Hello fellow lemmings!

I am in need of some advice on how to expand/coordinate my workstation.

I currently have 2 monitors and 2 laptops with 1 docking station that I switch back and forth between (I do have a second Bluetooth mouse that I connect to the laptop that is not currently connected to the docking station, if I need to).

I would like to have 4 monitors by the upcoming tax season. Also, I would like the option to expand to a total of 3 laptops within a couple years.

I have looked into KVM switches and the only one that I can find for 4 monitors and 2 computers is upwards of $800. Is there a KVM switch out there for 4 monitors and 3 computers, or is this just a pipedream?

What other solutions should I consider? When I expand to 3 computers in the upcoming years, would having 2 workstations be cheaper/more efficient?

    • curbstickle@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      Be aware, barrier is dead.

      Input leap is the successor, though they still haven’t made a full release and recommend the last barrier version. Which is 3 years old.

      • cybervseas@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        2 months ago

        For what it’s worth even though it’s old, for me it still works well. Are you using something else I should switch to?

        • curbstickle@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          2·
          2 months ago

          I wish I had a solid answer for that, I actually made a post about this recently.

          Deskflow (synergy upstream) seems to be working well at the moment. Bear in mind they just moved all the repos, but Synergy v2 had a bunch of issues, it was dropped for v3, which is just deskflow packaged up all pretty. Input leap is from the people who were maintaining barrier and forked it a few years ago. Lan-mouse is its own thing, and it works, though its a bit clunky to use.

          Right now I’m doing some testing to figure out what I want to use, my concern around barrier is that no updates makes for a security risk, and (for me) it also won’t work with Wayland.

          With Synergy going back to the open base, I don’t really mind throwing them some cash, but its not available yet with Wayland support as a packaged project, so I built it and will be testing more for all of them once I move some things around on my desk to restructure - the whole reason I was looking for something in the first place actually. That won’t happen until a free weekend though, so hopefully this weekend, but maybe the following.