Why is it so hard to find a good KVM

One of the constant battles I’ve fought over the last few years was finding a way to reliably switch my hardware between personal and work computers. I’ve tried numerous hardware and software solutions that claim to facilitate switching of USB and Video hardware. They all failed and I gave up on attempting to get it working for a while.

After working with a sub-optimal solution for years, and buying a few “cheap” solutions. I finally decided I had enough and was going to find a solution through sheer force of will that met the following requirements:

  • Switching of the following hardware between 1 Macbook air and 1 Linux Desktop.
    • Mouse
    • Keyboard
    • Webcam
    • 4k Monitor (without dropping refresh rate below 120hz)
    • Microphone (XLR)
    • Audio
  • Single hardware button for switching
  • Must work reliably

Stack

  • Monitor: PG32UCDM
  • Laptop: Macbook Air m4 (Sequoia 15.5)
  • Desktop: Ubuntu 24.04
  • Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 I AORUS PRO WIFI
  • GPU: AMD 5700XT

Current Solution

I’ve currently settled on a 99% solution that allows me to switch all my devices between my mac laptop and Linux desktop.


See the issues I’ve encountered listed below
Made with Excalidraw
KVM and Scarlett audio interface
  • KVM: Take all inputs and switch between them ($350)
  • USB-C Combiner: Take a DisplayPort 1.4 input and convert it to USB-C output ($99)

Issues

Occasionally (maybe once every 3 or 4 days) the display will not work when switching from input1 to input2 (or vice versa). I suspect this is either because I’m not using the recommended (but ~$100…) cables or I’m simply over-saturating the KVM with more input than it can handle. I may try the fancy cables in the future, but for now this is fixed by unplugging the KVM and plugging it back in.

Audio switch

You may have noticed the switch command striped to the audio interface. All this little switch does is swap between my speakers and headphones. That’s it. I have no idea why this isn’t a common feature on every audio interface.

SPRODIO 2 PORT 3.5mm Stereo Audio Switch Box

etcetera

I spent a few days scouring the internet for different resources. Level1Techs had by far the most comprehensive information. If you’re looking for something somewhat-custom I recommend starting here and then browsing their forums. If you’re looking for why KVMs are expensive, this video has a lot of detailed information in the latter half.