💾 Archived View for gemini.ctrl-c.club › ~fte368 › 2023 › 2023-03-20_bt_keyboard.gmi captured on 2024-05-12 at 15:52:54. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content

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Wireless keyboards are bad

I always refused to use a bluetooth connected keyboard for my private work because I don’t trust a bluetooth connection to be secure. Also the necessary charging of the device’s battery is something I don’t like. A keyboard has to “be simply there” and to work under any circumstance.

Today I got my opinion supported by accident.

When I turned on my company laptop the keyboard did not work. With the laptop’s keyboard I logged in and tried to find out what happens. I saw the keyboard but it disconnected very often.

Also the power level was odd - last week I charged the battery, so missing power would mean that the keyboard’s battery collapsed. But this was unlikely because the displayed charging level was at 53%.

Finally I disconnected the keyboard through the bluetooth settings (Forget device) and reconnected my keyboard. It showed 91% battery charge.

So when turning on my laptop it connected to my neighbours keyboard (through the wall). This should never happen if a "known" keyboard was already connected.

Implications: If the situation were reversed (my keyboard connected to the neighbours computer) then I would have typed my password into an application there. Nothing I would like to have happen.

Now I renamed my keyboard and mouse in the bluetooth settings so I can see that a different device is connected. At least this speeds up troubleshooting.