Short answer: stand the iPhones upright in a slotted stand with a gap between them, one shelf per powered hub, the hub on the same shelf as its phones, and every cable short and labeled at both ends. Keep the Mac on its own shelf with the hubs' upstream cables running to it. Leave space for air and for your hand to reach any single phone without moving the others.
What a good rack is for
A rack is not about looking tidy. It exists so that when "Phone 7" drops off, you can find Phone 7, its cable and its hub port in ten seconds, and unplug it without touching Phone 6. Every choice below serves that.
The parts
| Part | What to use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Shelving | Open wire or metal shelving | Air moves through it; cables pass anywhere |
| Phone stands | Slotted multi-device stands, upright | Airflow on both faces; screens visible |
| Hubs | Powered, one per shelf | Short cable runs; a hub failure affects one shelf |
| Cables | Short certified data cables | Long or cheap cables cause dropouts |
| Power | Power strip per shelf, labeled | You can cut one shelf without cutting all |
| Mac | Own shelf, ideally central | Equal, short upstream runs to each hub |
| Labels | Printed labels or colored tape | Faster than tracing cables |
Shelf by shelf
A layout that works for most small racks, with assumptions you can change:
| Shelf | Contents |
|---|---|
| Top | Nothing hot. Spare cables, spare phone, label printer |
| 2 | Phones 1–7, Hub A, power strip A |
| 3 | Phones 8–14, Hub B, power strip B |
| 4 | Mac, network gear, UPS if you have one |
Put heat sources low and phones where air can reach them. Don't close the rack in a cabinet unless it has real ventilation — see phone farm cooling.
Stands and spacing
- Upright, not stacked. Phones lying on top of each other trap heat.
- No cases. Cases hold heat in.
- A finger's width between phones at least, more if the room is warm.
- Screens facing you. When a run stops, the screen is the first thing you look at.
- Same model in a row where you can, so one stand fits all.
Cable runs
- Phone to hub: as short as fits without strain. A cable pulled tight at the connector will fail sooner.
- Hub to Mac: each hub on its own Mac port rather than chained. The USB hub guide covers power and bandwidth per hub.
- Power separate from data where you can, so you are not untangling a power brick to reach a data cable.
- Velcro, not zip ties. You will re-cable. Zip ties get cut, and nearby cables get nicked.
- A service loop — a little slack near each phone so you can lift it without unplugging it.
Labeling
Label four things with the same name: the phone, both ends of its cable, and its hub port. Use boring names that sort well — Phone 01, Phone 02 — not the account it runs, because accounts move between phones.
Keep a sheet that maps each name to its hub, port, proxy and accounts. A full template is in naming and labels.
Doing this with Farmero
Farmero lists each phone under Phones. Give it the same name as the label on the stand, so a report that says "Phone 07 stopped" points straight at a physical device. Farmero doesn't care which order phones are plugged in, so you can re-cable freely. The one-time setup for each phone is in the Mac setup guide.
FAQ
What is the best stand for a phone farm?
A slotted multi-device stand that holds phones upright with space between them. Anything that stacks phones flat traps heat.
Should I chain USB hubs to save Mac ports?
Avoid it. Chained hubs share one upstream port. Give each hub its own port on the Mac.
How far apart should phones be?
Enough for air to move and for you to lift one out without disturbing the next. A finger's width is a sensible minimum.
Should phones be named after their accounts?
No. Name the hardware (Phone 01) and track accounts in a sheet, because accounts move between phones.