Wireless Keyboard Range

[Vimeous]

I'm looking for a wireless keyboard for use in a presentation room. As a result it needs a range of approximately 5m+.

For those of you who already have wireless keyboards at what range does your keyboard remain operational?

Thanks

[Moby-Dick]

there is a really good one , which comes with a really nice radio mouse. ( 3d one )

I'll see if i can find more info about them

EDIT: found it

http://www.gyration.com/

these bad boys have some serious range.

[dave87]

If you get a bluetooth keyboard and mouse it should work in a meeting room, unless you have exessively large offices. Only thing with bluetooth it can be succeptable (sp?) to interfearance, which may be a problem if you have cordless phones etc in the close vicinity.

Dave

[Steve]

I've played with the Gyration keyboard and mouse. They be acetastic!

[Vimeous]

Ta for all that peeps

[arthurleung]

My bluetooth keyboard (portable for PDA) could do as far as 5.5m before dropping connection with my ipaq 4150 Generally bluetooth have pretty good distance

[Jinx]

It wasn't a scientific experiemnt, but when I bought a w/less keyboard and mouse set for a mate's comp, we tested it in our office here, and he got to the opposite end of the office before the keyboard stopped responding, and that was roughly 25m away.....so not bad for a specified 2m range...

[shaithis]

The Gyration is a quality peice of kit. Best wireless solution I've used by a mile (figeratively speaking =P )

[Nox]

My dinovo media pad would let you control the music playing on the PC, thats at the back of the house, first floor, down in the street outside the front. I didn't bother going further than that!

Nox

[Vimeous]

LOL out the door and down the street is certainly a novel idea but I'm looking at 10m or so but you all inadvertantly raise an interesting point.

I came across an article referring wireless security issues. The premise was that with a long enough range standard rf-based equipment can have its signal intercepted and the keystrokes 'read'.
The problem is apparently more an issue with older equipment where there are a limited number of channels the equipment will allow (e.g. 16) and therefore are easier to 'tune' into. Although more recent equipment increases the possibilities to a few thousand variations it still suggests this wouldn't be hugely difficult for a determined attacker.
The article goes on to suggest bluetooth equipment is inherantly safer as the signal is encoded explicitly between device and base station.

For home use this may not be an issue, and indeed in many corporate environment with large premises a device with even 30m range would still be within the building. However in my case it's 10m and you're outside so I think I'll try the bluetooth solution first. (there's nothing like a little paranoia once in a while!)

Any thoughts on potential security issues?

[Moby-Dick]

bluetooth security isn't all that either tbh. Think of the ease at which devices can be bluejacked ( especially as many have a very simple pin )

What are you actually wanting to use the kit for ?
if its for a presentation / media suite , is it really that critical that someone can tell when a mouse is being clicked ?

how much confidential data entry is going to be done in there ?

I dont think security is as much of a concern. ( Its a lot easier to socially engineer passwords out of people than pick them up from their mouse )

For presentation use I really can't reommend the gyration stuff enough , the mouse is fantasic , on the desk its an optical mouse , pick it up and its a gyro one , makes presentations easy to do while standing up. I dont think it uses the same radio as old wireless mouse kit so I dont think its succeptable to the same interferance.

[Vimeous]

As you suggest we're talking presentations primarily. The only data interception I'm concerned about about is when users are entering passwords. At present I'm reasonably happy with the standard of passwords used onsite so interception is a bigger concern.

What little I've read on bluejacking (this morning!) implies that it primarily allows messages to be sent to a target rather than data to read from it. Am I wrong?

I'll put the issues to the primary user, give them a choice of two (MS Bluetooth or Gyration) and see where we go from there.

Just out of interest. For those of you who have tried the Gyration hardware do you know which version it was. I see there is a 2.4GHz set ($129.99) and an Ultra set ($299.99) and wondered what differences, other than range there might be.

[Moby-Dick]

It was the Ultra set. Why not just get the mouse and ise that for presentations , and use a conventional keyboard to log in
I think I used the wonr term when it comes to bluejacking - I'm talking about exploiting bluetooth vulernabilities caused by weak passkeys ( which a lot of embedded hardware uses )

I'm not sure if input devices are as vulnerable though, but as a secure communication goes , its far from perfect.

http://www.thebunker.net/security/bluetooth.htm
http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1830

note that the 2.4Ghz band is also the bluetooth band

[Vimeous]

Heh well actually we have one of these handy devices for the presenting. We are after the keyboard for internal training where the presenter is using a terminal window and isn't sitting next to the presentation PC.

Ideally we'd like a wireless keyboard and no pointy thing! lol

(good point about the bluetooth 2.4GHz band thingie, something I'd overlooked)

[Moby-Dick]

ah - so weren't not talking p-point presentations

in that case the gyration kit might be overkill