I may be the only one that cares

WARNING! Computer Geekery and Cabling Follow.

My KVM Extender came! My KVM Extender came!

NOTE: KVM stands for Keyboard, Video Display (or Monitor) and Mouse

It was last Friday. The UPS guy dropped it off 20 minutes before we were supposed to head to Grand Lake for a family reunion. No time to hook it up. GRRRRRR! We got home Monday evening and then I got SLAMMED at work. Double GRRRRRR!

But, with Tanner's help and patience, everything is now hooked up. And, while we are still having technical difficulties, it's a dream.

This is the KVM extender after I unpackaged it. I think it's really cool.



Turns out you can also use this to have TWO KVM stations running off of one PC - One could be in the kitchen and one could be anywhere you could get the wire to--as long as it's less than 328 feet. Neat, but, that's not how we used it.

I set up the keyboard, monitor and mouse on my desk and plugged them all into the REMOTE piece of the extender, which I placed Under the desk.



The Orangey-yellow Cat5 cable runs through the wall and to the closet--like the red line depicted here:(The blue lines are supposed to be the cable and telephone lines coming from the street.)



The orangey-yellow Cat5 plugs into a LOCAL piece of the Extender, which looks almost identical to the REMOTE piece.

A cable runs out of the LOCAL piece that plugs into the KVM ports on the back of your computer OR, in my case into this KVM Switch.



The KVM switch allows me to use the same Keyboard/Monitor/Mouse for two different computers. I just have to switch between computers, so I can't be using them at the same time. (but they can be on at the same time.) Out of the KVM switch comes TWO cables, which each have plugins for the Keyboard/Monitor/Mouse. I plug one into my home computer and one into my Work Computer...sort of.

Because my work computer is a laptop, (and I don't do well typing on the laptop keyboard and I need a larger monitor) I actually plug the second KVM cable into a Port Replicator. This is it.



The port replicator has the KVM cables and my work printer all plugged into it, and then ONE USB cable comes out of it. That USB cable plugs into my Laptop. (I have the same Port Replicator in my other office.) Like this:



This means, when moving between offices, all I have to do is plug the Laptop into Power and one other cable, rather than all the cables that go into the Port replicator. It just makes things a little easier.

Here's a rough drawing of it all.

Red = Cat5
Pink = USB Cable
Purple = KVM Cable
Blue = Telephone cable (the red cable to my work phone is correct, it's a VOIP phone)
Brown = Cable cable



wow. If you made it this far, drinks on me! But, totally worth it. Right?

Now ALL that crap is in the CLOSET! YAY! And I have no crap on my desk.

Note to Bub: Don't say it!!!!!

Done with the Geekery!

Pretty pictures in next post.

I promise!