4KEX100-KVM

I bought this product so I could access my PC from a different room using a wireless USB keyboard/mouse and TV via HDMI cable. My home network is setup using Cat 5e ethernet cabling and the initial setup was simple and quick. However, after a a few weeks I started noticing that my connection would occasionally drop-out; affecting both USB and HDMI. I then upgraded to a powered USB hub feeding into the USB host on the transmitter unit. While this initially appeared to help stabilise the issue, I have had continual intermittent disconnections over the past 12-18 months. Subsequent testing using various cables and non-wireless USB keyboards etc led me to believe it is the unit, not my other components, causing the issues. This now requires me having to get up and reset the unit after every 1-2 hours.Given both the high cost of this unit and now more regular intermittent connection problems I am experiencing, I cannot recommend this unit for someone like me, who wants to connect a USB keyboard and HDMI from a remote PC. Of note, the unit disconnected again during the time it has taken me to write this short review. This is a pity, as this was exactly what I was looking for and the original reviews all seemed very positive. I hope I've just been unlucky.

I remodelled my house >20 years ago and installed Cat 5e throughout. These days, I maintain a centralised whole house server that resides in my attic and runs several workstation grade VMs that connect to screen/keyboard/mouse throughout the house.Mostly, these locations are accessible from the server via HDMI/USB runs, but there's one location that is too far and inaccessible. Fortunately, there's a network outlet there and I use the 4KEX100-KVM to pass 2560x1600 60Hz video, USB and audio from the central system to this location.The capabilities and flexibility of this unit are outstanding. It even withstands Displayport=>HDMI conversion on the Tx side and HDMI=>Displayport conversion on the Rx side. And with 4 usb sockets available on the receiver, it coves all the bases. And the fact that it does it over a 20 year old network infrastructure is even more outstanding.However, there are two issues to be aware of:1. I cannot plug my USB soundsticks into the receiver for audio. It seems that the Rx unit does not provide enough power, but even with a powered hub added to the setup, they still don't work. Keyboard, mouse and printer all work fine. Power-hungry speakers do not.2. More seriously, it seems that the Tx unit feeds +5V back to the host adapter over USB. Some motherboards, (including my ASRock Taichi X399) will refuse to post in such circumstances, forcing me to unplug the USB cable from the transmitter until the OS begins booting. The solution is, thankfully, simple: place a basic USB hub in-line between the host adapter and transmitter unit. This filters out the +5V and allows the system to boot normally.

The HDMI over Ethernet works perfectly for VR, but the USB does not.. I have hard-wired CAT6a ethernet in my house, so i patched the cables from my study where my gaming PC is to my living room. The total distance is probably ~25m.I tested it first by streaming it to my TV directly, which has excellent results. There is no apparent quality drop and no noticable lag whatsoever.Onto the VR Test:Is spent a few hours trying to get this to work with the VR. I noticed that the HDMI connection seemed to be perfectly fine, but the devices seemed to have intermittent connectivity issues. Sometimes the controllers would connect, sometimes it wouldn't. I actually managed to get everything working at one point for about 30 seconds before it cut out.The problem is that the USB extension is a USB hub. The Vive Hub is also, effectively, a USB hub. Therefore they weren't playing ball.Luckily I had multiple Ethernet ports available to me, so I tried this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00ENH9CSC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1Sure enough with a direct USB oveer ethernet connection the USB issues were resolved, and I've played for many many hours now of uninterruted, smooth gaming with the HTC Vive VR Headset. All the while with my Gaming PC up in the study and the VR equipment hooked up into the living room.I decided to keep this rather than returning it for HDMI only since it allows me to connect other devices to the PC upstairs, such as additional game controllers. But if you're not planning to do that you can probably get the HDMI-only version.It would be great if this KVM extender had a "Direct" USB port in addition to the USB "Hub" to allow it to support devices like the HTC Vive. Otherwise though, this is an excellent product.