IOGEAR 4-Port USB KVM Switch with Cables and Remote GCS24U, Black

I bought the 4-port version and have it connected to my main (rarely goes anywhere) HP laptop, a Dell desktop, and an old IBM thinkpad, all running Win7. I liked the included cables, and the biggest challenge was figuring which USB slot on the switch corresponded with which cable if I only were to use one (i.e. not a problem at all). My mouse/keyboard are on one shared transmitter, and it works fine. Some have asked about the switching time, and it is only the time it takes your computer to jump from single to double monitor mode -- usually under a second or so. Note if your computer goes to sleep mode, there can be a significant delay in getting things to wake up and recognize the added display. If the machines are "awake," the switch toggles through them just fine. Since I have 3 brands of PCs ranging in age from 2014 to as far back as 2007 (the thinkpad) this seems to vary by PC/video card. Oddly, the new 2014 Dell seems the most twitchy. I often have to remind the PC when waking up that the added KVM display is more than XGA -- and this isn't an issue with the HP laptop nor the Thinkpad, so there's something internal to the Dell's controller (or a setting I'll look into). I also like the fact that this supports "Max resolution 2048x1536" and my shared monitor is >HD resolution -- 1900x1200, and the switch handles it fine. Last thing: because I only am using one USB on the switch for the shared mouse and keyboard, I'd hoped to use the second plug for an external USB drive. The spare USB on the KVM *will* support an external, *powered* USB hard drive (I tried a portable, and there's not enough juice to run the non-powered drive), BUT, two of my older laptops couldn't recognize this connection. Even though they both can work with the tested drives, it "failed to install drivers" when going through the KVM switch. It worked with my newer PC, but not the older laptops. I don't blame the Iogear KVM for this, of course, and this was a "nice to have" but not a necessary feature for my setup, so I am quite pleased overall.

So far, this device is working very nicely. I've been building a streaming studio, and this is coming in very handy for eliminating keyboard clutter in the studio. With this device, I'm able to switch between multiple computers, with just one keyboard, mouse, and monitor. However, I don't use the VGA component, since all my systems are independent, yet must be visible at all times. So, I just use the USB portion of the device. My only gripes are that the cable for the remote is so thin, I'm afraid it might get damaged under constant wear, and tear, and that it would've been even better had the device indicator LEDs been on the remote, rather than on the very part of the cable system which is now tucked away, behind monitors, where it belongs. My only concern is that by adding cable length to USB devices, signal strength could degrade a bit, but I've not noticed any problems with just a keyboard, and mouse. I've not tried using the device for data transferring devices like USB drives, SD cards, or removable drives. Frankly, I'd seriously stick to directly connecting those types of devices just to be safe. Other than that, the rest of the cabling seems fairly durable, and tough enough to do what needs to be done in a studio. I wish I'd gotten one of these a long time ago. Now, it's easy to switch between the streaming PC, chat monitoring PC, and gaming PC with but a press of a button.

I just got this unit and, for the most part, I am very happy with it. However, I wanted to put out a warning, and a workaround, that are not documented. I have this switch connected to two XP machines, one desktop and one laptop. The laptop is used in a docking station and I connected the KVM cables to the docking station, not directly to the laptop. After all, that's the point of having a docking station. Unfortunately, I quickly discovered that the KVM works fine when I boot up, but if I switched away and back again, only the monitor became active. the mouse and keyboard did not. I tried connecting directly to the laptop and the problem went away. Not a good solution, in my opinion, so I went to the IOGEAR website and opened a live chat. When I explained the issue I was having, the rep told me that their KVM's are not guaranteed to work with docking stations and I was welcomed to return the unit if not happy with it. When I pressed her about it, and asked if there were any config settings that could be modified, she finally (and reluctantly) said that I could try to disable the mouse and keyboard emulation mode, but it probably wouldn't help. I asked her to explain how to do that, and when I tried it, everything worked just fine! the key sequence is [scroll lock] [scroll lock] M [enter]. this must be done from a wired keyboard and the first two key strokes should be in rapid succession. so the bottom line here is that the product is pretty darn good, but the communication is a bit lacking... hope this is helpful to some of you...

Best bang for your buck. 4-Port. I'm VERY careful with the switch button because it's a very thin cable. So I don't yank, twist, or move the thing. I mounted the button on my desk (surrounded it with 4 push pin thumbtacks). But $50 - and still works flawlessly after SEVEN years. Are there things I'd like to change? Yes. But for the few hundred dollars difference in price for an upgrade? I'm good. As a note: I don't use it daily. My usage comes in spurts according to what stupid projects I've involved myself in. So if you are flipping across 4 computers every day multiple times - YOU may need one of the multi-hundred dollar models. Me, as a hobbyist, I've put a good deal of time on mine over the past 7 years and counting. I routinely have 3 PC connected. Win10, Win10 Pro, and a dual boot Linux. The 4th connector only gets used if I hook up a new hobby computer or am working on someone else's PC/Laptop for troubleshooting or repair. Creds - I got my first computer when I was 15. 45 years ago. Been a hobbyist ever since, traveled the U.S. in the military on a "Tiger Team" bringing the Air Force into the digital future, and screwed off ( made G.I. Bill money) going to college and have a 3.9 GPA in Computer Network Technology.

I use all four ports without issue. Switching between computers is accomplished by using a small, wired button that you can place inconspicuously on your desk. I 've had no issues with laptops or desktops connected to the KVM. If you want or need to switch ports from your keyboard you'll be disappointed. The button took some getting used to (I kept knocking it off or losing it at first). For the price this KVM was an elegantly simple and cheap solutions. I do run different OS without issues and have strongly recommended this product.

Overall I am thus-far pleased with this product. I had a two port KVM from the same company which I have been using pretty much daily for between two and three years now. It started acting up a bit AND I needed a four port now since I have more systems in my office....connects easily, switches from system to system well. Correct, it is VGA and not DVI, HDMI or Display port but for my purposes the VGA is fine. I have two servers and a workstation I connect with VGA so have three systems going through this switch for video, mouse and keyboard. For one of my systems I have dedicated dual monitors so just use the mouse and keyboard function of the switch for that. Works well....it DOES (as did my two port) sometimes not operate the mouse or keyboard as it should but if I switch away from the system and then back it is fine. Just a minor annoyance. The only other negative I see is that there is not soft-key/hard-key toggle (i.e. a combination of keys to switch from system to system). The switching is done through a button which is connected to the switch. I used a little velcro and attached it to the edge of my mouse pad so it is always there and doesn't fall off my desk. I just wonder, as I am cycling from system to system, how long this button is going to last. Bottom line. I am happy with this product and with the two port I had previously. It is low end, not a bunch of bells and whistles (i.e. multiple types of video connections, sound, etc) but it works as it should and is fairly priced. Add too many bells and whistles and you also add significantly to the price. UPDATE: I lowered this by a couple of stars. It worked well initially but a couple of weeks ago I noticed I see a lot of latency in the mouse and keyboard input to my systems. I tried swapping these items to no avail....I have also noticed that one of the outputs from my laptop (I use a docking station and two large monitors...switching from my laptop and workstation and two servers) to this device no longer works...not sure why yet. I am going to try using an HDMI KVM Switch and see if it makes a difference. My monitors are a bit high end and require displayport or HDMI input. I am currently using a VGA for this as my two servers just have VGA connectors (I am using an adapter to change the VGA output to HDMI)...I know this isn't ideal but it has worked until recently.

This product absolutely made my day. I've struggled through switch after switch, each one requiring multiple unreasonable steps to setup and always ending with at least one computer not working. I tried everything from replacing cables to redoing all the steps on each switch, and was about to give up and make a panel of USB ports to just plug in what I wanted to switch to. Then I read a couple forum posts from people saying they had no problems with the IOGEAR brand USB KVM switch. So I ordered one in, received it in 2 days, and it worked perfectly first try with all four of my computers. I followed the instructions on the first two, and didn't follow the instructions for the second two. That didn't matter. This product worked great first try regardless of how I installed it. I can switch quickly to any computer, change my mind and switch again, and they each always work now. The difference between this product and the others I tried is like night and day. Save a couple bucks and waste endless hours of your time, or buy this product to start with.

The setup on this was very easy; everything needed was in the box. Simply plug in the keyboard, monitor, and mouse to the switch and then connect your system with the included wires. I have this switch connected an IBM laptop running XP on a docking station, a Dell desktop running XP and a Dell laptop running the 64 bit version of Vista on a USB docking station. My keyboard and mouse are both wireless. All three computers are working great and switching between systems is very easy. I have tried other switches that use hot keys to switch between system and none worked "all" the time. FYI... There are cables for a forth computer, but I have not used it yet.

tres bon produit , de bonne qualité , ravis de mon achat . . . . . . . .

This is just what I needed. I'd have preferred one with a software switch, but for the price, this was excellent! Works great for switching between a few servers in the rack.

Keine Installation nötig, einfach zusammenstecken und das Switchen zur Nutzung eines Bildschirms bzw. einer Tastatur und Maus für mehrere Rechner funktioniert auf Anhieb. Nach dem Umschalten muss zwar ein bisschen mit der Maus gewackelt werden, damit der jeweilige Bildschirm übertragen wird, aber das sehe ich nicht als Einschränkung. Ebenso sind die Zuleitungskabel aus meiner Sicht mit ca. 1 m ausreichend lang bemessen. Preis-Leistung stimmt hier.

En mi trabajo tengo 5 a 7 computadoras en constantes pruebas y es complicado estarles cambiando los perifericos (monitor, teclado y mouse), Por lo que me ha servido mucho desde que llegó. Llegó todo muy bien y muy rapido.

This is an inexpensive KVM that does the job done. The initial cable management is going to be busy, as you are dealing with cabling to go to four different computers. I like that the remote switch is small, as it does not take up a lot of space on my desk. The remote switch is delicate, so you want to have it positioned where it won't get damaged. As others have noted, if a PC falls asleep, the KVM won't wake that PC back up, but this is quickly resolved by tapping the power button on the computer that is sleeping. One of my computers recently started causing USB issues when it is connected to this KVM, but for the moment I am blaming the computer for this, as this is a re-occurring issue that was happening before I bought this KVM. Very satisfied with the product.