[SOLVED] I want to be able to have my pc tower in my office but use it on any screen in my home.

[msziegler83]

I want to be able to have my pc tower in my office but use it on any screen in my home. I wont need access outside my home network. Is this even possible or worth the cost. I'm not sure what other details are needed. Give me a list and I'll try to provide what I can.

 

[rgd1101]

home office or remote location?

 

[msziegler83]

home office or remote location?

Home office. My wife needs the space for her new job and there just isn't enough room for us both. I already have a large corner desk and a triple monitor setup. I'd like us to be able to share the monitors and desk. She has a dock for her Lenovo work laptop. I do some casual gaming so if that is possible to do remotely that would be awesome. I've tried the steam link and it works but is not great. Input lag on games like Destiny 2 and Dysmantle was not playable. At least for me.

 

[bill001g]

For non game stuff it is possible. The lag is the killer. It takes time to take the video compress it send it over your network and uncompress it. It not actually that much maybe 20-30ms for some systems but you will definitely notice the desync between the mouse and the screen.

In general these are called KVM. They are kinda expensive for anything that even attempts to do good resolution with ok frame rates. There are cheaper devices that will work over direct ethernet cable. These require a dedicated wire they will not work over your network. The lag is a bit less on the direct wire ones but you might still notice it in shooter games. Do some research on KVM and you will see the discussions on different types.

The problem is the bandwidth on the cables between the video card and the monitor is huge compared to data networks. I for the exact numbers but it is easy to exceed 10gbit rates that you need the better hdmi 2.0 cables to run. These device have to compress this data to be able to send it over a network.

 

[msziegler83]

For non game stuff it is possible. The lag is the killer. It takes time to take the video compress it send it over your network and uncompress it. It not actually that much maybe 20-30ms for some systems but you will definitely notice the desync between the mouse and the screen.

In general these are called KVM. They are kinda expensive for anything that even attempts to do good resolution with ok frame rates. There are cheaper devices that will work over direct ethernet cable. These require a dedicated wire they will not work over your network. The lag is a bit less on the direct wire ones but you might still notice it in shooter games. Do some research on KVM and you will see the discussions on different types.

The problem is the bandwidth on the cables between the video card and the monitor is huge compared to data networks. I for the exact numbers but it is easy to exceed 10gbit rates that you need the better hdmi 2.0 cables to run. These device have to compress this data to be able to send it over a network.

My monitors have display port, HDMI, and DVI. I thought about using a hub/switch for that(KVM). I planned on using a wired connection over ethernet. I can deal with only gaming in the office but what about youtube or netflix or google? We are going to save a bit of money by not having to buy a new desk and setup so the KVM's might still be in the budget.

 

[punkncat]

Other outside the box solution(s) that are quite dependent on location/adjoining rooms:

If your computer has Bluetooth and the TV does as well you can cast the screen to the TV. Add a USB extender cable (through the wall) and you can use one of many AIO keyboard/trackpad/mouse solutions such as Logitech provides.

If you are utilizing the PC and all three screens and wifey is working direct from a laptop it might be worthwhile to consider swapping the role as her laptop will certainly be easy to connect to and might be more desirable if the rooms are well apart.

Could be worthwhile to invest in a cheap refurb office type PC to connect in the living room.

 

[bill001g]

You will not see the overhead on anything other than games really. Things like netflix are using buffers that hold a few full seconds of data so input lag is not really a issue. Now you might be able to detect that the mouse feels a bit off on a simple web page but it will work fine once you get use to it.

 

[msziegler83]

My idea was to just have some kid of a hub with a screen and M/K at each place I want access to my PC. Access point in the garage, living room, and master bedroom. I'm more concerned with can it be done than how much for the moment.

 

[gggplaya]

Just look up "KVM over IP" , there are a few options available. Pricey, but it can be done. For the price of a host unit and 2 clients you could buy a beefy powerful laptop and 3 docking stations for around the house. I have an HP Zbook for work and 2 docking stations. It's really easy to plug in because the dock only has 2 wires that are connected together. Mine's 230watts and can run 2 displayport monitors. https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-thunderbolt-dock-g2-with-combo-cable

Lenovo has a similar workstation dock: https://accessorysmartfind.lenovo.com/#/products/40ANY230US

Dell also has a similar dock: https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-performance-dock-wd19dcs/apd/210-azbn/pc-accessories

If you needs lots of storage space, then get a NAS for the house.

 

[msziegler83]

I do have a older laptop with an AMD A4 quad core. Could I use that as a UI and then have my tower as the muscle so to speak. My tower is a AMD AM4 1700x 32GB of 2666hz DDR4 and a GTX 1060 Strix 6GB.

 

[gggplaya]

I do have a older laptop with an AMD A4 quad core. Could I use that as a UI and then have my tower as the muscle so to speak. My tower is a AMD AM4 1700x 32GB of 2666hz DDR4 and a GTX 1060 Strix 6GB.

There are several remote desktop apps but they are quite laggy and the image quality isn't well, native. it's better to run the desktop at 4k and the client at 1080p. KVM over IP is better. Parsec isn't too bad, you can try that one for free. https://parsec.app/blog/category/remote-work

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B821HqH-dWI

 

[Alabalcho]

I do have a older laptop with an AMD A4 quad core. Could I use that as a UI and then have my tower as the muscle so to speak. My tower is a AMD AM4 1700x 32GB of 2666hz DDR4 and a GTX 1060 Strix 6GB.

If your tower runs Windows Pro, you can use "Remote Desktop Connection" to connect from laptop to the towe, and use the laptop as "remote" point where K, V, M gets connected.

Before reading your last post, this is what I was going to propose - $100 "Stick PC" to move between workplaces.

 

[gggplaya]

Remote desktop connection is great for running remote tasks, but the video compression and lag sucks to use as an everyday computer.

 

[msziegler83]

If your tower runs Windows Pro, you can use "Remote Desktop Connection" to connect from laptop to the towe, and use the laptop as "remote" point where K, V, M gets connected.

Before reading your last post, this is what I was going to propose - $100 "Stick PC" to move between workplaces.

I'll have to check on the windows pro. I had 7 pro but not sure if the free upgrade changed anything. What kind of hardware would I need at each end? Would I still need a KVM?

 

[bill001g]

A KVM does exactly that you connect a remote keyboard,monitor and mouse. You do not use any form of pc. If you use a PC you are using some form of remote desktop.

Most people that use remote desktop are not doing it inside their house so most the software you find is targeted at people who want to access their machine over the internet. If you want to try one out you can use teamviewer. This is free for personal use but all the traffic will flow through the teamviewer data center so it will be much worse than just going between 2 rooms in your house. There are some freeware version of RDP but I don't know how well they work.

I don't know if RDP runs on windows 7. There is no technical reason it can't but microsoft is being stupid. I don't get why they decided RDP would not work on windows home and you have to buy windows pro. Not sure if it is actually included in windows 7. One of the freeware version likely will run. You could also load linux onto the laptop and and find software that run on linux and windows 10.

If you happen to have a old machine to try without buying anything it is a good first option. I strongly suspect you will not be impressed by the performance. At that point you start looking at KVM. If you do not have a spare monitor to hook to the remote KVM that will raise your costs.

 

[Alabalcho]

I'll have to check on the windows pro. I had 7 pro but not sure if the free upgrade changed anything. What kind of hardware would I need at each end? Would I still need a KVM?

If you had Windows 7 Pro or Ultimate, and upgraded it to Windows 10, youvgot Windows 10 Pro. Easiest way to check is to <Win>-R, "winver", and check.

On the "remote" end anything from past 10 years or so should do (don't have Atoms or Celerons around to test...). You can even download Microsoft RDP client from Apple / Google stores for your tablet.