicker for things like backup drives.
What plugs in	Flash drives, mouse/keyboard, printers, phone charging cables, older accessories.
Where you’ll see it	The back of the Mac minis (several of them). The MacBook Air needs a dongle for this.

HDMI (TV & monitor picture)#

Looks like	A wide, flat trapezoid (a rectangle with two corners clipped). About ¾ inch wide.
What plugs in	The cable that carries the picture and sound to a TV or monitor.
Where you’ll see it	The back of a Mac mini and the back of the TV/monitor.

Mini DisplayPort / Thunderbolt (older Mac minis)#

Looks like	A small connector with two bottom corners clipped — narrower than HDMI, with a tiny lightning-bolt ⚡ or display symbol next to the port.
What plugs in	An older monitor cable.
Where you’ll see it	The back of the older silver Mac minis.

Ethernet / RJ45 (the “internet wire”)#

Looks like	A fat clear-plastic plug, wider than a phone-line plug, with a little spring clip on top that clicks in. The cable is usually thick and blue, white, or gray.
What plugs in	The wired internet connection.
Where you’ll see it	The back of the Mac minis and the UniFi network gear (see the Network section).

FireWire 800 (old backup drives)#

Looks like	A small squarish plug, a bit chunkier than USB. Older and uncommon now.
What plugs in	Older external backup hard drives.
Where you’ll see it	Only on the older silver Mac minis. If you don’t see one, you don’t need it.

Headphone / 3.5 mm audio#

Looks like	A thin round metal pin with a couple of black rings — the classic headphone plug.
What plugs in	Headphones or external speakers.
Where you’ll see it	The side of the MacBook Air and the back of the Mac minis.

SD card slot#

Looks like	A thin letterbox slot (not a cable). An SD memory card — like from a camera — slides in.
What plugs in	Camera memory cards.
Where you’ll see it	The back of the older silver Mac minis.

Power cords#

• MacBook Air: a small white USB-C charger (the same oval plug shown at the top).
• Mac mini: a thick black cord with a normal 3-prong wall plug.

If a Mac mini is totally dead, check this cord is firmly in both the wall and the back of the mini before anything else.

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Each computer and its ports#

Mom’s MacBook Air (the laptop)#

This is the newer, lightweight laptop. It deliberately has very few holes:

• 2 × USB-C / Thunderbolt on the left side — one of these is also where the charger goes.
• Headphone jack on the right side.

That’s it. To plug in anything with a USB-A, HDMI, or Ethernet end, you need a small adapter (a “dongle” or “hub”) that turns one USB-C port into several regular ports. If you can’t find a hole that fits, you’re probably looking for the dongle.

The Mac minis (Pop’s office, the kitchen, and the quilt room)#

These are the small square desktop computers. All the plugs are on the back. They come in two styles, so the back looks a little different depending on which one you’re at:

The older silver minis — power, Ethernet, FireWire 800, HDMI, one Mini-DisplayPort/Thunderbolt, four USB-A, an SD card slot, and audio jacks:

The newer space-gray mini — power, Ethernet, four USB-C/Thunderbolt, HDMI, two USB-A, and a headphone jack (no FireWire, no SD slot):

📌 The minis run an older version of macOS on purpose — they can’t all be updated, and that’s fine. Don’t let any “update your Mac” pop-ups worry you; just close them.

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The network (Ubiquiti / UniFi)#

The Wi-Fi at Bedford runs on Ubiquiti gear (the brand is “UniFi”). It’s the same system Ben uses at home, and the two houses are meshed together — so Ben can see and fix the Bedford machines remotely without anyone driving over. For how to join the Wi-Fi and what to do when the internet drops, see Wi-Fi & Internet.

What the gear is:

The Comcast box is the modem — it’s where the internet actually arrives. (The cable TV / DVR is a separate Comcast box and is not part of the Wi-Fi.)

The router (UniFi Express 7) — a small white box with a tiny screen on the front. This is the heart of the network: the internet from the Comcast modem plugs into it, and it also broadcasts the main Wi-Fi.

Access points spread the Wi-Fi to the far corners of the houses. You’ll see two kinds of shapes — a round white disc (on a ceiling or wall) and a tall white cylinder.

Switches (USW Flex Mini) — little white 5-port boxes that add more wired connections. They just pass traffic along; nothing to manage.

Reading the lights: on UniFi gear, a steady white or blue light generally means healthy. A flashing, off, or amber/red light means it’s starting up or has a problem — note the color and text Ben.

⚠️ Power-over-Ethernet warning. Some of these boxes get both their internet and their power through a single Ethernet cable (look for a port marked “PoE IN”). Unplugging that cable to “test” it will turn the device off. If a network device loses power when you unplug an Ethernet wire, that’s normal — plug it right back in.

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A note on accuracy#

These photos are reference images of the same kinds of gear we use — the real machines may differ slightly. If something in your hand doesn’t match anything here, that’s exactly the moment to snap a picture and text Ben.