GoKawiilI tested every IP KVM in my Homelab
Since the PiKVM came out in 2017, there's been an explosion of IP KVMs. I've tested almost every one. But what are they good for?
You can use Remote Desktop, Screen Sharing, or VNC to remote control a computer from anywhere on a LAN. And if you don't have a private VPN, you could use RealVNC, Raspberry Pi Connect, or wire up Tailscale or Pangolin for fully remote access. Those solutions are great, and so is SSH if you don't need a full desktop.
But there are situations where you don't want to have remote control software running on the computer. When I'm benchmarking remotely, I don't want screen sharing using up any resources. Or what if you have a computer you want access remotely no matter what. Screen sharing and SSH don't work if the computer's locked up—or turned off!
Enter the IP KVM. High end server hardware has this feature built-in (HP's ILO, Dell's iDRAC, or IPMI), but not everyone has access to server motherboards. Even if you do, the BMC might be wildly out of date, or you might want to connect through a GPU, and not through the built-in VGA graphics.
IP KVM stands for "IP Keyboard Video and Mouse". Basically, these devices allow you to control of your computer over an IP network.
High-end IP KVMs have special features like PoE support, HDMI passthrough, and backup 5G modems. But sometimes you just want no frills remote KVM, and for that, there are even sub-$50 models you can buy.
In this post, I'll run through all the KVMs I've tested.
But before we get started, a word of caution:
One of these devices actually got me a visit from the FBI. And all these things can be security holes, just waiting to be exploited. Any form of remote control needs to be treated like an open door into your network—make sure you put a good lock on it.
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