Wireless KVM switch?

Does a wireless KVM exist? or - can a wireless keyboard/mouse work with a KVM switch?

A KVM switch and wireless keyboard and mouse to control it don't always live in harmony. More often than not, a wireless keyboard may work just fine controlling a KVM switch, but a wireless mouse might give you a harder time at that.

KVM-switch manufacturers, unfortunately, do not specify the compatibility of their products with wireless keyboards and mice, leaving it up to the consumer to find out 'the hard way' whether a set of wireless keyboard and mouse actually works with any particular KVM-switch model, often determining such compatibility virtually by trial and error.

Compatibility conclusions, however, may at time be misleading, as one may find that a KVM switch sometimes does work just fine with a set of wireless keyboard and mouse, only to stop responding later for no apparent reason.

For the inclined, however, there are combinations of KVM switch and wireless keyboard/mouse that will play together.

In your trial and error attempts - try to adhere to the following guidelines:

Older, legacy PS/2 KVM switch doesn't tend to work with wireless keyboard/mouse at all.

Do not try to use a common USB dongle for both your keyboard and your mouse. Using separate USB-RF receivers for your mouse and keyboard greatly improves your chances of success with this arrangement.

When connecting the wireless USB dongles to your KVM switch for your USB keyboard and USB mouse, try to keep some distance between the two dongles. I you connect both dongles into ports within a few inches of each other, you might find that there is a noticeable lag in mouse performance. If you connect one dongle directly to the KVM switch and use an extension (i.e. a USB extension cable or USB ports on your monitor, for example) for the 2nd dongle, you might find that the KVM switch responds much better to your wireless keyboard/mouse. 

Two bright spots though in this conundrum:

• Belkin does specify that some of its KVM switches are compatible with wireless keyboards and mice, although such compatibility is stated in a somewhat broad manner.
• IOGEAR makes wireless keyboards and mice and goes further as to bundle them with some of their KVM-switch models, in effect guarantying that the set of wireless keyboard and mouse actually works with the bundled KVM switch. 

Bottom line: KVM switches are hit or miss with a lot of wireless keyboards/mice. Even if you get that mouse to work, the minute you switch to another KVM channel it might not work at all. If that's the case - don't waste time with that mouse. If you can't get it to work within a minute or two - try a different mouse. 

Need help? Call KVMGalore at 1-800-636-3434 or submit your question.