How to Best Set up a Dual Monitor Setup for Both Work and Personal Use?

Twitchh on 18/02/2022 - 19:54

Hi there,

As the title suggests I'm looking to revamp my home office setup due to an increase in working from home.

I typically have 2 monitors that are hooked up to my personal PC and the keyboard and mouse are wired that plug directly into the back of the PC.

I now have to integrate this with a work laptop, that I want to sync up to use on the two monitors while working from home. I already have the HP USB-C Dock G5 that was supplied by my work to do this, however when I want to go back to using my personal PC I have to unplug all the cords from the G5 dock and plug them back into my personal PC, and continuously switch these each day.

Is there a way that I can integrate the two seamlessly, where I can switch the monitors back and forth between my work laptop and my personal PC without having to unplug any of the cables?
I assume it would involve some sort of HDMI switcher but then I'm not sure how to do this for the keyboard and mouse.

Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Computing

Comments

  • pais on 18/02/2022 - 20:12
    +3

    You can just get a KVM switch. I have a similar setup and just click a button to swap inputs over.

    • Twitchh on 18/02/2022 - 20:44

      Thanks for that, may I ask what brand/model you use?

      • AndyC1 on 18/02/2022 - 20:50

        Google USB KVM and check the specs to ensure they meet your video requirements as some will do what you want and other will not.

  • Presence on 18/02/2022 - 21:49

    I typically have 2 monitors that are hooked up to my personal PC

    What resolution and refresh rate?

    • Twitchh on 18/02/2022 - 23:35

      They are both 1920x1080 & 75Mz

      • Presence on 19/02/2022 - 13:53

        Not many KVMs do 75hz :(

        I have a similar drama, but a single 4k screen. Let us know what you find.

  • baker bob on 18/02/2022 - 21:56
    +2

    Most Monitors should have 2 or 3 inputs. You just run a cable from home PC to monitor and another cable from work laptop hub and you switch pressing a button on the monitor. I use a switch for the keyboard but prefer having 2 mouse so I can stop my work laptop from going idle when I'm having breaks so I can monitor emails / messenger. If work settings allow you to change the idle settings that's redundant

    • Twitchh on 18/02/2022 - 23:36

      Okay thanks for that, I think my monitors have 1 HDMI port and 1 D-SUB port so maybe I can try using the D-SUB port for the work use.

  • John Kimble on 18/02/2022 - 23:56

    If both PC's have Bluetooth you can get something like this that can switch between the two?

    https://www.logitech.com/en-au/products/combos/mk850-wireles…

  • mafroew on 19/02/2022 - 05:59

    Can you just move the dock between your work laptop and home pc? I.e. unplug the usb c?

  • bobbieb on 19/02/2022 - 07:27

    I've been working with a similar two-monitor, two PC, one set of peripherals setup since this whole work from home saga began.

    I'm yet to find an all in one KVM solution that is upto the task - the main stumbling point for me has been the inconsistent video outputs between the two devices. My personal desktop has one DVI and 3 displayport, my work HP ultrabook only has HDMI onboard which I supplement with a third party USB docking station for a second HDMI.

    My two UHD Dell LCDs thankfully have matching inputs, so I run displayport from the PC to each of the monitors, and HDMI from the laptop & docking station each to a LCD for the laptop.

    For peripherals, I'm running all USB - keyboard, mouse, webcam, yubikey - so I have one of these to share across the two.

    So, it's not perfect, but I've managed to reduce switching between PCs to one press on the USB switch and selecting inputs on the two LCDs.

  • Diji1 on 19/02/2022 - 09:17

    Windows 10 does wireless display which you could use on your laptop. This works with two Windows 10 installations and treats one installation as if it's connected as a monitor. It's like its a normal extended display.

    It adds a whole bunch of latency compared to wired monitor, but you don't have to plug anything in.

    I think you use it by pressing Windows key + P then choose the display (after the laptop is connected to wireless LAN) from memory.

  • HeadTheWall on 19/02/2022 - 10:07

    You can connect the USB cable from the work Dock to your PC, it will detect the hardware, screens, network adapter etc and work as normal

    • djkelly69 on 20/02/2022 - 11:12

      Seems like OP would have mentioned (and probably never needed to make this thread) if his PC had a USB C port?

    • Twitchh on 20/02/2022 - 18:24

      So i can purchase a cord that is like usb-a (i think this is the standard one) to usb-c and then plug the usb-a side into my PC and the usb-c side into the HP dock?
      I assume then I plug my keyboard and mouse into the HP dock as well? I'll give this a go, cheers.

      • HeadTheWall on 21/02/2022 - 10:36

        Plug everything into the dock e.g kb, monitors, etc. Then connect the USB cable from the dock to the work PC when you want to use that. When you want to use your home PC connect the dock cable to that.

        Depending on what type of USB dock you may need to get an adapter to connect it to your PC, some USB-C docks may come with adapters

  • OldSchoolHarry on 19/02/2022 - 15:12

    Use a dual hdmi and USB KVM switch. One set of inputs from HP dock and second set of inputs from personal PC. Aten, startech and alogic are good brands.

  • djkelly69 on 19/02/2022 - 17:00

    I have a similar setup.

    I use DP and HDMI from my PC to my 2 monitors, and HDMI and HDMI->DVI-D from the USB hub to the same monitors.

    For keyboard/mouse I use a Logitech MK850 with a unifying receiver in both the hub and the PC, so you just hit a button on the mouse and keyboard to change which one you are controlling.

    • HeadTheWall on 20/02/2022 - 09:28

      Why buy 2 sets of cables, receivers when OP has all the hardware they need for this to work

  • SnakeDoctor on 19/02/2022 - 19:04

    Have you tried remote desktop from home pc, to work pc ? It works well for me.
    Tick 'Use all my monitors for the remote session' in RDC display settings

    • HeadTheWall on 20/02/2022 - 09:27

      Depending on work IT restrictions they may not be allowed to RDP to their work Desktop

      • Twitchh on 20/02/2022 - 18:21

        Yes, this is correct, very strict IT rules for me, so don't think I can do this, thanks anyway

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