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Thread ID: 125065 2012-06-04 23:17:00 USB hub stratex5 (16685) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1279638 2012-06-04 23:17:00 Hi,
Is there such thing as a wireless usb hub. I want it for a keyboard and mouse so i can use them in a sort of theatre setup.:)
stratex5 (16685)
1279639 2012-06-04 23:23:00 Why not just use a wireless keyboard and mouse? :confused: pcuser42 (130)
1279640 2012-06-04 23:28:00 The mouse i can find, but a keyboard with macro keys i cant plus i also need it for pluging my usbs into. stratex5 (16685)
1279641 2012-06-05 00:25:00 There's a couple of networkable USB hubs around; I recall Belkin made one & I'm sure there are others. The hub sits on the LAN & you have special software on the PCs that redirect USB requests over the network. In your case, unfortunately, you'd need a WiFi access point also to get it to run.

There is a wireless USB 2.0 standard & I'm pretty sure Belkin were an early adopter of that with a hub just as you describe (USB dongle in PC & 4-port hub connected remotely via wireless USB), but I don't remember seeing them around in real life. Possibly too expensive and/or just never caught on?
MushHead (10626)
1279642 2012-06-05 00:30:00 So for the first one, does that use some of my data cap? stratex5 (16685)
1279643 2012-06-05 00:48:00 So for the first one, does that use some of my data cap?
Nope - it sits on your LAN. Search for "network USB hub" & you should find a couple. I haven't seen any that are natively WiFi, so you have to use an Ethernet cable to go anywhere. That could be just to a wireless access point if you already have wireless LAN in your house. Beware that some reviews of the Belkin unit I mentioned weren't that happy with the speed, so running hard drives off the unit might be a bit sluggish, especially if you're streaming video.
MushHead (10626)
1279644 2012-06-05 00:54:00 So do you think a keyboard might lag if i used it? stratex5 (16685)
1279645 2012-06-05 03:08:00 For low-speed devices like mouse & keyboard, I doubt it. If you're doing bulk transfers such as copying media files to/from a USB stick, then probably. Whether the keyboard/mouse are affected if some high-bandwidth device is also operating (eg using mouse while streaming a movie off a USB device), I just don't know.
A review of the Belkin device is here (www.notebookreview.com) or here (reviews.cnet.com). Note that they had issues with supplying current for higher-power devices, so you may not be able to run an external USB-powered HDD off it, for example. These were readily available a couple of years ago, but nowadays maybe there's too many cheap clones (www.mightyape.co.nz) around.
MushHead (10626)
1279646 2012-06-05 03:23:00 So even if I were to be gaming, there would be no lag or any interference from the device? stratex5 (16685)
1279647 2012-06-05 04:01:00 Logitech put out a wireless keyboard and mouse that will do what you want very well. CliveM (6007)
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