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I have a mouse and keyboard with the Logitech Unifying receiver. I have two of those receivers, one in my desktop and one in my laptop. It is quite a pain to actually unpair and repair the mouse+keyboard from one PC to the other. (I think logitech did this on purpose so you would have to buy a second mouse+keyboard, who knows) .

In any event is there some hardware method of resolving this or some "hack" to be able to easily switch from one unifying receiver to the next quickly?

I have seen some post on superuser regarding softare such as input director or synergy but thought I would see if anyone has hardware solution first.

Regards

josh

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3 Answers

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I'm going to answer no - it is not possible. There appear to be similar questions on Logitech's site so you can search there as well. I suspect the answer is that when you pair, the transceiver and the device exchange several bytes of random data and form a key to both allows the devices to recognize each other and to encrypt their wireless transmission.

The problem is that the transceiver may have the ability to recognize something like 5 devices, but the input devices can only recognize and pair to one transceiver. That's because the transceiver only has to sit there and accept a signal it recognizes, otherwise it is passive. Sit, if you see a signal with the correct encryption and ID, accept input, otherwise ignore.

If you added the ability to have the input devices (mouse, keyboard...) pair to multiple transceivers, you would require some sort of additional buttons on the device to switch between them. You'd also need to have the input device store the state (caps lock, num lock...) it was in for each transceiver.

The only Logitech device that can do this is the new K760 keyboard for bluetooth. None of the Unify devices appear able to do this.

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This sucks, but it's also true. I sell lots of Logitec, and that is one question that always comes up. +1 though – Luke Aug 8 '12 at 5:54
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I had been successfully using a KVM switch to pair 3 unifying devices into one unifying receiver. There are one type of KVM switch technology (USB DDM - Dynamic Device Mapping) can pair multi unifying receivers and share unifying keyboard or mouse to many systems.

Please google "USB DDM KVM switch" and you should can find right KVM switch for your setup.

Rex

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Right. If the wireless devices use USB receivers vs Bluetooth (not 100% clear from the description) then a USB KVM switch will likely work. How well it will work is of course a question -- there may be delays when switching back and forth. – Daniel R Hicks Aug 31 '12 at 20:57
I will check that out and post back my thoughts when I get a chance – Kairan Sep 30 '12 at 3:23
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try using one of these 2 PC to 1 USB 2.0 Device AB Switch Box or Plugable USB 2.0 Switch for One-Button Swapping of USB Device/Hub Between Two Computers

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