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Workstation Rehaul (Advice Needed) (self.pcmasterrace)

submitted 2 months ago by BeHappy to c/pcmasterrace

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Hello fellow lemmings!

I am in need of some advice on how to expand/coordinate my workstation.

I currently have 2 monitors and 2 laptops with 1 docking station that I switch back and forth between (I do have a second Bluetooth mouse that I connect to the laptop that is not currently connected to the docking station, if I need to).

I would like to have 4 monitors by the upcoming tax season. Also, I would like the option to expand to a total of 3 laptops within a couple years.

I have looked into KVM switches and the only one that I can find for 4 monitors and 2 computers is upwards of $800. Is there a KVM switch out there for 4 monitors and 3 computers, or is this just a pipedream?

What other solutions should I consider? When I expand to 3 computers in the upcoming years, would having 2 workstations be cheaper/more efficient?

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[–] comador 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Try Synergy!

https://symless.com/synergy

This software allows you to use one keyboard and one mouse across multiple Windows, Mac and Linux systems with ease. I am in IT and use it between three desktops and laptops with different operating systems.

I bought Synergy when it was a kickstarter and I believe you can download and try it for free before you buy.

Worth a try, sincerely.

edit: Reddit has a few reviews on it just in case you want to ensure it's a real thing and it's not malware from an Internet stranger:

https://www.reddit.com/r/MouseReview/comments/11vu5k7/does_anyone_here_have_experience_with_symless/

[–] cybervseas 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Also consider a free open source equivalent. I use it on my Windows, Mac, and Linux systems.

https://github.com/debauchee/barrier

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Be aware, barrier is dead.

Input leap is the successor, though they still haven't made a full release and recommend the last barrier version. Which is 3 years old.

[–] cybervseas 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

For what it's worth even though it's old, for me it still works well. Are you using something else I should switch to?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I wish I had a solid answer for that, I actually made a post about this recently.

Deskflow (synergy upstream) seems to be working well at the moment. Bear in mind they just moved all the repos, but Synergy v2 had a bunch of issues, it was dropped for v3, which is just deskflow packaged up all pretty. Input leap is from the people who were maintaining barrier and forked it a few years ago. Lan-mouse is its own thing, and it works, though its a bit clunky to use.

Right now I'm doing some testing to figure out what I want to use, my concern around barrier is that no updates makes for a security risk, and (for me) it also won't work with Wayland.

With Synergy going back to the open base, I don't really mind throwing them some cash, but its not available yet with Wayland support as a packaged project, so I built it and will be testing more for all of them once I move some things around on my desk to restructure - the whole reason I was looking for something in the first place actually. That won't happen until a free weekend though, so hopefully this weekend, but maybe the following.

[–] Magister 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

You may be interested with input-leap now that they released binaries/packages for various distro

https://github.com/input-leap/input-leap/releases/tag/v3.0.2

I installed it as a linux server and windows client, it works well, my old barrier config is 100% compatible

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Awesome, thanks for letting me know!