Low lag USB splitters?

[sabersmith]

Some caveats to consider:

• You will not be able to use multiboxing software (due to transmission lag) unless the units are all connected to the same router/hub. (For the nit-pickers, yes I know there are some caveats to this caveat but the basic idea still stands. GTFO.)
• Hardware options are expensive and reliable (Vetra, etc.) or cheap and may not work great (wireless keyboards/mice) depending on conditions at your desk and distance between the two PCs/keyboards/etc.
• Software multiboxing apps like ISBoxer/HKN/etc. do not allow "KVM" style control of your second PC, with the exception of Mojo and Octopus as far as I know. You will need something like Input Director (the best option) or Synergy (has issues with mouselook) or Multiplicity (has issues with mouse capture preventing broadcast from the second PC back to the first PC in FTL setups) if you want to be able to mouse over to the second PC and control it.

Tell us what your budget is and your current home network setup and we can help with details.

Well I don't plan to use a KVM switch. I'm just going to use two keyboards; one main and another mini if i need to use the other computer.

Both computers are towers and they'll be in the same room attached to the same router. the router is actually behind another router, but that shouldn't be a problem should it? the router is fully configurable.

The monitors are different sizes, aspect ratios & resolutions. one is 27" 1080p (1920x1080) the other is 19" 1280x1024. That might make hardware cloning a bit of an issue since moving the mouse on one will not result in the same result on the other. e.g. targeting a creature. will software do this better? What are the tricks people use, or am I just better off buying another 1080p screen?

If software works better I'll go that route. I can see it having less lag sending commands over ethernet. i also like the ability to customize which commands it sends on which key-presses. a little more control than simply cloning keystrokes. However, the game will probably have a macro system that will let me do the same thing with cloned keystrokes so I'm not sure how valuable it will be. Will have to wait and see.

my budget really depends on what i'm getting. i kinda judge how much i'm willing to spend by how good the product i'm buying is. I see the ISBoxer software is free but requires $36 a year Inner Space software, which is fine. If it works well $36 a year I'm ok w/.

If a hardware solution is going to cost 100s of $ I would really have to evaluate how much more usable it is & how much easier it would make playing multiple toons for me.

I plan on starting w/ DB but i could end up 3 or 4 boxing depending on how easy it is and how much i like the game.

edit: not sure if it matters or not but both PCs will be running win 7 pro 32 bit

p.s. sorry for the late reply

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Well I don't plan to use a KVM switch. I'm just going to use two keyboards; one main and another mini if i need to use the other computer.

That will work. Setting up Input Director is pretty darn simple, and once you do that, it makes the second PC almost like another monitor on your main in that you can just move the mouse over to it and control everything with the same keyboard/mouse (no moving hands while in the middle of combat, etc.).

Both computers are towers and they'll be in the same room attached to the same router. the router is actually behind another router, but that shouldn't be a problem should it? the router is fully configurable.

Yep, that'll work fine.

The monitors are different sizes, aspect ratios & resolutions. one is 27" 1080p (1920x1080) the other is 19" 1280x1024. That might make hardware cloning a bit of an issue since moving the mouse on one will not result in the same result on the other. e.g. targeting a creature. will software do this better? What are the tricks people use, or am I just better off buying another 1080p screen?

Monitor size won't matter. Mouse click broadcasting is dependent on the resolution you run the game, not the monitor. Some do this better than others. If you want more info on the differences, let me know and I'll explain a bit further. Suffice it to say the monitor/PC hardware won't matter for this feature.

If software works better I'll go that route. I can see it having less lag sending commands over ethernet. i also like the ability to customize which commands it sends on which key-presses. a little more control than simply cloning keystrokes. However, the game will probably have a macro system that will let me do the same thing with cloned keystrokes so I'm not sure how valuable it will be. Will have to wait and see.

The nice thing about the KM software is being able to use the same keyboard/mouse, not having to move your hands around, etc. It definitely isn't needed if you have a second keyboard, so it just depends on your setup. You can always add it later on for free if you decide using a separate keyboard/mouse isn't as nice as you thought it would be.

[sabersmith]

That will work. Setting up Input Director is pretty darn simple, and once you do that, it makes the second PC almost like another monitor on your main in that you can just move the mouse over to it and control everything with the same keyboard/mouse (no moving hands while in the middle of combat, etc.).

Yep, that'll work fine.

Monitor size won't matter. Mouse click broadcasting is dependent on the resolution you run the game, not the monitor. Some do this better than others. If you want more info on the differences, let me know and I'll explain a bit further. Suffice it to say the monitor/PC hardware won't matter for this feature.

The nice thing about the KM software is being able to use the same keyboard/mouse, not having to move your hands around, etc. It definitely isn't needed if you have a second keyboard, so it just depends on your setup. You can always add it later on for free if you decide using a separate keyboard/mouse isn't as nice as you thought it would be.

Well I didn't actually plan to control the other toons with the second KB/Mouse. Just use it for logging in or if i want to do something separately on the other computer/monitor.

I'm hoping I can get something set up where while I'm fighting mobs in the game when i tell Toon A to attack this guy it will auto tell Toon B to do the same attack on the same mob. Or at least hit the same key. I plan on running the same class at first (Sith Juggernaut) but eventually I might try two diff classes at once and just choose powers with similar cooldowns that complement eachother to activate simultaneously.

Another thing i was wondering is if any of the software can incur a deliberate lag on certain attacks, or if you could set up some keys to only send the command to one toon and not the other. For example, I would not want to activate a taunt on both of the tanks at the same time as it would be pointless. However if i could choose which one, I could use it to pull aggro off the other one if health gets low (& vice-versa).