Can anyone recommend a GOOD KVM?

[GTaudiophile]

They ones at newegg seem to get bad reviews:

LINKSKEY LDV-202AUSK for $145

IOGEAR GCS1762 for $180

Why are these things so complicated? Seem like nothing but trouble.

 

[Ronin]

Have you looked at the Belkin OmniViews at all?

 

[GTaudiophile]

No

 

[Ronin]

Then do.

I stand by them 100%, and have bought dozens (literally) because of the quality and usability (imo, anyway).

 

[GTaudiophile]

I found this one for $244 (from Belkin directly).

Any reviews on it?

 

[Nocturnal]

There is no such thing as a "good" KVM switch. As far as IOGear goes, watch out as their KVMs have issues with the nForce 3/4 chipsets. I've been searching for quite some time now.

 

[GTaudiophile]

This Belkin KVM can be bought for around $150 from mwave.

Ronin: Have you tried it on an nForce4 board?

 

[GTaudiophile]

Ouch. The Belkin gets creamed at Amazon!

 

[GTaudiophile]

Sigh. A good KVM with DVI support is what I need, but I don't think a good one exists...

(Not even the one Anand recently reviewed.)

 

[GTaudiophile]

SO, the question now is, what do I do if I can't find a good KVM but want to run two machines in the same room without dual monitoris, keyboards, and mice?

Perhaps run VNC on the second machine? This would work except for the sound issue I suppose.

 

[Steve Guilliot]

Remote desktop / Terminal Services.

Will even transfer audio. It's good for just about everything except playing 3D games.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Originally posted by: Steve Guilliot
Remote desktop / Terminal Services.

Will even transfer audio. It's good for just about everything except playing 3D games.

Would you recommend Windows Remote Desktop or something else?

I didn't know you could do audio through it...

 

[Steve Guilliot]

Only Windows does the Remote Desktop/Terminal Services I'm talking about. There are VNC-like products such as RemoteD, but that's not the same thing.

Windows XP supports Remote Desktop natively.

Control panel -> System -> Remote -> Check "Allow users to connect remotely to this computer". You will also need to make sure the computer(s) you want to control have the Remote Desktop port open in the firewall (TCP 3389).

Then to access this machine from another:

Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Communications -> Remote desktop connections

In this, enter the IP address or computer name. Go to Options -> Local Resources -> Remote Computer Sounds -> Bring to this computer.

It's also very useful to connect local disk drives to the remote computer so that you have access to local and remote drives at once. Very handy for transferring files between host and client.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Cool. This saves me some money and hassle

How secure is the connection using Remote Desktop, say, over an at-home LAN? Can you encrypt the connection?

 

[Steve Guilliot]

I know you can encrypt the session through IPSec and group policy. Since you likely aren't running a domain at home, this won't work for you.

There probably is a way to do it throught the registry, but that will take a bit of research. Maybe someone would know in the Highly Technical forum.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Thanks for your help Steve!

 

[Scorpion]

Does anyone have any comments on this KVM DVI & USB?
http://www.kvm-switches-online.com/2svdvi10-001.html

I'm considering it, but can't find any reviews on it. Why is it so difficult to find a good KVM? The features varies so greatly between them and they all seem to have issues of some kind. I want to make sure I can boot when I'm not active on the port, and have proper Keyboard/Mouse key support. I think I should go into the business of making KVMs...

 

[wallsfd949]

I just recently picked up the Iogear GCS1762. I was hesitant to purchase this product primarily because their 2nd generation VGA KVM switches burned so many people. Some of the non-DVI KVM complaints were special key keyboards (MS/Logitech) lose custom key functions, monitor doesn't 'sleep' because of the OSD and some other stuff.

I was skeptical, but this was a different product line and I knew macmall.com would take it back if I had any trouble.

I've had the GCS1762 for about a week now and I really like it. I have the following equipment connected to it:

Dell Dimension 9100
- x300 video card
- all USB (no legacy)

Mac G5
- Nvidia card

Dell 2405FPW (running @ 1920x1600)

Logitech MX Duo (connected USB to front keyboard input of KVM)


Special keys work correctly, mouse functions properly, monitor "sleeps" when the computer it is connected to tells it to, hot key switching works correctly.

My only complaint is no USB 2.0 support for the extra USB connections - how hard would this have been to impliment - comeon guys!

A week into it, I highly recomend this KVM for anyone looking for DVI KVM functionality, this one is done well, includes all cables necessary and also supports audio.

 

[Nocturnal]

IOGear has a USB 2.0 KVM but it isn't with DVI, yet. I'm sure they're working on it. Again though, you have to be care of any IOGear as their KVMs do not work with nVidia nForce 3/4 chipsets.

 

[9nails]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Cool. This saves me some money and hassle

How secure is the connection using Remote Desktop, say, over an at-home LAN? Can you encrypt the connection?

Wow! What sort of animals do you live with?! I'd be more worried more about i'net people sneaking onto the home LAN decrpyting passwords. If you firewall port 3389 from the Internet, then you won't need to worry as much about encryption. (Assuming you can trust Fluffy the cat not to hack your network!)

To answer the question, it uses RSA Security's RC4 cipher. Which can be set at 56 or 128 bit strengths. This page can help you set the strength: Windows XP Resource - Terminal Services Policies