Need some kind of KVM or something
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So I got a nice laptop from work, but technically I'm not supposed to use it for personal stuff, like browsing and posting here.
I also have a personal laptop and a whole bunch of Docking stations. I have 2 monitors right now with a smallish TV being the third monitor. All the monitors connect to the Docking station, and the keyboard/mouse are wireless.
I would like to be able to do some browsing, at the minimum want access to Gmail, which is blocked on the VPN. Being able to watch Netflix or something would be a bonus.
What's the best way to get set up here? A semi ideal solution would be to use the personal laptop and RDP (with 2 monitors) to the work laptop, but as the VPN takes over all the traffic, I don't think that's going to work.
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I'm not sure if there's a KVM switch that does dual monitor. 🤔
Might finagle with two switches, but that's pretty have mail jank...
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@Tsaukpaetra said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
I'm not sure if there's a KVM switch that does dual monitor. 🤔
Might finagle with two switches, but that's pretty have mail jank...I have a dual monitor KVM. There are even triple monitor ones.
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@Benjamin-Hall said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
@Tsaukpaetra said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
I'm not sure if there's a KVM switch that does dual monitor. 🤔
Might finagle with two switches, but that's pretty have mail jank...I have a dual monitor KVM. There are even triple monitor ones.
How well does the actual switching work? I think really the idea situation for me would be the RDP if I can get it to work. That way I can have access to both machines at the same time. Might need to set up a route somewhere.
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@Benjamin-Hall said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
@Tsaukpaetra said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
I'm not sure if there's a KVM switch that does dual monitor. 🤔
Might finagle with two switches, but that's pretty have mail jank...I have a dual monitor KVM. There are even triple monitor ones.
Will wonders never cease? 😌
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@dangeRuss said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
@Benjamin-Hall said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
@Tsaukpaetra said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
I'm not sure if there's a KVM switch that does dual monitor. 🤔
Might finagle with two switches, but that's pretty have mail jank...I have a dual monitor KVM. There are even triple monitor ones.
How well does the actual switching work? I think really the idea situation for me would be the RDP if I can get it to work. That way I can have access to both machines at the same time. Might need to set up a route somewhere.
Works well, but you can only have the monitors attached to one computer at a time--both switch. My particular setup complains because I hae a no-port Mac (ok, it has 4 USB-C) so I have to hook a docking station up, which doesn't like my two-USB-A gaming keyboard. With more traditional computers it would work just fine.
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@dangeRuss Shit, I could have made this exact post myself.
Are you me? Have we been seen together?
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@error said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
@dangeRuss Shit, I could have made this exact post myself.
Are you me? Have we been seen together?
Only when I'm looking in the mirror.
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@dangeRuss
How much money are you willing to spend? Good, reliable KVM switches are unfortunately very expensive. The one I have here cost around $400.
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@boomzilla posted this half a day ago in a garage post, what are the odds?
I hope he won't mind sharing it:
@boomzilla said:
@Karla said:
I like being able to switch to my machine real quick.
I am loving this bad boy:
I have my personal machine, my work laptop and my customer laptop connected to my keyboard, mouse and two monitors.
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@JBert I have a dual monitor CKL switch as well. Having used it for more than a year now, CKL is certainly the very first company I'd look at.
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@dangeRuss said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
@Benjamin-Hall said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
@Tsaukpaetra said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
I'm not sure if there's a KVM switch that does dual monitor. 🤔
Might finagle with two switches, but that's pretty have mail jank...I have a dual monitor KVM. There are even triple monitor ones.
How well does the actual switching work? I think really the idea situation for me would be the RDP if I can get it to work. That way I can have access to both machines at the same time. Might need to set up a route somewhere.
My KVM (linked above) has buttons on the front but also a wired "remote" that has four buttons for each computer (I'm only using 3 of them). I leave that right above my mouse pad so the switching is pretty convenient.
The only issue I've had is that sometimes my work computer doesn't recognize the mouse. But it's always been weird about USB stuff, and sometimes it doesn't see the USB ports on its dock at all.
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@dfdub said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
@dangeRuss
How much money are you willing to spend? Good, reliable KVM switches are unfortunately very expensive. The one I have here cost around $400.
One could buy 2 extra monitors and an extra desk for less than that
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@sockpuppet7 said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
@dfdub said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
@dangeRuss
How much money are you willing to spend? Good, reliable KVM switches are unfortunately very expensive. The one I have here cost around $400. One could buy 2 extra monitors and an extra desk for less than that
My employer paid for it.
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@boomzilla said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
My KVM (linked above) has buttons on the front but also a wired "remote" that has four buttons for each computer (I'm only using 3 of them). I leave that right above my mouse pad so the switching is pretty convenient.
If it's like mine you can also switch with keyboard (RCTRL+RCTRL+#+Enter) or mouse (double click middle button).
I get @dangeRuss's desire to have both computers at once but VPNs don't usually make that possible. For a while I did second best by having a KVM that switched mouse + keyboard only but really, that's not the use case KVMs are designed and sold for. I now use them as designed and switching is fast enough with the hotkeys and such to make me happy.
If you're stuck in a boring meeting or something you can still have your laptop screen up, not taking input, while you're on your own computer.
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@heterodox said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
If it's like mine you can also switch with keyboard (RCTRL+RCTRL+#+Enter) or mouse (double click middle button).
My last one had hotkeys, which I kind of hated, because it used RCTRL, which really screwed with my muscle memory for navigating text (ctrl + arrows). ISTR there was some way to make all that work but
to learn it when the wired controller is so damn convenient.I get @dangeRuss's desire to have both computers at once but VPNs don't usually make that possible. For a while I did second best by having a KVM that switched mouse + keyboard only but really, that's not the use case KVMs are designed and sold for. I now use them as designed and switching is fast enough with the hotkeys and such to make me happy.
I used to use a VM on my personal machine and only connect the VM to the VPN. I miss those days but I've gotten used to the KVM routine.
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@JBert said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
@boomzilla posted this half a day ago in a garage post, what are the odds?
I hope he won't mind sharing it:
@boomzilla said:
@Karla said:
I like being able to switch to my machine real quick.
I am loving this bad boy:
I have my personal machine, my work laptop and my customer laptop connected to my keyboard, mouse and two monitors.
No USB-C.
Also why does it have a picture of 3 monitors when it only supports 2?
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@boomzilla said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
The only issue I've had is that sometimes my work computer doesn't recognize the mouse. But it's always been weird about USB stuff, and sometimes it doesn't see the USB ports on its dock at all.
I have Russian Spyware installed on my work laptop, and at least for the first couple of times I connected my wireless keyboard to it, it asked me to type in a PIN to make sure I'm not a Ukrainian hacker.
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@dangeRuss said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
No USB-C.
You have a USB-C mouse or keyboard?
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@boomzilla said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
@dangeRuss said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
No USB-C.
You have a USB-C mouse or keyboard?I don't have a laptop with 2 HDMI ports. Even if I did, 2<3.
All my laptops use a USB C dock. I guess technically I can use a separate dock for each laptop and hope that they both have 2 HDMI ports each.
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@dangeRuss said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
@boomzilla said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
@dangeRuss said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
No USB-C.
You have a USB-C mouse or keyboard?I don't have a laptop with 2 HDMI ports. Even if I did, 2<3.
All my laptops use a USB C dock. I guess technically I can use a separate dock for each laptop and hope that they both have 2 HDMI ports each.
None of my computers have multiple HDMI out. I have the laptops connected to their respective docks and the KVM connected to those (and my desktop) through an HDMI each plus a mixture of DisplayPort and MiniDisplayPort to HDMI cables (plus the USB that's semi-part of the HDMI cable that came with the KVM).
Connecting the KVM to the docks makes it easy to take either laptop somewhere when I need to. Which I haven't since March, of course, but that won't last forever.
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@dangeRuss said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
@JBert said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
@boomzilla posted this half a day ago in a garage post, what are the odds?
I hope he won't mind sharing it:
@boomzilla said:
@Karla said:
I like being able to switch to my machine real quick.
I am loving this bad boy:
I have my personal machine, my work laptop and my customer laptop connected to my keyboard, mouse and two monitors.
No USB-C.
Whoa! My comment about prices is becoming more relevant now.
I'm pretty sure there are KVMs with USB-C out there, but they're probably the price of a new computer. Even simple USB 3 hubs with PD support are already quite expensive.
You should probably forget about that requirement.
If the lack of video output ports on the machines is really an unsolvable problem, buying a monitor that supports DP daisy-chaining and a DP KVM switch that supports it as well is probably the saner option.
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@dfdub said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
I'm pretty sure there are KVMs with USB-C out there, but they're probably the price of a new computer. Even simple USB 3 hubs with PD support are already quite expensive.
You should probably forget about that requirement.
Yeah, but the reality is that you probably don't need it unless maybe you're trying to switch a camera or other peripherals that aren't a mouse or keyboard. And you probably don't need to do that. Just have that stuff connected directly to whichever machine actually needs it.
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@boomzilla
I think what he actually wants, though, is a Thunderbolt dock that he can switch between different devices without using a dock for each, not a KVM. Which I'm pretty sure is a theoretical device that doesn't exist. And I'm also not sure whether Thunderbolt 3 switches that you could put in between the devices and the single dock are a thing.
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@dfdub yeah, a dock that has multiple inputs would be cool, but you'd have to have all machines that work with the dock. I guess that's probably more likely now that they're using normal connectors instead of the old style model specific docks. Simpler to use the docks as intended except that they go to the KVM instead of your normal monitors and peripherals.
I have two Thunderbolt docks (my work uses a double Thunderbolt connection and my customer's is just a single). I have my work laptop sitting on top of my customer laptop and the customer dock sitting on top of the work dock (the customer's dock is much thinner). I never even open up the customer laptop to use it.
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@dfdub even if it exists, Thunderbolt makes it even more expensive.
Blackbox make a KVM with USB-C to each PC but it's crazy money for a KVM.
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@dfdub said in Need some kind of KVM or something:
@boomzilla
I think what he actually wants, though, is a Thunderbolt dock that he can switch between different devices without using a dock for each, not a KVM. Which I'm pretty sure is a theoretical device that doesn't exist. And I'm also not sure whether Thunderbolt 3 switches that you could put in between the devices and the single dock are a thing.Sounds like a product idea.
Adding it to my list.
- GMO Kosher Pigs with non-Cloven hooves.
- A good Athena client that also supports GIT.
- USB-C/Thunderbolt dock/KVM switch with 3+ monitor and 3+ laptop support.
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I use an ATEN 4-way dual-DVI KVM switch, for which I paid several hundred euros. In my workflow though I don't switch very frequently; it's really about saving desk space.
It works fine except when I need to full-reboot my work laptop, as mcafee disk encryption relies on the bios keyboard detection and the bios doesn't like USB hubs.
I'll probably have to replace it with a display port model when I eventually end up replacing my current monitors, but I'm not in a rush.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KMZ1SDM
