Wirelessly connecting a monitor, keyboard and mouse to a PC in another room

[Madlark]

Hi all,

I have a high-end gaming PC in the living room, and would like to set up a working area in the adjacent room with a monitor, a keyboard and a mouse all wirelessly connected to that PC.

The distance I'm talking about us roughly 3-4 meters, but there is a 10cm thick concrete wall between the two rooms, and running cables along the walls in an aesthetically pleasing way would require about 15m of cabling, which would reduce the signal quality, as I understand.

The workspace will be mainly used for programming and possibly composing (nothing professional), so a slight lag is ok I suppose.

Is that even possible? There seem to be several options and I'm rather confused to be honest, mainly about the keyboard/mouse part, so any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Ralston18]

You are probably pushing the limits.

Not certain if you already have the wireless keyboard and mouse - do not believe so per your opening sentence but do wish to be sure.

Any way to borrow a wireless mouse and keyboard. Bluetooth or otherwise?

I use the Microsoft Wireless keyboard 1000 and Microsoft Wireless optical mouse 2000 combination via the wireless desktop receiver (3.1). Packaged set.

There can be noticeable typing delay even a few feet away from the receiving unit. No interim wall. Either the keyboard or the mouse can hit some low battery threshold and stop working without notice.

Overall, Bluetooth is likely to be more suited to your requirements. However, that wall may impose too much of a barrier.

Using a transmitter is a possibility:

https://5productreviews.com/best-bluetooth-transmitters/

Monitor may be workable via Miracast if your PC supports Miracast.

Starter link:

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2907520/streaming-media/how-to-use-miracast-to-mirror-your-devices-screen-wirelessly-on-your-tv.html

Very much narrows down to the devices and their operational specifications and requirements. Usually determined and established in ideal environments.

Which means that as an end user what you experience is likely to be less. (Often stated somewhere in the fine print.)

Wired is likely to be the most workable option. And there extenders for keyboard and mouse connections. Can be pricy.

And, I must ask, is it your house? If so, getting a hole through the concrete may not be as difficult as you envision. Just thinking out loud....

 

[Madlark]

Hello and thank you for your reply!

Not sure borrowing a mouse/keyboard is an option, but I have two different sets of bluetooth headphones.headsets and one set of plain wireless headphones (with a docking base), and they all work absolutely fine through the wall. So bluetooth might indeed be the answer.

Regarding Miracast: I'm planning to use a simple LG monitor without built-in Miracast support or any USB ports, so I'm going to need a receiver - I suppose the USB on those dongles is for power only and I can use a power socket adapter instead? In any case, looks worth a try as well.

Something I should have mentioned from the start - I'm not necessarily looking for the cheapest solution - as long as it's less expensive than a modern laptop which can handle music production and Unity, I'm all up for it.

And no, it's a rented apartment, plus it's not so much about drilling as the room layout - the workspace has to be next to the far wall of the adjacent room, so I'll need extremely long cables to get there.

Anyway, thank you for your reply, I now have some options to look into!

 

[bill001g]

What you want has a generic name of a KVM switch. There might be one that runs via wireless but most the ones I have seen that have remote access use ethernet. There are many of these devices so you would have to dig around to see if someone offers them.

The largest issue I suspect is the huge bandwidth a monitor is going to take. Unlike a streamed video the data going to the monitor is not compressed. This is partially why there are limitation on the length of monitor cables. You likely will get enough difference in the lag between the keyboard/mouse and the monitor that it affects you game play. This is similar to what you see when you use remote desktop to control a machine.

 

[Madlark]

What you want has a generic name of a KVM switch. There might be one that runs via wireless but most the ones I have seen that have remote access use ethernet. There are many of these devices so you would have to dig around to see if someone offers them.

The largest issue I suspect is the huge bandwidth a monitor is going to take. Unlike a streamed video the data going to the monitor is not compressed. This is partially why there are limitation on the length of monitor cables. You likely will get enough difference in the lag between the keyboard/mouse and the monitor that it affects you game play. This is similar to what you see when you use remote desktop to control a machine.

Hello!

I didn't even know KVM switches existed, that's definitely interesting tech. But it does seem those are mostly wired - right now I am actually thinking about something like this: http://www.nyrius.com/aries-prime-wireless-hdmi-transmitter-receiver-system - their description says it's full hdmi mirroring instead of streaming, and based on the review videos I've watched it's actually legit. That would solve the monitor part of the problem I think.

 

[Ralston18]

Just a follow-up thought and question regarding remote desktop:

Is it viable to network the living room pc and the work area pc?

You could use powerline adapters to create the network and then, remote into the living room pc via the work area pc.

There is of course, a dependency on your home's electrical wiring and circuits.

Is remote desktop a possibility to be considered?

 

[Madlark]

Just a follow-up thought and question regarding remote desktop:

Is it viable to network the living room pc and the work area pc?

You could use powerline adapters to create the network and then, remote into the living room pc via the work area pc.

There is of course, a dependency on your home's electrical wiring and circuits.

Is remote desktop a possibility to be considered?

Hi! No, as there isn't going to be a PC in the other room - just a mouse, keyboard and a monitor, which I want to wirelessly connect to the PC in the main room. The whole point of this is to avoid having 2 PCs.

 

[Ralston18]

Okay. Thanks. Had the feeling that I might be getting myself turned around.

Your requirement is to control one pc (living room) from two different locations; i.e., either from within the living room directly or optionally from the work area.

Doing so requires (as suggested by bill001g) a KVM switch - more specifically a reverse KVM switch.

Except you will need to use some wireless USB keyboard/mouse combo along with the Nyrius product to serve the work area station.

Trusting that the reverse KVM switch has the necessary port types available. And is priced within any budget.

A product such as the following (for example/diagram purposes only):

http://www.kvm-switches-online.com/vopex-usbha-2.html

Google "+wireless +reverse kvm switch" and take a general look at the available product options. Very limited results.

Refine and narrow your search criteria as you learn and perhaps vary the requirements.

Pay very close attention to the ports and port connections provided by any given reverse KVM switch.

Recommend that you sketch it all out so you can check off the requirements as you review possible candidates and arrangements.

The reverse KVM switch along with whatever else is needed is likely to be expensive. However, you may find some viable combination worth trying.