Cordless Desktop: Using a Wireless Mouse and Keyboard with Windows XP
Published: July 8, 2002
By Barb Bowman, Windows XP Expert Zone Community Columnist
Editor's Note: Past articles by members of the online community are archived for your use. The information may become outdated as technology changes. For the most current information, please search the Web site or post a question in the newsgroups.
What's not to like about eliminating tangled mouse and keyboard cables and operating a keyboard as far as six feet from your computer? I don't know why I waited so long to go cordless. Although I'm a laptop person and spend a large portion of my day moving around my home office/lab/patio on my 802.11b wireless network, I also spend hours with the laptop inserted in a full docking station with an external 17-inch LCD monitor, full-sized keyboard, and mouse.
Because of Plug and Play support in Windows XP, plugging in the USB wireless transceivers from cordless mouse and keyboard manufacturers is a great user experience. No manufacturer-supplied software is even required for basic functionality. Advanced users can install the supplied software to take advantage of user programmable features. Windows XP automatically detects a compliant Human Interface Device (HID) configuration and a status balloon displays a message that the new Plug and Play hardware is ready to use. (Note that this is not always true if the PS2 connector supplied with some cordless equipment is used, because the PS2 connection may not be HID-compliant.)
In Figure 1 below, Device Manager displays detected hardware before attaching the USB transceiver for any cordless devices. Note that only the standard keyboard and PS2 mouse are present and there are no HID devices listed.
Figure 1
Figure 2 shows Device Manager after attaching a Logitech Cordless Desktop transceiver and the transceiver for the Microsoft Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer.
Figure 2
In Search of a Perfect Keyboard
I spend nearly all my working day behind one or more computers and comfort and convenience are important to me. The new cordless keyboards from Logitech and IBM have the same feel and functionality of their wired equivalents. In addition, they provide the added convenience of buttons and wheels that invoke programs or perform often used keystroke combinations and mouse clicks. The multimedia VCR-like controls for both keyboards work transparently to control Windows Media Player without extra software. The Standby button will place the machine in hibernation or standby. (The action performed by this button is determined by the function you assign to the sleep button in Power Options in Control Panel.) If an e-mail button is present, it invokes my default e-mail program, and the Internet button invokes my home page in Internet Explorer.
In some cases, the keyboard's Internet home page button may be automatically set to open the vendor's promotional home page. You can reset the special key to access your preferred Internet home page when you customize the functions of these special keys and buttons.
Missing on all cordless keyboards that I've tried is the LED on the keyboard indicating the state of numlock/capslock, although most vendors add this functionality through software with a status icon in the notification area.
The IBM cordless keyboard is the most solid feeling wireless keyboard of those I've tried. It retains the “touch” action that has made the keyboards on ThinkPad laptops among the best in the world. Unfortunately, the IBM keyboard, shown in Figure 3, doesn't conform to the normal desktop extended key configuration that I prefer. The Logitech keyboard, shown in Figure 4, provides my preferred configuration, but doesn't have the same overall solid feel as the IBM.
Figure 3
Figure 4
Off to the Mouse Races
The reporting rate of a mouse is the frequency (the number of times per second) with which it reports its current position and is measured in hertz (Hz); the faster the rate, the less lag time experienced. If your previous mouse was attached to a PS2 port (and you haven't overclocked the mouse speed rate to bump it up from the default refresh rate of 40-60Hz), you'll find that a RF-powered wireless mouse feels and handles similarly. However, if you're replacing a USB connected mouse (100-125Hz) with a USB RF wireless mouse (50Hz), you may notice, especially if you are an intense hardcore gamer, that the mouse tracking speed is slower. The Microsoft Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer is somewhat more responsive, with an apparent 80Hz average refresh rate. For most people, a wireless mouse is a great end user upgrade.
I prefer the top-of-the-line cordless optical mice from Microsoft and Logitech over cordless mice with the traditional rubber ball-based construction, because optical mice work on most surfaces and provide more accurate control. I don't mind not having to clean and scrape the collection of junk that collects on the rollers of a traditional rubber ball-based mouse, and I can rid my desktop of one more item, the mouse pad.
The ergonometric design of the Microsoft Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer is a great fit for my small hand and the Logitech Cordless Optical mouse supplied with the Cordless Optical Freedom desktop is a close second. The bad news is that the Microsoft Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer is not coupled with a cordless keyboard and the Microsoft transceiver will power only the mouse. In a perfect world, I'd like to use my Microsoft Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer with a USB wireless keyboard. For speed and accuracy, the Logitech Optical seems the best, followed by the Microsoft Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer.
The rubber ball-based cordless mice supplied by IBM and with non-optical Logitech cordless desktops are not as responsive and seem to exhibit more lag than their optical counterparts.), Logitech Cordless Freedom, IBM's cordless mouse, Logitech's Cordless Optical Freedom mouse, and the Microsoft Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer are shown in Figure 5 (displayed from left to right.) Note that both optical mice have ergonometric shapes, and the rubber ball-based varieties more closely resemble older “dove bar” mouse styles.
Figure 5
No Mix and Match
Unfortunately, while many vendors use dual RF channel architecture in cordless desktop sets that include both peripherals, the vendor specific technology includes proprietary architecture, so it isn't a simple matter of just using the Microsoft product with a Logitech keyboard. I can plug in the two USB RF transceivers, because they can co-exist on the same system, but it is far from an optimal arrangement.
Making Sense of the Many Wireless Devices
If you've read some of my previous columns, you already know that my computers have been wirelessly connected with 802.11b (Wi-Fi) for some time. I've recently added 802.11a (Wi-Fi5) to my network, and will write about this in an Expert Zone column in the near future.
Additionally, I have three cordless phones (one on each floor) that operate in the 900 MHz band. I selected the 900 MHz variety to avoid interference with my 802.11b networks. All of these technologies use RF (radio frequency) to communicate, but they use different frequencies and for the most part, do not interfere with each other. Most current cordless RF mice and keyboards operate in the 27 MHz band, which is approved for global use and does not interfere with other commonly used wireless gear such as telephones that operate in the 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz range.
More than a single device can easily be supported using the dual channel technology in the 27 MHz technology, making it possible to use cordless keyboard/mouse combinations through a single cordless interface. The chart below compares the common frequencies and usage.
27 MHz | Cordless mouse and keyboard products from Microsoft, Logitech (including private label equipment for HP and others), IBM, and other major vendors, 6 foot coverage, not necessarily line of sight. In an office or SOHO environment, close proximity of like branded devices can cause “cross talk” where a device in one office cube can cause another mouse pointer to move. Change channels to compensate (and wait at least 25 minutes between setting up computers). |
900 MHz | Cordless phones |
2.4 GHz Direct Spread | 802.11b (Wi-Fi), 802.11g (draft)—Maximum 175-400 feet in normal home/office/SOHO environments and as far as 1000 feet outdoors with straight line of sight. Band is shared with cordless phones and microwave ovens with potential for interference from these devices. |
2.4 GHz Frequency Hopping | Bluetooth—Up to 30 feet |
5 GHz | 802.11a (Wi-Fi5)—Maximum 60-300 feet in normal home/office/SOHO environments. |
Bluetooth Cordless Desktop is Coming
I'm excited and encouraged about the next generation cordless desktop which will be powered by the Bluetooth industry standard for personal area networks. In April 2002 Microsoft announced a Bluetooth transceiver that will not only power a new Bluetooth wireless keyboard and optical mouse but act as a portal for seven total Bluetooth devices with seamless integration with Windows XP.
The upcoming Bluetooth standards-based equipment should mean that I can select a wireless mouse and keyboard from different vendors and they'll work together as if they were designed to be a matched set. Plus, the transceiver will be able to power additional Bluetooth devices. With a 30 foot effective range, I'm also eager to see how Bluetooth desktop peripherals work in my multi-computer SOHO environment. As my wireless and cordless world continues to grow and expand, you'll read about it here in the Expert Zone.
Send Your Suggestions for Future Columns
If you use Windows XP at home and have a topic you'd like to see covered in a future column, feel free to write me at: barb@mvps.org. I'll be glad to receive ideas and suggestions. Please understand that I can not answer individual e-mail messages or even acknowledge them.
Barb Bowman enjoys sharing her own experiences and insights into today's leading edge technologies. She is a product development manager for AT&T Broadband Internet Services, but her views here are strictly personal.
