The truth is, consumer-quality wireless keyboards do not have what it takes for conference rooms, training rooms, auditoriums, and other demanding environments. An otherwise well-functioning room can come grinding to a halt if the wireless keyboard fails.
Some of you may have lived this. Our phones ring every day with people who have had a bad experience. They call us because they are looking for wireless keyboards and mice they can really rely upon.
Our wireless keyboards and mice use more sophisticated, higher cost technology than consumer-quality wireless keyboards and mice. That makes them cost more.
Every Wireless Computing product uses 2-way RF technology. Years ago, our products did not use 2-way RF. They used 1-way RF. The reason we changed is, simply, wireless keyboards with 2-way RF work better than those with 1-way RF.
Here's how our 2-way RF technology works. When you press a key, the keyboard transmits a keystroke packet over-the-air to the receiver. The receiver, in turn, transmits an ACK (short for acknowledge) packet back to the keyboard. After the keyboard hears the ACK packet, it knows that the keystroke got through successfully. This exchange happens very quickly - in less than a hundredth of a second.
Sometimes, however, the keyboard may not hear the ACK. When this happens, the keyboard automatically re-sends the keystroke packet (multiple times if necessary) until it hears an ACK.
This is where 2-way RF has the advantage over 1-way RF. If you are typing on a wireless keyboard that uses 1-way RF, if a keystroke packet doesn't get through, the result is a dropped keystroke (very frustrating). A wireless keyboard with 2-way RF retries automatically until the keystroke goes through. So you'll find that our wireless keyboards work more reliably, with fewer dropped keystrokes, than those with 1-way RF.
Addresses are the way a keyboard and receiver communicate with each other - they each have the same address. Without addresses, two keyboards within range of each other would crosstalk, controlling each others' computers.
When shipped from the factory, all keyboards start on address 0. During installation, we recommend you change the address. If you do not change the address from its factory setting, encryption will not be enabled.
For specific instruction see the RF-100, RF-160, RF-220 or RF-250 support page.
What happens if you skip setting the address? Your keyboard still will work, because both the keyboard and receiver are on the factory default address 0. However, we recommend that you change the address, which only takes a moment.
The two colors indicate whether the keyboard is getting through to the computer successfully. Green means keystrokes are getting through. Red means something is wrong and keystrokes are not getting through.
You can try the following experiment. Unplug the receiver from your computer and type a few keystrokes. The sending LED should blink red. Then plug the receiver in and type again. Now you should see green LED blinks.
The sending LED will blink red in these situations:
1 Computer is powered off
2 Receiver is unplugged
3 Keyboard is out of range of receiver
4 Ambient RF interference is blocking communication
5 Receiver and keyboard are not on the same address
Yes. During address setting, address each keyboards so that each retrieves the address from the receiver. As long as you take turns typing, both keyboards will control the computer. More than two wireless keyboards will work, also, as will a keyboard and a mouse, two mice, etc.
Yes, you can use our keyboards with up to five computers. You will need a receiver connected to each computer you wish to control. A hot key combination is used to select which computer to use.
For specific instruction see the RF-220 or RF-250 support page.
Our wireless keyboards use encryption to safeguard over-the-air transmission of typed information. Encryption protects against illicit interception of passwords, account numbers, credit card numbers, and other sensitive information.
FIPS, or the Federal Information Processing Standards, says that for communication of sensitive information by agencies of the United States government, only a small number of encryption algorithms are allowed. The two you may have heard of are AES and DES.
If we could have, we would have put one of the FIPS-certified algorithms into our wireless keyboards. However, to use AES or DES in a wireless keyboard would be like putting a V8 in a dinghy. AES and DES are designed to encrypt data blocks of 64 to 256 bits. One keystroke is only 16 bits. So it doesn't fit.
We use an encryption algorithm that is well suited for keystroke data and that is computationally feasible in a battery-powered device. The level of security it offers is more modest than AES or DES. However, it's a lot better than transmitting in the clear.
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