Work from Home Station Inquire (2 PCs, same peripherals)

[PoorAndNeedy]

When I worked for the U.S. government awhile back, we had two computers: an "unclassified" and a "classified". Instead of having two sets of peripherals, we had this special switch that would change the monitor, keyboard, and mouse between the two computers. I thought it was interesting but not very useful outside of government UNTIL I got a private sector job that lets me work from home, but only using the business laptop I'm provided. 

 

It would be really interesting to see a setup that uses one of these "2 pc" switches for private/business use where you can easily plug in a work laptop to your peripherals at home. Does anyone have experience using one of these setups or know of a video that goes into detail? I'm having difficulty even finding these boxes online.

[SkyHound0202]

You will need a KVM ("keyboard, video and mouse") switch for that.

 

I have a KVM integrated on the monitor, it's as easy as switching input source and wait a few seconds for the devices to be recognized. But the annoying things is that the monitor only have two USB port already occupied by wireless USB keyboard/mouse dongle and wireless headset adapter, meaning there's no place to plug in extra USB devices like flash drives.

[Mnky313]

13 minutes ago, PoorAndNeedy said:

When I worked for the U.S. government awhile back, we had two computers: an "unclassified" and a "classified". Instead of having two sets of peripherals, we had this special switch that would change the monitor, keyboard, and mouse between the two computers. I thought it was interesting but not very useful outside of government UNTIL I got a private sector job that lets me work from home, but only using the business laptop I'm provided. 

 

It would be really interesting to see a setup that uses one of these "2 pc" switches for private/business use where you can easily plug in a work laptop to your peripherals at home. Does anyone have experience using one of these setups or know of a video that goes into detail? I'm having difficulty even finding these boxes online.

They are Called KVM Switches, if you want one just for peripherals (no display) they are super cheap on amazon (like $18), ones with display are a bit more, but usually still not crazy.

[Origami Cactus]

29 minutes ago, SkyHound0202 said:

You will need a KVM ("keyboard, video and mouse") switch for that.

 

I have a KVM integrated on the monitor, it's as easy as switching input source and wait a few seconds for the devices to be recognized. But the annoying things is that the monitor only have two USB port already occupied by wireless USB keyboard/mouse dongle and wireless headset adapter, meaning there's no place to plug in extra USB devices like flash drives.

Surely you could use a usb hub to connect extra usb devices?

[beavo451]

If you can install 3rd party software on your work laptop, software like Synergy could work.