I thought someone here might know if a product I'm looking for exists as I'm not sure what to search for to find it. I've got a collection of USB devices on my desk (keyboard, mouse, and printer) hooked up to a USB KVM. I'm wondering if anybody makes a device that will plug into the USB uplink on that KVM and let my bluetooth equipped laptop communicate with these devices wirelessly? Basically I'm looking for the opposite of the little USB bluetooth dongles that everyone sells.

Thanks,
-Mike

might be a long shot, but if you plug the BT dongle into the KVM, wont the host see the connection with the dongle and then allow the connection of the keys & mouse?
but you've probably tried this

I think there's a wifi adapter that'll do what you're asking with a very limited set of usb hardware, and only one at a time, I beleive. Have you considered upgrading to bluetooth peripherals and getting a few usb bluetooth dongles for your assorted systems? Other than those two options, I suspect you'll be out of luck.

Matthew

Would that work? I have the logitech Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. If I had another pc with blue tooth i could use them on it?

http://www.keyspan.com/products/usb/server/ is the one I was thinking of. It's not wifi as I remembered, but that's better in my book. I can't imagine the latency would make it workable for mice and keyboards, but I've never used one. Definitly a neat hack for laptop people.

I'll seccond your addiction to the Logitech Trackman Marble. I used to be addicted before I switched to using a laptop. I still miss mine and check for a bluetooth one on logitech's site every few months.

Matthew

Thanks for the link. That is an interesting product, I'm not sure that it would do everything I want (looks like it expects to connect directly to the USB device so it wouldn't work through a KVM) but it is a step in the right direction. Its a pretty cool gadget regardless.

-Mike

Just wanted to say thanks again for the link Matthew. I pickup up one of these USB servers and it seems to be working perfectly. It even supports USB hubs after a firmware update so it works fine with my KVM. I've now got all my USB stuff (including keyboard and mouse with no noticeable lag) available from anywhere in my condo via WIFI and it all just works. This is really cool for anyone with a laptop.

The best part of this is that my keyboard and mouse are actually 6 or 7 year old ADB models (that I don't want to give up for the cheaper feeling USB equivalents) so they chain goes Logitech ADB Trackball -> Apple ADB Keyboard -> ADB/USB Adapter -> USB KVM -> Keyspan USB Server -> Ethernet Switch -> Wifi Bridge -> Powerbook and strangely enough the whole mess works.

-Mike

Wow, I'm tempted to pick one up. I don't have the need for one, as I've been a laptop user for so long I try not to buy anything without a network port or bluetooth. I'll definitly try to buy one if they get discontinued though, as there are so many uses for it.

Matthew

Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking?

What device do we all own that has an ethernet port but no USB master port?

Matthew (who's heading over to the projects forum to create a new thread)