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Problems

  • Intermittent nature
  • The mouse will often hang (won't move)
  • The keyboard will often not type
  • Sometimes, the keys get saved up and come out later all at once, and sometimes they never come out
  • The mouse seems to have difficulty traveling to the top left of the screen.

Equipment

  • Dell Precision M3800 Laptop
  • Windows 10 Professional operating system
  • Logitech wireless keyboard (K270)
  • Logitech wireless mouse (M185). They came in the same box / use the same dongle.
  • "Plugable USB 3.0" docking station that runs the DisplayLink software. It has two monitors attached to it, one by DVI and the other by HDMI. It's plugged into the laptop by USB.

Troubleshooting Steps Taken

  • Wired keyboard and wired mouse work great.

  • When wireless was plugged in, it was in a USB port on the laptop itself, not the docking station

  • I rerouted the monitors to plug directly into the laptop (take this docking station out of the equation). So far the wireless keyboard/mouse are not malfunctioning. This seems to indicate that the docking station is a necessary component to reproduce the problem). But I have to give it 1-2 days to make sure because the problem is intermittent.

Question

What would be a good first choice for a fix I can try that won't hurt anything (update a driver...where?)?

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6 Answers 6

14

Given the new details, this looks to be a case of USB 3 interference in the 2.4 GHz band.

From Intel's note on USB 3.0 Radio Frequency Interference on 2.4 GHz Devices (page links to the full PDF download):

The purpose of this document is to create an awareness of radio frequency interference to wireless devices operating in the 2.4 GHz ISM band as a result of certain USB 3.0 devices and cables. [...] The 2.4 GHz ISM band is a widely used unlicensed radio frequency band for devices such as wireless routers, as well as wireless PC peripherals such as a mouse or keyboard.

Among recommendations to mitigate the issue, posted in a Logitech wiki at Potential USB 3.0 interference:

  • If your PC has multiple USB 2.0 connectors available, separate your USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 receivers by as much distance as possible. For example, if your PC has a choice of USB 2.0 connectors, use the one on the opposite side of the PC from the USB 3.0 connector.

  • Position your USB 2.0 receiver as close as possible to your wireless peripheral (mouse, keyboard, headphones, etc.).

  • Use a standard, USB-adapter cable to position your USB 2.0 wireless receiver as far away as possible from your USB 3.0 connector.

The last one might be the best one to try in the case of a docking station, where space between USB connectors is usually tight.

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  • This might be obvious to you, but are you saying my wireless m/kb are usb 2.0? And that my USB 3.0 docking station is interfering with it? And it's doing that via the usb cable that plugs it into the laptop (which, by the way, was plugged in right next to the logitech receiver)?
    – toddmo
    Feb 18, 2016 at 18:28
  • 1
    ok as per bullet point 1 and 2 in your answer, I have put the unifying receiver on the left of my laptop where the mouse and kb are, and the docking station 3.0 cable on the left side of my laptop. No issues so far. I'll mark as answer if still no issues by 5 p.m. Fingers crossed.
    – toddmo
    Feb 18, 2016 at 18:43
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    The wireless m/kb transceiver dongle uses radio waves at about 2.4GHz to communicate with the mouse and keyboard. The "strength" of radio waves from an omnidirectional transmitter falls off in proportion to the square of the distance from the transmitter, so every extra bit of separation you can get between the USB 3 interference and the dongle will help. Feb 18, 2016 at 18:43
  • 1
    Thanks for this answer, solved my exact problem on a Dell XPS 15 I had the Logitech wireless receiver on the left-side of the laptop next to the power and HDMI cables. Moving it over to the right-side USB port has solved the issue.
    – peacemaker
    Jun 15, 2017 at 18:31
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    I just marked as answer. Sorry it took 3.5 years. It did solve my problem.
    – toddmo
    Jul 15, 2019 at 16:03
2

USB 3.0 has been interfering. I disconnected the mass storage device adapter connected to the USB 3.0 back plane and now I have no problems with my wireless keyboard and mouse.

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  • Can you specify the model of the mass storage device adapter? Just add it to the answer. Feb 4, 2017 at 3:17
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Moving the mouse receiver from the back of the computer to a USB port on the front solved this for me.

I recently got new desktop computers, with Win 10/64-bit, at work and at home. The old computers were running Win XP/32-bit, and each had a Logitech M510 mouse with the receiver plugged into a USB port on the back panel.

On the old computers the mice worked smoothly, but on the new ones mouse behavior was erratic (sticky and jerky). As soon as I moved the mouse receivers from rear USB ports to front USB ports, the problem went away on both machines.

If you don't have front USB ports, try using a USB extension cord.

This was an infuriating problem and I'm glad the solution was simple.

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I have been using a new wireless mouse keyboard from Logitech. Just bought to help my home working. I had the usb plugged into usb 3 at the back of my pc, and so infuriating I had exactly same issues as above, hanging keyboard/mouse, trying to highlight something in word, then lose connection so would just unhighlight. Lots of issues, which almost made me want to throw mouse out window. Anyway tried all sorts, uninstall re install, disable mouse precision etc. Then today I moved the usb to one of my front usb2 (which I didn’t want cos there fir my chargers etc) but hey, tested it out earlier, and all the tasks I couldn’t do were done with ease, even surprised me how quick and solid/stable. Who would have known usb 3 interference?? Well going to go to work again tomorrow and pray it will be a better day!! You just can’t have your office equipment being stupid!!!

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I got the new Logitech G502 wireless mouse and its associated recharging mouse pad. I've been having sticky-mouse problems for months, and only in the last few days did I figure out that the onset of the problems coincided with my purchase of the mouse+pad. Which I verified by a) switching back to my Logitech Master 2S a couple days ago, which made the problems worse(!), and b) after reading this thread, removing the recharging pad and substituting an old foam one.

When I did b, the problems went away. Entirely.

Note that you can't really move the receiver around any, as it is part of the recharging mouse pad. That explains why the Master 2S made it worse until I removed the blocking pad, but doesn't explain why the G502+magic pad combo sucked, but it did.

I don't see that the surface of the pad would affect mouse operation, but certainly the characteristics that allow the mouse to wirelessly recharge do.

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I too had two Logitech mice that were hanging in Win7 and Win10. I resolved much of the issue by replacing the mouse pad. My old pad had a very slick surface. I replaced it with a new Staples (brand unimportant) mouse pad with one of those surfaces that is textured like fabric. Mouse works a lot better.

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