The nonlinear mechanics of cable vibration is caught either by analytical or numerical models. Nevertheless, the choice of the most appropriate method, in consideration of the problem under study, is not straightforward. A feedback control policy might even enhance the complexity of the system. Thus, in order to design a suitable controller, different approaches are here adopted. Devices mounted transversely to the cable in the two directions, close to one of its ends, supply the feedback control action based on the observation of the response in a few points. The low order terms of the control law are, at first, analyzed in the framework of linear models. Explicit analytic solutions are derived for this purpose. The effectiveness of high order terms in the control law is then explored by means of a finite element model(FEM), which accounts for high order harmonics. A suitably dimensional analytical Galerkin model is finally derived, to investigate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy, when applied to a physical model.