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I have my main pc tower in a room and I would like to have my "monitor/mouse/keyboard/usb hub/sound output" to a different room which is 10 meters away (32 ft).

Is it possible to use just one cable with proper equipment to do that (eg ethernet) in order to avoid having one long cable for each device?

note: I cannot use wireless solutions except for the mouse/keyboard but since I will have some available usb ports to the end point, then I can connect the mouse/keyboard there.

thanks!

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AFAIK 10 meters is way too long for such cables. USB standard for example defines 5 m max for one cable run. You would need a USB hub each 5 m at least. – m0skit0 Aug 26 '11 at 10:12
OK lets say we can have smaller distance. I can try to move the main pc. 3 meters for example. Is the solution of one cable something that exists? – nonouco Aug 26 '11 at 10:15
If all devices are USB, you can put an USB hub, plug everything in there and connect the hub to main PC. Also 5 m is a theoretical maximum. IMHO with 2+ meters you'll have problems with devices that require high transfer rates (e.g. USB hard disks). This of course does not contemplate video connection, which usually is more restricted in length run. Did you consider a remote desktop solution? – m0skit0 Aug 26 '11 at 10:19
Im afraid that not all devices are usb since I need to transfer the monitor singal (probably two monitors). – nonouco Aug 26 '11 at 10:25
Then as I said video cables have shorter run than USB, usually less than 2 m max. This is due to signal loss. You would need signal repeaters, but best option so far IMHO is remote desktop. – m0skit0 Aug 26 '11 at 10:35
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2 Answers

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Yes this is possible, and I have used it in some places to control a KVM over some distance whena KVM Over IP was not practical.

It wasn't cheap though.

There are two different sort of routes you can go down.

KVM Over IP Ethernet Extender

This sort of device allows you to plug your ports in to your network and then usually either install client software on a machine to control it, or go to a webpage and use a Java/similar client to view the machine. For servers, this is an acceptable solution. For media centres/gaming, this may be laggy.

The other solution is a Local and Remote KVM extender.

This basically does the same thing, only, the box acts as a client and usually results in a better/faster experience - you plug your keyboard, monitor and mouse in to it and it acts as the client - no other local hardware required. Certainly the better solution.

Please note, I just Googled the name of what you need and provided the first link to give you an example, I haven't shopped around in this area for about 3/4 years and I do not really endorse/recommend the products I linked to - they are just for reference only of the sort of product you need to get. (+ shopping recommendations are against site policy!)

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Thanks you for your answer William. Regarding the second solution, let me see if I got this right. I just plug an ethernet cable to my pc and to the other end of this cable I plug it to this device? – nonouco Aug 26 '11 at 13:39
No, you plug your keyboard, mouse and monitor ports to the box, and then you plug your actual keyboard, mouse and monitor to the other box, then you run an ethernet cable between the boxes.... They are typically used in places where you would plug an entire KVM in to one, but, you can use a single computer if you wish. – William Hilsum Aug 26 '11 at 13:41
I see its an interesting solution. However, by the product photo I see no DVI support which is something I would like to have. Moreover, this might sound stupid, but in the product photo do we see both boxes? If yes, then where are the 3 inputs where you plug keyboard, mouse and monitor and the 3 outputs? I only see two usbs. What am I missing here? – nonouco Aug 26 '11 at 13:55
@nonouco - as I said in the answer, this is just an example product, not the one I recommend you getting... It is two boxes, (it is in halves) one is showing you the back, one the front. As for DVI, you can get VGA <> DVI converters very cheaply (about <£1.50 last time I looked), and I am certain there are some boxes that will have a DVI port. – William Hilsum Aug 26 '11 at 14:00
Thank you. I need to dig into kvm extenders and try to find a suitable solution. My requirements are little hard to implement (have to support dual monitor and a third monitor attached to virtual machine) - Im not even sure if its possible. – nonouco Aug 26 '11 at 14:13
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up vote 2 down vote

Madnat have a series of ethernet based peripheral extenders.

PS2 Keyboard/Mouse: PTP-KM47 - Keyboard and Mouse Extender
DVI (for screen): Passive DVI Balun Kit
USB: ATP-US04 - USB 1:4 Cat5 Extender

Otherwise for professional kit to do the job it starts getting expensive.

http://www.gefen.com/kvm/dproduct.jsp?prod_id=4133

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Thanks you for your answer Mokubai. Do you know if there is an all-in-one solution in order to avoid buying 3 different devices? – nonouco Aug 26 '11 at 13:42
Whilst I prefer my answer :P, I had no idea you could get such small DVI <> ethernet... a bit pricey though, but cool to know! +1 – William Hilsum Aug 26 '11 at 13:43
@nonouco The only devices I know of that are all-in-one are similar to what William listed and they do get quite pricey. You could in theory just get two devices, the DVI and USB, you may not actually need PS2 at all. Note the restrictions on the DVI plug I listed, up to 15m you are limited to 1600*1200 resolution due to the fact it is a passive device. – Mokubai Aug 26 '11 at 16:05
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