Multiple Imacs interfacing

[Texasmark]

Just curious, seems year model is important in understanding a question so I have a 2009 and 2015 desktop Imac best guess. Both the mouse and keyboard (I guess) are connected to the respective computer via Bluetooth as there are no wires (great). If I have both on the same desktop, like adjacent to one another, what kind of interference do I have between the two in terms of which controllers control which computer?
Does it matter which controller is trying to operate which computer?
What determines the marriage?
Can I indiscriminately swap controls?
Is there a minimum distance thing on separation of systems?

Thank you,
Mark

 

[MacInWin]

Normally, there should be little interference, but if you have them close by, it *could* happen. The mouse and keyboard use Bluetooth as the interface. In BT the host and devices negotiate a connection to make sure that they are the correct device for the correct host. So you can have two iMacs on the desktop, two BT mouse units and two keyboards and they should not interfere. You can also have two iMacs and one mouse/one keyboard and switch back and forth, but that requires that you tell the iMacs to use the devices, which requires that you open the BT preferences and select the devices to pair. That action requires a keyboard/mouse to be attached, so in effect you have to have a wired keyboard/mouse to do the pairing, which sort of defeats the purpose, eh?

As for minimum distances, there aren't any real rules. But as with everything wireless, interference can crop up. BT uses the 2.4gHz range of frequencies, so the wavelength is about 12.5 cm. Just a few cm change in position can change the way the various signals interact. So if you find that the mouse or keyboards are being "flaky" in operation, try moving one or the other or the iMac, or all three, a few cm to see if the interference is reduced. It's surprising how little change it takes!

 

[Texasmark]

Thank you sir. Appreciate your time and knowledge.
Mark

 

[Slydude]

I have a 2015 iMac, an ancient Windows 10 PC, and a 2008 MacBook Pro clustered together on/near the same desk. The PC and MacBook Pro don't get much use but get booted from time to time as needed.

Rather than keep two keyboards on the desk, I tried one of the Bluetooth keyboards to pair with multiple devices simultaneously. These keyboards can generally pair with 3 or 4 devices (computer, phone, tablet), and one chooses which device receives the output by pressing a key on the keyboard. As a general rule, one can assign a hotkey to each device.

I have tried this keyboard and paired it with the IMac, PC, MB Pro, and iPad simultaneously, and it worked well. The PC seemed to drop the signal once in a while, but I think that was a weakness of the adapter used to add Bluetooth to the PC. My problem with this keyboard is that the charging port seems to be failing. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0777DRG27/?tag=macforums0e4-20

I'm currently using this keyboard but haven't paired it with all my devices yet. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081P1SRXM/?tag=macforums0e4-20

I think Logitech has recently announced a mouse that switches between two devices.

There are several other keyboards with this function now, and some are cheaper. I suggest purchasing from a vendor with a good return policy.

 

[Texasmark]

Thanks for the heads up. I don't know if I ever will do what I said but I was just curious if I did.