No self control

October 29, 2012 7:51 AM

I love the idea of AirParrot to get my Mac's screen on my TV through AppleTV. But I want more. I want to have my keyboard and mouse too. Problem: Bluetooth limits and my iMac is upstairs while the TV is downstairs.

I want the full keyboard and mouse experience on my big screen in the living room. However my iMac is in the office upstairs. I am aware of external BT antennas, but as mentioned, i have an iMac, and opening it to add the external antennae would make Steve Jobs ghost angry. IS there such a thing as a BT repeater? or BT to ethernet adapter? Really long USB extension?

posted by Gungho to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

Best answer: Do you have an iPad, or a smartphone? Sounds like the keyboard built into a VNC client would do the trick for you, and there's cursor control although it's a bit awkward. Or, if you're jailbroken you can try the Synergy client (you'd need to install Synergy on the iMac.)

There's also the TouchPad app, which turns your iDevice into a wifi touchpad, and has a pop up keyboard.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:24 AM on October 29, 2012

I set something up similarly and the easiest, most cost-effective way was to use a free VNC setup and use my netbook to login and control the main system from the couch.

YMMV if you don't have an old netbook or laptop sitting around. I use "Chicken of the VNC" as the client program, VINE Server as server.
posted by Khazk at 8:42 AM on October 29, 2012

If you can get an older wireless keyboard that used non-Bluetooth RF, I remember those having really great range. I did a quick google search, and it looks like these may fit the bill, but they aren't cheap.
posted by Philosopher Dirtbike at 8:50 AM on October 29, 2012