An affordable WEB KVM! JetKVM Review

Today I'm looking at the JetKVM, a web-based KVM solution designed to make remote access simple and affordable. It captures the display and emulates a keyboard/mouse, so you can fully control the target computer remotely. You can also mount ISOs to the remote computer, to boot into operating systems and installers. It's entirely designed for this purpose, not based off an existing single board computer, and currently on Kickstarter.

The JetKVM team has pledged to release the firmware (written in Go + Linux + Busybox) and cloud service as open-source when they ship to backers.

Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
01:16 - Unboxing
02:18 - Basics
03:58 - UEFI Setup
09:01 - Remote Access
10:46 - Latency
11:29 - Conclusion

[apalrdsadventures]

Updates:
- JetKVM will ship USB-C power/data splitters with the JetKVM kickstarter as a solution to power questions
- JetKVM has increased the internal space from 8G to 16G
- The ATX or DC Power extensions can also power the device and will also ship with it, although I did not review the extensions

[BrianPuccio]

4:55 The gesture here is great 🤣

I appreciate you digging into all the details on this product; very in depth!

[HarryWho]

Just received my JetKVM as of 4th Jan 2025 in Australia. Works as advertised. Love it!

[drclean]

Just backed this as well for the price and size it looks perfect for me and my team, thanks for the video!

[basix]

Jesus christ they really are shipping this to every known homelab youtubers.

[Trains-With-Shane]

I backed it. I don't often have a need for something like this but the next time I do it'll probably pay for itself in lessening of frustration having to reposition stuff to get the server over to my monitors or try to find a space to sit a monitor proximal to the server.

[JeffGeerling]

I backed it—I like it as it is, but it would be nice to see how their RJ11 extensions will work (I added a couple anyway to my pledge!).

[Evan-dpqp]

You have by far the best review of the device, for what I've seen in my evening of research. You'd dominate (even more than you already do) if you worked a bit on production. Not to say you're not killing it - you are - but the fluff others put into their video productions introduces/widens a subjective gap between what some may consider to be "quality" - mine is content matter for this instance, I think most would agree, as the quality of the review is phenomenal. Hope you take this crit as it's meant to be - positive and hopefully helpful

[jig]

This really looks interesting, I definitely appreciate your review. It's more in depth than some of the others that I've seen and I think I am sold. I was on the fence because it's a Kickstarter of course but then it's another $20 in shipping. But, I do think this looks like an awesome product and it will be definitely useful for me so if I can help bring it in information that's what I'm gonna do. Backing now 😃

[Admnfne]

I love the concept. I would love it slightly more with the internal storage being its own 8GB (or whatever size) thing and then having a microSD slot in the back for things like ISO storage, as well as PoE. PoE would be an amazing bypass to the USB power problem, and something you'll likely have in a lot of places this will be utilized.

[johnwalshaw]

Would be great to have PoE and microSD. Could use as an ISO selector even without needing KVM.

[AK]

POE would go hard with this and solve the issue of relying on the host having the proper combination of power and peripheral emulation capabilities.

[honestgoat]

Hell yeah. I just bought 2 plus the Front panel connectors and barrel jack connector.

[Darkk]

I saw this on a different YT video and impressed what I saw so went ahead and backed 2 JetKVM devices. I would love to see an SD card slot for storage but at this price point I can see why they didn't include it. Maybe down the road they will come out with updated version with more features. The way this little guy is designed I think it's a great KVM.

[RockTheCage]

The first time i backed a kickstarter i got nothing so i decided from then no kickstarters for me. I will wait until they have production units out.

[legerdemain]

5:05 Kudos, it would've taken me forever to grok that my PC somehow cares which USB port I plug a keyboard into. Never had that.

[NickBouwhuis]

I'd like to see them move to a model like Tailscale has. OIDC through webfinger with a few ready-to-go options with known auth providers (MS, Apple, Google, Github)

[BertPdeboy]

looks very elegant and minimalist for its purpose! love to see it!
and I do agree on the power remark, this kvm with poe power would be perfect for my use case that is short hands-on with many different systems. "Wait, how is this powered" was my first reaction when the I/O was explained.
i wonder how many people actually have the need for a kvm attached a long time of statically positioned use since ipmi chips/cards are prevalent, not to mention virtualisation use exploded in the last 10 years.

"adding more storage would add significant cost" I see mentioned, but does it really? I'd have guessed it to cost about $40 based on that statement alone but the backing price is $69 which almost certainly means retail will be higher. Anyway it wouldn't matter to me, nor many other people because network mounting an iso is super easy. I think the "added cost" is looking for a reason where there is none; the designers have a perfectly clear idea of this product and it truly shows in the board design/software/cloud infra. No more storage required.

I'm keeping my eye on this product for a PoE release, if it works (and looks) like this in retail I'll be buying 5.

[larrythehedgehog]

jeff geerling sold me on the rpi computeblade. im still waiting to get my unit. think 2 years coming up since i paid. i'm done spending money on kickstarter.

[almc]

It really seems like there's a lot of talent behind the project, and they've done a lot well, but the deal breakers:
I will not buy mini-HDMI, simple as that...
The lack of PoE, even passive, even as an optional probably means I won't get it... Not even a barrel jack so a PoE splitter is possible?

If they fixed those I'd definitely be interested. A few other suggestions:
Why include a screen at all, let alone such a nice one? - Just unnecessary cost... Use next suggestion instead
Use service discovery such as SAP/mDNS-SD. This combo'd with a web app be extremely convenient
Powering from HDMI power should be possible? (5v 50mA)
Ethernet passthrough - Similar to desk phones, eth in and eth out