This review is part of a KVM switch grouptest

The OmniView Quad-Bus Series sits at the high end of Belkin’s KVM switch family. It is distinguished by its independent expansion bus, which enables multiple switches to be connected to manage up to 248 remote systems. Eight-port and 16-port models are available with support for one or two local consoles; our test switch, however, was an eight-port, single console model.

Installation was simple. USB and PS/2 connectors are provided for the local console, and there are just four connectors for the remote servers alongside plugs for the expansion bus. Only four are needed because each cable connects to two hosts, helping to reduce cable bulk. PS/2, USB and Sun cables are all available, though the maximum length of 1.8 metres is a little restrictive.

DIP switches must be set if daisy-chaining, but our standalone switch started working immediately we powered it up. Ports can then be selected from the buttons on the front or via hotkeys. There is also an on-screen menu system called IntelliView, with some nice customisation features.

User-friendly names can be assigned to the ports and access can be limited using the built-in password- protected user accounts. Only five of these are provided and their names cannot be altered, but this is not a major limitation.

A decent user manual is supplied on CD-ROM and we had no problems with the Belkin OmniView in our tests. We also tried the optional OmniView Remote IP Console (£560 + VAT), which simply replaces the local console to add KVM-over-IP remote console facilities.