Hello all, I’m looking for a switch/kvm for my home setup. ive been through a few tries and none of them have worked for one reason or another.
I have two machines,
A windows 11 work laptop
- USB-C out, both USB and display port.
- HDMI out
- USB 2.0 out
A Ubuntu based personal server
- Displayport out
- USB-C out (no Displayport)
For displays, I have a single double wide 4k monitor
Additionally I have a USB-C hub all my peripherals are connected to.
I’ve been very happy with my Monoprice “Blackbird 4K DisplayPort 1.4 USB 3.0 4x1 KVM Switch, 4K@60Hz, HDR, YCbCr 4:4:4, HDCP 2.2”. I run an ultrawide at 3840x1600 @ 144 Hz, or HDR at 120 Hz, G-Sync both, and it works wonderfully. It took some effort to get all the required devices using the same connections - went through quite a few “USB-C to DP” cables from Amazon that had to be returned because they couldn’t do the high refresh like they claimed … but once I got everything set up, it’s worked like a dream, 3+ years and counting now I think.
I have this level1techs KVM which can drive my 5120x1440 @ 120hz monitor (without DSC) AND my 3840x2160 @ 240hz monitor (also without DSC). It’s $450, but Wendell and level1techs are great and it’s well worth the price.
I’m running Fedora on one host and Ubuntu on the other. With Windows, you can use DSC to drive huge resolutions at 240hz.
He has cheaper ones too, so check around the shop and find one that fits your requirements.
This!! Wendell is the best! He actually started designing his own KVMs because the ones on the market didn’t have all the functionalities/support.
All decent DP KVMs are very expensive. I got an IOGEAR which is a rebranded Aten. It was also in the same price range. Who knew high resolution needs high bandwidth and high bandwidth signaling and switching is hard…
I tried a USB KVM switcher. I only recall there were serious issues and it didn’t last long.
Now I use a high quality USB dock and physically unplug/re-replug a work and personal laptop. That’s been a simple and reliable solution.
For my home server, I ssh into it.
Anything that can do better than 1080p is insanely expensive or cheap and flakey. I gave up looking and just got a new monitor with a KVM built in.
Most have one USB-C with 65w+ PD which includes the keyboard and mouse and then add 1-3 more slots that have HDMI and/or DisplatPort + USB-A for the keyboard and mouse.
Keen to know what you’ve tried. Or if anyone has found something good that isn’t silly expensive or cheap and dodgy.
I wanted something similar from a remote company I was working for. They were pretty good about fulfilling requests, but when I asked for a good kvm switch they said they had trouble in the past and instead recommended a usb hub that can toggle between machines. Then connect both machines to the same monitor and toggle the input. Not ideal, but low cost and functional. Might not suit your needs (would be annoying if you have to frequently toggle back and forth), but if you’re just trying to share your desk space between a work machine and personal, and the monitor input is easy to toggle, it’s worth considering.
That is what I do. I have owned like 4 kvm switches. Even when I paid extra to get a “good” one they never lasted more than like a year or two. My USB switch has been going for about 3 years. Occasionally it glitches out and I have to unplug it from everything but it’s only about every 3-5 months
