Wireless mouse and keyboard issues when laptop in closet/ mini server room

wutang112878

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Nov 5, 2007
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I reconfigured my office and put my laptop in a closet / mini server room, which aesthetically is great. However I'm having wireless mouse and keyboard issues. My mouse lags and my keyboard will create typos and its not me because I'll try to type 'so' and it will sporadically output 'soooooooo' and thats not a user input typo. In my closet I have my router, a vonage adpater, my cable modem and 2 power strips. Just outside my closet, and in between the laptop and where I sit with my keyboard, I have my cable box.

Since I'm having both keyboard and mouse lag issues I'm assuming this is due to some interference the USB dongles are having when they are in my closet. I also have a good quality mouse and keyboard. I have the Logitech K750 keyboard and I have the MadCatz Mouse 9 wireless mouse which is about the most expensive mouse you can get.

How can I solve this? I moved my laptop so its just outside of the closet and I dont have the mouse and keyboard issues. I know one solution is to get a USB extender cable so I can have the dongles outside of my closet but now I have wires coming out of my closet which is exactly what I was trying to avoid. Outside of moving the laptop outside or using an USB extender, can anyone think of any other solutions?
 

zenter

indian sweet
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Oct 11, 2005
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Astoria, NY
I can't think of a single way to enhance the 2.4GHz connection that doesn't include extending the cables.

One thing you may want to do is (assuming the space allows) is have a USB hub of some sort on your desk that is wired into the laptop. Something like this: http://amzn.com/B00KJGYD4O

IIRC, 2 ports are simply powered via AC, and the other 4 replicate one laptop USB port, thus allowing the dongles to live on the desk. You'll still need one cable coming out of the closet, but you can probably make it look nice.
 

wutang112878

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I dont know why it didnt occur to me before but I can just turn off the wireless on this router. I've got a nice setup where I have an ethernet line going directly from this closet down to my living room where I actually have another router thats hidden in a TV console. So I can use this router as the wireless router for my phones, I've already got it hard-wired to my TV downstairs and then I can hard-wire my laptop in the closet to my closet router that will just have the wireless off. Then I'm assuming that once I turn off the wireless on the closet router my keyboard and mouse issues should disapear. Then if they dont I know it might be the power strips or something else causing the interference in which case I am probably out of luck
 

wutang112878

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Also, whats your technical expertise with monitors and HDMI?? I'm having a bit of an issues getting 4k resolution at 60hz being sent through a DisplayPort adapater then through a 25ft HDMI cable
 

zenter

indian sweet
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Oct 11, 2005
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Astoria, NY
Then I'm assuming that once I turn off the wireless on the closet router my keyboard and mouse issues should disapear. Then if they dont I know it might be the power strips or something else causing the interference in which case I am probably out of luck
99.999% of the time, it's interference, either physical or radio. If wifi off doesn't fix it (I don't think it will), then it's the closet door/walls/distance. Besides, you probably want the wifi on for your phone and other devices. You need to remove the obstacles, and simply having a USB hub in the room should do it. The one I linked also is desk-friendly.

Also, whats your technical expertise with monitors and HDMI?? I'm having a bit of an issues getting 4k resolution at 60hz being sent through a DisplayPort adapater then through a 25ft HDMI cable
Not my expertise. Probably a computer-side issue. @Couperin47 may know have thoughts?
 

Red Sox Physicist

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Also, whats your technical expertise with monitors and HDMI?? I'm having a bit of an issues getting 4k resolution at 60hz being sent through a DisplayPort adapater then through a 25ft HDMI cable
You need HDMI 2.0 to do 4K at 60 Hz. There is currently only one DisplayPort adapter available that supports this: . They also make a mini-DisplayPort to HDMI 2.0 adapter: .

I'm assuming that the DisplayPort part is connected to your PC, and the HDMI side is plugged into your 4K monitor? I'd check that your monitor actually supports HDMI 2.0 as well for this. I have a Monoprice 4K monitor which claims to support HDMI 2.0 for 4K at 60 Hz in the manual, but it doesn't actually work.
 

wutang112878

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I had a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter from Insigna that was only rated at 1920. I got cables from AmazonBasics that are allegedly rated for 4K at 60hz and HDMI 2.0 So when it wasnt working I actually bought that exact adapter and hooked it up but it didnt fix it. I have the Samsung UN40JU6400FXZA which can go up to 120hz so I'm assuming it has to be HDMI 2.0 compatible. I need to hook my laptop up with the shorter HDMI cable I was using and try that. But my current thinking is that this has to have something to do with the length of the cable so I'm wondering if a booster would fix it? I just dont want to keep buying stuff and just throwing darts. Like my 1920 rated adapter and the shorter cable were working fine. Then I knew I needed the longer cable and then I figured I needed the new adapter but it hasnt solved it.
 

LoweTek

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I am doing something very similar to what you describe. I am seated 10-12 feet from the closet and equipment. I have no issues unless the batteries are going low in my keyboard or mouse. It is working fine for two PCs simultaneously. One is a Logitech K400r (which is a great device - I own two of them). The other is a Dell keyboard-mouse KM636 (which is also Logitech), $22.99 on Amazon. The router is a Linksys AC1750, fairly new. No notable interference on either one except for the occasional delay of a second or less.

Test your batteries maybe?
 

Red Sox Physicist

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I had a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter from Insigna that was only rated at 1920. I got cables from AmazonBasics that are allegedly rated for 4K at 60hz and HDMI 2.0 So when it wasnt working I actually bought that exact adapter and hooked it up but it didnt fix it. I have the Samsung UN40JU6400FXZA which can go up to 120hz so I'm assuming it has to be HDMI 2.0 compatible. I need to hook my laptop up with the shorter HDMI cable I was using and try that. But my current thinking is that this has to have something to do with the length of the cable so I'm wondering if a booster would fix it? I just dont want to keep buying stuff and just throwing darts. Like my 1920 rated adapter and the shorter cable were working fine. Then I knew I needed the longer cable and then I figured I needed the new adapter but it hasnt solved it.
Since that's a 2015 model Samsung, I'm pretty sure you're right, it supports HDMI 2.0. I know some of the Samsungs require the HDMI input on the TV to be set to a specific thing to work at 4K @ 60 Hz with 4:4:4 chroma subsampling (which PCs put out). This forum post discusses it for a similar model:
https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/778627/geforce-900-series/uhd-tvs-providing-4k-60hz-with-4-4-4-choma-hdmi-2-0-/post/4525404/#4525404
"You must set the input to type "PC" and set "Picture -> Picture Options -> HDMI UHD Color" to ON for the input." I know some of them require the input to be literally named "PC" to work.
 

SumnerH

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I am doing something very similar to what you describe. I am seated 10-12 feet from the closet and equipment. I have no issues unless the batteries are going low in my keyboard or mouse. It is working fine for two PCs simultaneously. One is a Logitech K400r (which is a great device - I own two of them).
It's a solid keyboard, but it screws up the location of the trackpad by putting it over to the right of everything.

With the traditional laptop below-the-spacebar trackpad, you can switch windows or do other quick mouse movements without your fingers leaving the home row. For some reason most desktop wireless keyboards move it way off to the side. There are a few out there that put it at the bottom, but the ones I've used with that layout (e.g. the Adesso compact) are pretty junky.

Anyone have a good rec for a good wireless desktop keyboard with trackpad-at-the-bottom layout?
 

Red Sox Physicist

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Since that's a 2015 model Samsung, I'm pretty sure you're right, it supports HDMI 2.0. I know some of the Samsungs require the HDMI input on the TV to be set to a specific thing to work at 4K @ 60 Hz with 4:4:4 chroma subsampling (which PCs put out). This forum post discusses it for a similar model:
https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/778627/geforce-900-series/uhd-tvs-providing-4k-60hz-with-4-4-4-choma-hdmi-2-0-/post/4525404/#4525404
"You must set the input to type "PC" and set "Picture -> Picture Options -> HDMI UHD Color" to ON for the input." I know some of them require the input to be literally named "PC" to work.
Bad news. I found the manual for your TV: http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/UM/201512/20151210090904492/ENG_US-HMUATSCJ-1.318-1203.pdf

On Page 109, under HDMI UHD Color it says:
  • The HDMI connection with HDMI UHD Color set to Off supports up to UHD 50P/60P 4:2:0 input signals, while the HDMI connection with HDMI UHD Color set to On supports up to UHD 50P/60P 4:4:4 and 4:2:2 input signals. For more information, refer to "Supported Resolutions for UHD Input Signals".
  • HDMI UHD Color is not available on the 6100 to 6400, 639D and 640D series models.
This means your TV can't do 4K @ 60 Hz with 4:4:4 color over HDMI. You should be able to do 4:4:4 color with 4K @ 30 Hz, or you can do 4:2:0 with 4K @ 60 Hz. 4:2:0 is fine for video and games, but bad for text. Some video card drivers support 4:2:0 output so you could try that.
 

wutang112878

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Nov 5, 2007
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I turned off the wireless router in my closet and now I dont have any mouse or keyboard issues whatsoever, so thanks for that.

I spent a couple hours trying to fool with the settings on Friday afternoon. I turned the TV input type to PC to no avail. I tried to change the HDMI UHD color mode but when I go to "Picture Options" it isnt available and when I looked in the owners manual I discovered that they explicitly say that this model doesnt support that feature. So I opened up a ticket with Samsung so I can see if they have a workaround or see if they can at least help me find a way to measure the signal strength of the HDMI cable. I mean there has to be some advanced mode where you can test that or something.