Mayayana said:
| Are you asking about an RF or Bluetooth wireless keyboard and mouse?
Darned if I know!
RF stands for radio frequency? Maybe that's what the
"Unifying receiver" is that Paul linked to? I don't really
know enough to even ask the right questions. I just
remember the fiasco with USB in Win95, where MS added
support but it never really worked. So I wanted to try to
get an idea of the landscape before I proceed, to make
sure what I want to do is feasible.
If you have a Bluetooth transceiver (built into the mobo or added as a
daughtercard or USB dongle), you get the ad-hoc network setup that
Bluetooth provides. You use 1 Bluetooth transceiver that can
communicate with multiple Bluetooth-enabled devices. Once you have
Bluetooth at the computer, you can add 7 Bluetooth devices to your
master Bluetooth controller but I suspect you could use chaining to get
more devices added. Bluetooth isn't just for keyboards and mice. Lots
of other devices come Bluetooth capable.
I think most wireless devices, like keyboards and mice, use RF (radio
frequency) to communicate with an RF transceiver (e.g., USB RF
transceiver dongle). I haven't bothered to review the two technologies
for so long that I don't remember the difference other than Bluetooth is
an ad-hoc network setup but has some limitations compared to RF. I
don't know if Bluetooth is easier to setup than RF but I suspect RF
device makers have simplified the setup using some wizard program.
I don't bother with wireless devices because my desktops aren't moving
around so neither are their peripherals (keyboard, mouse, printer,
scanner, etc). I also am not bothered with security because I'm wired
instead of wireless. I don't have to be concerned with sharing the RF
or Bluetooth network with other high-traffic devices. I never get flaky
operation of the keyboard or mouse because their batteries are getting
weak. No matter which wireless device you go with, you will NEVER get
the lifespan from a battery charge that they claim. The few times that
I've tried wireless mice from Logitech, IBM, or others, they claimed
that a fully charged battery should last 3 months, or more. Nope, at
about 17 days the device got flaky, the battery was too weak, and I'd
have to replace batteries. I tried switching from alkalines that I'd
have to discard to rechargable NiMh batteries but they didn't last as
long on a charge as a new alkaline. There once was a wireless mouse
that had a charging cradle so you'd put the mouse in there for storage
and to charge but you do have to remember to cradle the mouse after use.
Unless you really need wireless connectivity (which is rarely for the
keyboard and mouse but more for your hosts to wander around your home),
it's just a pain to bother with.
