Home > Consumer Reviews > Belkin OmniView SOHO Series 4-Port KVM Switch with Audio

I'm extremely unhappy with the Belkin OmniView SOHO Series 4-Port KVM DVI Switch with Audio. I'm sure most of this applies for the VGA version

1) It is nearly impossible to connect a cable to the console DVI Connector. Belkin had to overnight a special extender to connect the monitor DVI cable to the KVM.
2) Connecting the Power Adapter to the KVM blocks one of the peripheral USB ports.
3) It's absolutely impossible to put on the cover (i.e. cable management cover) if you connect the four (Belkin) cables to it.
4) Connecting only two PCs with a resolution of 1600x1200 to the KVM resulted in green shadows for one connection. (both NVidia cards GeForce 4 (4200 series) and a Geforce 5 (5200 series)
5) The Microsoft Wireless Keyboard doesn't work as stated in the manual. I did manage to plug in the wireless dongle connector to the USB mouse port on the KVM but now I can't use the hotkeys to switch between computers. Belkin has also indicated that wireless keyboards don't always work as stated in the manual

6) There isn't a FAQ or software/firmware upgrade listed for this device. I would recommend checking out the belkin support pages or lack there of.

In my search to find one adequate KVM switch to work with Windows and Linux, I now own five KVM switches (around $450 worth). The Belkin Omniview is the worst of the lot. I have one Omnicube which gets by O.K. A two port IOGear all-in-the-cable model works great, but IOGear's four port models have intrusive keyboard shortcuts that interfere with applications and games. However, the 4 port IOGear model came with a full set of cables. Ultimately, the Linksys SVIEW04 was the grand solution. The SVIEW04 provides all the quality of the IOGear models and also allows the keyboard shortcuts to be disabled.

Unfortunately, the magazines that have been recommending these products haven't been doing their research. You must investigate all the specifications, and you must also read the entire manual before buying. Someone might have noticed that the firmware update feature on the Omniview isn't well documented. Then, there must be testing of all the features with multiple operating systems; and clearly, those recomending these products have failed to do this.

Linksys (the best) and IOGear are clearly better products than this one.

I'm done using Belkin. I have two of these "SOHO USB" units, and they both display similar problems: Certain machines won't boot past POST when attached, keyboard and mouse randomly fail to work on boot, video loads in wrong resolution unless you set KVM focus on the booting machine clear through to when your OS boots into the GUI. One of my configurations requires me to keep mice attached to the machines directly -- if I attach them to the KVM the machines lock on boot. I just picked up the 4-port Belkin "Pro2" (thinking I'm getting what I pay for with the SOHO model), and it's even worse! I can boot successfully (on three different systems) perhaps one out of every 8 tries.

Finally, on a recommendation from our IT dept., I tried the IOGear Ultra. I attached three different machines (including one Sun box), and everything booted up without a hitch! I'm done tearing my hair out over Belkin's quirks. If you run into similar problems once you pick up a Belkin model, I'd suggest you give IOGear a try. It opened my eyes.

My first impression of the Belkin OmniView SOHO Series 4-Port KVM Switch was that it was HUGE! The futuristic design takes up unnecessary amount of space for a KVM switch with only 4 ports. That said, it looks COOL enough to have on your desk, but the problem is, it quickly becomes uncool when you attach four sets of cables to the unit. The cable "management" cover (which only hides the cables) will not fit back on the unit with 4 sets of cables bulging out from the unit.

Like the other reviewers, I also had problems with unrecognized PS/2 and USB devices during startup. This is because the OmniView SOHO has crumby mouse emulation. A more professional KVM switch will emulate a mouse/keyboard signal when the computer searches for attached devices during startup. So, any kind of Windows or Linux machine is out of luck. Only Macs will rescan the ports when the KVM is switched to its port... so that means, if you only have Macs, you won't have this problem. Other's will just have to sit in front of the computers and switch the ports while they startup one computer at a time.

So let's say you have 4 Macs connected to the unit. Once you press a button to switch between computers, it takes a few seconds for the new screen to appear. This is more of a electric issue than anything. Your monitor and computer must sync refresh rates and resolutions because your computer thinks there's a new monitor. You'd see this issue with a lot of other entry level KVM switches.

BTW, YES the cables ARE sold separately. But that's because they have USB and PS/2 versions. IoGear's MiniView (cables included) is a much better (albeit vanilla box) alternative for an entry level 4 port KVM.

Besides the fact you have to buy the cables separately as others have mentioned, Belkin support is horrible. The automated system consistenly disconnects the call, requiring going through their operator. My 4-port KVM stopped functioning after six months. There's no information on the web to help either. It's as if there IS no way to fix a KVM that doesn't work. Flash upgrading is a joke. I followed the procedure directly from Belkin's website. So I had to RMA replace it. Trust me, Belkin doesn't care about its customers and arrogance will be their downfall. Go with IOGEAR - they include all the cables with the KVM switch for the price of Belkin's without cables.