KVM suggestions would be greatly appreciated

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Hi. I have never used a KVM switch before and am unsure which option is appropriate. I was hoping someone more experienced with this scenario might be able to make some suggestions. My personal setup at home works fine and consists of:

2023 Macbook Pro 14".

Beats Studio Pro headphones - bluetooth connection to macbook.

Magic keyboard - bluetooth connection to macbook.

Plugable 14-in-1 USB-C and Thunderbolt dock.

Nexigo camera - plugged into Plugable dock.

Logitech MX Master 3S mouse - bluetooth connection to macbook.

LG 34" IPS LED Ultrawide monitor plugged into dock.

Porsche Design external SSD plugged into Plugable dock.

The home set-up works great. I use it for some side projects, coursework, browsing, writing, etc. It is set up in such a way that I just plug the Thunderbolt cable into the Plugable dock and that’s it.

I just accepted a fully remote role in which I will use a Dell laptop. The company also provided a docking station we have to use. The setup is:

Dell XPS 15" Laptop

Dell docking station WD19S (I have to use this docking station).

I want to use the same peripherals (monitor, mouse, keyboard, camera, headset) with both laptops. I will be using both machines daily. I will not be toggling between them that often, maybe once or twice a day. I would like to make this as easy as possible. The bluetooth devices I can just switch between laptops as they can all pair with more than one machine (mouse, keyboard, headset). The external drive only needs to connect to the mac. That leaves the monitor and camera that I want to easily flip between the two.

  1. Is there a LevelOne switch that will do this?

  2. What is the recommended setup, ie Macbook to Plugable dock to KVM & Dell to Dell docking station to KVM?

I have never had to do a setup like this before so any suggestions on what to purchase would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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Welcome to the forum!

Pretty much everyone here who has (and doesn’t have) 1, will recommend the Level1 KVM.

Depending on the Dell (XPS 15 doesn’t say much unless you include a model number or year) and the docking station, you should go for the USBc KVM. Looking at the WD19S, it seems to have a type-C DP out, which would be perfect with the Type-C dock.

The KVM offers 70W PD to your device. Your Dell won’t take advantage of that, but the macbook, if you plug the cable directly in a USB port, will (or should, we should ask people on the forum with macbooks and the L1 KVM, there are a few out there). Sometimes macs can be a royal PITA when it comes to not respecting standards. @Den-Fi, can you confirm which L1 KVM and which M* Macbook you have and how well they work together?

If you are certain you won’t be buying another PC to use (like, idk, a monster threadripper workstation, or a mac pro or mini), then the 2 computers USBc or the standard 2 PCs 1 monitor one will do (they are very tiny).

If you want to get more devices, you might want the 4 port kvm just in case, but it is a quite bit longer. Then there’s also the 2 or 4 computers with 2, 3 or 4 monitors (which have the same length, but are taller), but given that you have a single ultra-wide, I doubt you’ll want to add monitors. so sticking to 1 monitor should probably do for you.

But, the port selection on the LG looks to give you access to more display input ports (although I think I saw 2 were HDMI and 1 DP). Instead of ponying up the money for the L1 DP KVM, wouldn’t it be cheaper for you to plug the Dell into HDMI and switch the Nexigo camera only when you need it? The money would be better invested in 1 or 2 laptop stands (one or both to clamp on the table or maybe the other as a normal stand / riser).

If you had more peripherals, or if you know you’re planning to buy more (and not just use BT), then idk how worth the DP KVM is for you. The L1 KVM was a game changer for myself (I got 2 computers always connected to it and sometimes I connect the 3rd one - and my Gigabyte M27Q has a built-in KVM as well that I use to switch between the DP connected to the L1 KVM and HDMI, for when I connect a raspberry pi or other SBCs to it).

But I use a PS2-to-USB touchpad, a USB keyboard and a Kensington Expert Mouse trackball (via USB) and sometimes an xbox one controller and I want the kb, touchpad and sometimes the trackball to be switched between devices - unplugging and replugging would be a royal PITA. And I did well with the monitor built-in KVM and a USB hub, but the L1 KVM switches so much faster it’s not even funny (still using the hub though, since I want my peripherals accessible to HDMI from time to time).

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M1 Max Macbook Pro
M2 Ultra
M3 Max Macbook Pro

All work well, but are sensitive to long/lower quality cables. My problems with screens not coming back up when switching was resolved when I bought all new nicer, shorter cables.

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I suppose you are using a 4-port DP KVM, not the type-C one, right?

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Yes, 4 PC, Dual Displayport 1.4

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Thanks for the info! I might try just swapping the camera as needed to start.

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Is your MAC an M1/M2/M3?
Does it have the Pro chip or the Max chip?

It matters because Apple (in their infinite wisdom) limits how many outputs you can have based on what chip is installed. Just want to inform ya. I’d hate for you to buy a KVM and it not be compatible or something:

MAC MAX External Displays
M1 MacBook Air 1
M2 MacBook Air 1
M2 MacBook Pro 1
M2 Pro MacBook Pro 2
M2 Max MacBook Pro 4
M3 MacBook Pro 1
M3 Pro MacBook Pro 2
M3 Max MacBook Pro 4

source: How to use dual monitors with an M1, M2 or M3 MacBook | Macworld

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That’s good information, but I think it was mentioned that the monitor is an

Single monitor should be fine, but wow, what a d**k move, Apple! I wonder if this is a hardware (firmware) limitation, or if it’s just macOS and this can be avoided if you run Asahi / OpenSUSE.

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From what I understand it’s firmware and virtually unavoidable, unfortunately.

I saw that too, I just wanted to inform them. All Mac users should know lol

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