Two Computers One Monitor – With a KVM 2 Port Switch.

Two Computers One Monitor – Introduction

Two computers one monitor and a lack of desk space!

A not uncommon problem today is that of an office or home setup where you have two computers that you wish to switch between regularly but only have room on your desk for one monitor, keyboard and mouse, especially if you have a widescreen LCD monitor filling your desktop!

Maybe you have a PC setup dedicated to gaming and another PC for all of your other applications or setup as a server etc.

Some gamers and computer buffs like to have multiple setups with one PC a ‘latest spec’ machine and the other as a backup or new build PC.

With this kind of setup it would be very annoying to say the least to have to keep unplugging your monitor, keyboard and mouse from one PC only to have to reconnect it to the other – back and forth all the time!

Well not to worry – there is a way around this!

KVM monitor switches are available which allow the connection of two or more PCs to one monitor, keyboard and mouse.

KVM stands for, yep, you guessed it, keyboard, video and mouse!

It’s a neat little device that you can connect up between two or more PCs with a single set of user interfaces and switch between your PCs using a simple keyboard shortcut command – brilliant eh!

The keyboard command is usually something simple like a multiple tap of your shift key for instance.

Manual KVM switches are also available which require you to simply press a button to switch between PCs.

Two Computers One Monitor – Remote Control

It’s even possible to set up dual PC sharing without having to site the PCs locally to each other by using a local / remote KVM switch.

How does this work?

Well, your local KVM switch simply plugs into your keyboard, mouse and monitor and a CAT 5 type network cable connection is made between the local and remote KVM switch boxes.

The remote Ethernet KVM switch then connects to your remote PCs keyboard, video and mouse inputs, and you’re all set to go.

Two Computers One Monitor – Who Makes Them?

These handy little devices are easily obtainable from a number of manufacturers, such as Belkin, D-Link, TRENDnet and Iogear KVM switches and can be purchased quite cheaply from online stores such as tigerdirect.com.

Obviously it’s best to spend a reasonable amount to ensure a good quality product, you are dealing with some quite sensitive signals here especially for your monitor connection and the cheaper models may be more susceptible to crosstalk and interference of the signals.

Two Computers One Monitor – Is there another way?

Sharing a monitor between two PCs can also be achieved very simply if your monitor has dual inputs.

You will simply need to select the input using the monitor input selector.

Obviously your individual PCs will still require their own keyboard and mouse but this is still another possibly cheaper option to consider.

Ok, well we’ve talked about the KVM switch solution and sharing a monitor using dual inputs but are there any other options open to you?

Well, in fact yes there is!

Two Computers One Monitor – Software Approach

Another option which is brilliant for those that require remote operation of a PC is the software based control via your home network or even over an Internet connection.

Who provides the software?

There are a number of software solutions around, some you have to pay for and some, such as ‘Windows Remote Desktop’ are available free.

Another free option is ‘LogMeIn’ who provide a free option for users with basic requirements.

You will need a high speed home network LAN and decent broadband Internet connection in order to use this to the best of its abilities.

Note that this isn’t strictly a software KVM type solution as your remote PC will still require its own keyboard video and mouse but you will be able to use one monitor, keyboard and mouse locally to view two or ore computers remotely.

Two Computers One Monitor – KVM Switch Cables

KVM switches are available with two or more sets of connections for the sharing of multiple PCs with a single monitor, keyboard and mouse

Some KVM switches have VGA inputs and outputs and PS2 connections for mouse and keyboard whilst the newer models have USB ports for today’s USB keyboard and mouse connections.

Your KVM switch will usually come complete with a set of cables. You will need to check that the KVM switch that you select has the correct connector types for both of your PCs that you intend to share with your monitor keyboard and mouse.

Many KVM switches available today have the facility to connect a set of speakers and a microphone which can also be switched between your PCs.

A KVM switch will, due to the technical limitations regarding signal quality etc, need to be sited in reasonable proximity to your PCs – say within 2 to 3 metres.

By the way, with a basic KVM switch there should be no reason why you should not be able to mix and match between a PC and Mac as long as the keyboard and mouse are compatible with both setups.

Two Computers One Monitor – Best KVM Switch

Where would we suggest that you look for the best KVM switch?

Well, Belkin, Iogear and TRENDnet offer some very good KVM switches and a very compact dual port KVM switch can be obtained very cheaply from all of these manufacturers.

All are exceptionally easy to configure and install and do not require any device drivers or other software installation on any of the PCs that you intend connecting it to.

A very simple device available cheaply is the Belkin 2 Port KVM switch called the Belkin Flip which is offered in PS/2 or USB connector variants.

This is a really cute little device which sits between the two computers, a single monitor and your keyboard and mouse.

It comes with a ‘remote’ button that you use to swap ‘on the fly’ between your two PCs.

The Flip remote button has two colors along its edge which shine green or yellow with the color indicating which of your PCs is currently under control of your keyboard and mouse.

The Flip’s remote button can be attached to the top or underside of your desk using the included adhesive patch if you so desire.

No software installation is required with this model – it really doesn’t get any simpler!

Actually, there is also a variant of this model that has wireless remote included!


Belkin F1DG102W 2-Port USB KVM Switch with Wireless Remote

Belkin’s Wireless Remote version of the ‘Flip’ allows you wire free switching between two PCs or a PC and a laptop with the KVM to PC and KVM to keyboard etc. cables neatly hidden away from view.

This beauty also features audio support, allowing you to share a set of speakers between PCs!

The Flip lets you to listen to music files on one PC whilst working on your other PC by using the handy ‘audio lock’ feature.

Features

• Share a single monitor, USB keyboard and USB mouse between two PCs


• Share a set of speakers between two PCs


• Wireless RF remote has a range of 10 feet


• ‘Active’ PC indication using bi-color LED indicator


• Includes 2 built-in cables for connecting computers


• Supports screen resolutions up to 2048x1536


• MAC and PC compatible

A good example of a competing Iogear KVM switch model is the

Iogear GCS42UW6 Compact KVM Switch

The IOGEAR two-port USB KVM switch supports both the MAC and Windows operating systems and allows a single monitor keyboard and USB mouse to be shared between two computers.

Switching between the two computers is by use of a manual switch which is attached to the top of the KVM switch housing.

Again, this device features plug and play operation does not require any software to be installed.

Features

• Share a single monitor, USB keyboard and USB mouse between two PCs


• No external power required


• Supports screen resolutions up to 2048x1536


• Integral 6 foot USB and VGA cables


• Compact design features two attached KVM (USB and VGA) cables


• Microsoft Windows 2000 upwards and Appple Mac OS 9.0 upwards


• Manual Push button computer selection


• LED indication of active PC

A further excellent example of a competing Trendnet KVM switch model is

TRENDnet’s TK-207K 2-Port USB KVM Switch

This 2-Port USB KVM Switch allows connection of two PC’s with an integrated set of keyboard, monitor, and mouse cables.

Switching between computers is by push button selection or ‘hot keys’ with LED indication.

Again no external power is required as the Trendnet KVM switch obtains its power from the cables attached to your PCs

This device features plug and play with no software installation required.

Features

• Share a single monitor, USB keyboard and USB mouse between two PCs


• Two sets of detachable KVM Cables included


• Supports screen resolutions up to 2048x1536


• Supports Microsoft Windows and Apple MAC


• Hot-key computer selection or push button selection


• Microsoft Windows users can specify hot keys


• Power adapter not required – USB power driven

Installing a wireless router

Installing a wireless router - Introduction

Installing a wireless router and setting up a home wireless network doesn’t cost the earth, can be accomplished by anybody using the simple steps and know how available in the guides you will find here at PC Tips and Tricks.

Do you want to be able to sit comfortably in your living room or maybe outside on the patio in the sunshine whilst surfing the internet with no wires to worry about?

How about sharing a common printer wirelessly from any room in your house?

Installing a Wireless Router – Broadband connection sharing

Your home broadband connection can be used to provide internet access for more than one PC, laptop or gaming console etc.

There are a number of ways of providing this access for your home computers and other devices but the easiest and safest way is by installing a wireless router which will allow all of your PCs etc to connect to the internet independently and also allow file sharing between PCs and laptops connected to your home network.

Why do we need a router? Well, we need a router if we want to connect a number of PCs, game consoles etc through to the Internet via one ISP (Internet Service Provider) without having to pay for a full broadband subscription for each device.

Why is it safer to use a router? Well, your router will have a built-in hardware firewall which, when configured correctly, will help provide protection against hackers and the like trying to infiltrate your home network and wreak havoc perhaps obtaining sensitive information such as passwords and credit card details etc.

A hardware firewall will provide greater security than a software firewall on its own and a combined hardware and software firewall setup will provide excellent security against online threats.

With a wireless router all of your PCs will be able to access the internet at the same time and with your home wireless network you will be able to share printers and files, use wireless capable gaming consoles and your Apple itouch or Apple iphone devices etc.

Installing a Wireless Router – Other options

As we said earlier, the wireless router isn’t the only way to share an internet connection but it’s certainly the most tidy, inherently safe and convenient way.

A simple wired router will allow you the same functionality and protection with an in-built firewall but you will then have to install unsightly CAT 5 cabling around your home. Agreed, you can hide these cables away within cupboards and behind wall boards etc but it is so much easier installing a wireless router for your home network.

Another option that is open to you is the Windows ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) method where you can allocate one of your computers to be the main ‘gateway’ to the internet and your other computers would then access, again using Cat 5 cabling between PCs, the internet via your main PC. This would mean that your main PC would need to remain on all of the time that your other computer users want to access the internet. Inconvenient and a great waste of electricity – let’s get green now guys and girls!

Installing a Wireless Router – What is a router

So, what exactly is a router and what does it do?

Ok, a router – in simple terms – is a device that sends data between networks in the form of data packets (small chunks of data).

It is connected between at least two networks - in our case between our home network, which is called a LAN (Local Area Network) and the Internet, which is on the WAN (Wide Area Network) side of the router.

The router acts as a gateway between these two networks.

Hey, it’s all quite simple really; your wireless router basically acts as an interface between your broadband internet connection and your home PCs either wirelessly or via Ethernet cabling.

Your router will incorporate a switch, which acts like an intelligent hub, and controls data transfer between all PCs and devices connected to the router Ethernet RJ-45 ports (on our LAN side of the router) or router wireless access point - WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) allowing you to share files and data between devices on your home network.

The router takes note of which computer or computers are addressing particular sites on the Internet and ensures that data to and from the Internet is tracked back and forth to the correct computer on your network.

The router does all this using various protocols, headers and tables etc to allow correct communication between devices and between each device and the Internet.

NAT (Network Address Translation) allows all of your computers to share a single IP address on the Internet by combining the traffic from your PCs and laptops etc individual IP addresses into one single internet IP address.

So, from the outside, your individual computers appear as one. Your ISP (Internet Service Provider) does not need to provide individual IP addresses for each of your PCs – that would be very expensive!

Your router communicates with your ISP via a single IP address and has an internal ‘switch’ which assigns each PC or device on your network with a unique IP address allowing all to share the internet connection. The switch also provides communication between your PCs etc across your home network.

Your wireless router provides a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) to provide the same function for all your wireless connected devices such as laptops, wireless desktop PCs and wireless enabled game consoles etc.

Installing a Wireless Router – Recommended setup

Although we are discussing installing a wireless router setup here you should probably still configure your main PC using a permanent wired Ethernet connection.

Why? - Well initial setup will be carried out using a wired connection and we would recommend, especially if you have a PC situated close by your router, that you retain one PC with a direct connection as trouble shooting etc will be much easier using this connection.

Wireless signals can be greatly affected by the surrounding environment – microwave ovens, walls, floors, cordless phones etc can all have an impact on your signal. It is far easier to troubleshoot when you don’t have to worry about whether the problem is just down to a poor wireless signal.

Wireless signals can be greatly affected by the environment (microwave ovens, walls, floors cordless phones etc) can all have an impact on your signal.

Installing a Wireless Router – Typical wireless router and connections

Here is a typical router:

Connections at the rearNote the various inputs and outputs as follows:

A port to plug in your telephone line if you have a DSL type router, or Ethernet input for a cable modem if you have a cable ISP service.

A number of Ethernet RJ-45 ports, typically four, to allow connection of your wired LAN (connection for each wired computer or device on your home network).

The remaining connector is the jack socket to allow connection of DC input power from the mains adapter.

Status Led’s giving you information on ISP, Wi-Fi and Ethernet port status etc.

A wireless capable router may also have one or two antennae attached to provide for your WLAN although on some makes the aerial may be integral to the device.

Installing a Wireless Router – Choosing a wireless router

To setup for Windows Wireless Networking as discussed you will need either a WAP (Wireless Access Point) and a separate router or a router with an integral WAP.

When installing a wireless router we would recommend that you choose a combined type of wireless router – by this we mean that your router has an integral switch, wireless access point and modem (DSL type ISP).

This will be easier to set up and there will be one less power cord and interconnection cable to contend with making for a far neater solution.

If you have a cable modem then you will need to connect this to your router via an Ethernet Cat 5 type cable. You will need to select a router that is suitable for use with a cable modem / set top box.

If you have your ISP provided via a phone line then you will have a DSL type modem and again you will need to select a router that is suitable for this type of ISP connection.

As we said, buy a combined DSL / Wireless router if possible and ditch your old modem.

Linksys, Netgear, Vigor and D-Link will all provide excellent results – our recommendation would be the Netgear DG834 combined wireless router for DSL type setups simply because we have had years of excellent service and trouble free operation.

Netgear’s WGR614 provides another excellent product with an input for cable modem users together with four Ethernet ports and 802.11g Wi-Fi.

When choosing your wireless router you should consider whether you will need a number of Ethernet ports for permanent or temporary hard wired cable connection as discussed earlier in this article.

Also look at the routers supported wireless standards. What does your chosen router support and is it compatible with your PC and laptop adaptors?

Installing a Wireless Router – Wireless standards

Generally the faster the better here, common standards for wireless networks today are as follows:

• 802.11a - 54Mbits/second at 5GHz operating frequency


• 802.11b - 11Mbits/second at 2.4GHz operating frequency


• 802.11g - 54Mbits/second at 2.4GHz operating frequency


• 802.11n - Up to 300Mbits/second at 2.4GHz

If starting your network from new you should only be concerned with the 802.11g and 802.11n standards really.

All of the above standards are generally compatible with each other with the exception of the 802.11a standard which runs at a different frequency to the others and cannot communicate with them (note that there are variants of the 802.11n that run at both 2.4GHz and 5GHz; look very closely at the specifications when selecting your router and adapters).

If you have devices with wireless adaptors that use the old 802.11b standard then 802.11g routers and some 802.11n routers are generally backwards compatible with these older 802.11b devices.

The 802.11n routers are theoretically capable of up to 300M bits/second data transfer rates but in practice you will be lucky to reach anywhere near this transfer rate! Typical maximums will be up to say 150Mbits/s.

For all standards the achievable data transfer speed will typically be up to one half the manufacturers stated speeds at best.

For across network transfer rates, your slowest device will dictate the transfer speed so if for instance you have a laptop with an 802.11b adapter fitted which only operates at 11Mbits/s maximum then this is all you will achieve even if your router is capable of working much faster.

As we said earlier, distances, barriers such as floors and walls, interference from mobile phones and microwave ovens etc will all act to slow down your wireless network speed – a wireless network will throttle back the transfer speed as your wireless signal strength decreases!

Installing a Wireless Router – Wireless router security

Check that the wireless router you select has adequate security features otherwise anyone within range of your wireless signal will have the opportunity to hop on to your network and surf the web for free not to mention gaining access to your home network with all of your files and data!

Ok, so you may not get hacked into but it’s quite likely that freeloaders or neighbors, maybe unknowingly as your signal is not encrypted, may make use of your internet connection for free thereby hogging your ISP bandwidth.

Check that your router supports as a minimum WEP encryption security and preferably WPA or WPA2 level security. To use WPA type security you will need to be running Windows XP Service Pack 2, Vista or Windows 7.

Check that your router can act as a DHCP server, which basically means that it can automatically assign IP addresses to your entire network PCs and devices allowing for much easier setting up. All new routers should be capable of doing this for you.

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Motherboard buying tips

When you ask someone about their computer configuration, they will normally tell you about the CPU speed, RAM memory size, Hard disk size etc. What most computer users do not care much about is the Motherboard. Most don’t even know what is a motherboard.

The heart of the computer is the Motherboard. Motherboard is as important to a computer as a foundation is important for a building. Even though you have high capacity hardware for the computer, if the motherboard is not efficient, then those hardware will also not function to their full capacity.

Therefore when you buy a computer or when you upgrade your computer it becomes very important that you get a correct motherboard. Here are the buying tips for a motherboard:

1. 
   

   It is important to know, how much speed of CPU the motherboard can support. For example if you are going to buy a CPU of 2.4 GHz speed then you should buy a motherboard that supports at least 3.06 GHz speed. The reason is, if you want to upgrade later, then you can just upgrade your CPU and reuse the existing motherboard. Therefore try to buy a motherboard that supports greater speed than your CPU speed.

   
   


2. 
   

   Take note of the CPU socket in the motherboard. The socket depends on the CPU. Socket 462 and Socket 478 are some examples.

   
   


3. 
   

   The chipset which controls all the hardware is very important. SIS, VIA, INTEL are some of the companies that manufacture chipsets. Intel 845E, VIA, KM 266 are some of the popular chipsets.

   
   


4. 
   

   Another important thing to note is to check how much RAM memory can be inserted into motherboard. Even if you are going to buy a smaller RAM size, make sure you have free slots for inserting RAM for later upgrade if needed. There are motherboards that can take upto 4GM RAM. Also see which type of RAM is supported. For instance there are SDR RAM and DDR RAM. Some costlier motherboards support both SDR and DDR RAM.

   
   


5. 
   

   In many motherboards the video cards are integrated. This is referred to as ‘Integrated Video’ or ‘Onboard Video’. If you buy a motherboard with this integrated video card then you do not have to buy another video card. So you can play games using these cards. However some higher end games and some software like CAD cannot be used with this video card. Therefore, if you are a game addict or you use video a lot, then make sure that your motherboard comes with a AGP slot, so that in future if you need a more powerful video card then you can buy and insert it here.

   
   


6. 
   

   Many motherboards also come with integrated sound cards. If you buy a motherboard with ‘Integrated bchannel’ audio then you can save cost on buying another sound card.

   
   


7. 
   

   You can also save cost by buying motherboards with Ethernet, USB 2.0 and FireWire integrated, so that you don’t need to buy them separately.

   
   


8. 
   

   Some motherboards also come with RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Devices) support. If you are buying a server then you should go for this. If you are a home user then normally it is not necessary.

   
   


9. 
   

   Motherboards that support bluetooth are available. If you use many wireless devices then you should go for bluetooth supported motherboards.

   
   


10. 
    

    The number of PCI slots also vary in different motherboards. The number of PCI slots vary from 2 to 6. It is better to buy a motherboard with more PCI slots so that you can insert any external devices as and when required.

    
    


11. 
    

    The Font Side Bus (FSB) speed of motherboard ranges from 133MHz to 533MHz. It is obvious that the FSM speed should be high. The motherboard Chipset should be able to handle your CPU speed and the FSB speed of your motherboard. This is called Form Factor. Now, Micro ATX form factor is quire popular.

    
    


12. 
    

    Also note that there should be adequate space around the CPU. This will enable more air flow to the CPU while functioning. If required buy an additional fan.

    
    


13. 
    

    Check that your motherboard comes with the User manual, Driver CDs, Required connection cables etc.

    
    


14. 
    

    The price of the motherboard usually ranges between $60 to $300. You can choose a cheaper motherboard with more features.

    
    


15. 
    

    Some of the popular motherboard manufacturers are Krypton, Asus, Msi, Mercury, Gigabyte and Intel. Choose the one with long warranty period.