KiteRelay

Control

One page runs the whole thing.

Four steps to get in, what plugs into what, then the page itself, captured from the shipping software and clickable drawer by drawer.

01How it works

Four steps. Then you’re in.

  1. 01

    Plug it in and power it up.

    One cable carries the other computer’s screen into the box. One makes the box act as its keyboard and mouse. It runs on its own power supply, not the computer’s, so plug that in too and switch it on.

  2. 02

    Point your phone at it.

    The first time it starts, the box makes its own WiFi network. Join it from your phone, pick your home WiFi, and it remembers it forever.

  3. 03

    It shows up as standard peripherals.

    To the computer you’re controlling, it looks like an ordinary wireless mouse and keyboard, plus a plain monitor. There is nothing to install.

  4. 04

    Open one web page.

    The setup screen hands you your box’s address. Open it from your own laptop, set your password, and you are in. Move your mouse and its cursor moves. Type and it types.

The KiteRelay control page on a phone: the other computer’s desktop fills the screen, with the stream controls along the bottom.
Where step four lands you, on a phone. The desktop shown is an illustration.

02How it connects

Two cables into the box. Then it lives on your network.

The computer you control hands its picture to the box over HDMI and takes its keyboard and mouse from it over USB-C. That is all it ever sees. The box runs on its own power supply, not the computer’s.

The box joins your WiFi, set up from your phone, or takes an Ethernet cable to your router if you would rather. Your own laptop or phone opens its page from anywhere on that network, and with Tailscale switched on, from anywhere at all.

How KiteRelay connectsThe computer you control sends its screen to the box over HDMI and takes its keyboard and mouse from the box over USB-C. The box has its own power supply. It joins your WiFi, or connects to your router with an Ethernet cable. Your own laptop or phone reaches the box over the same network from any browser.HDMI · its screenUSB-Ckeyboard and mouse5V poweror a cableWiFiWiFiThe computer you controlKiteRelayYour routerYour laptop or phone · any browser
Product renderings. The desktops shown are illustrations, and the address on the small screen is an example.

03The control page

Captured from the shipping software

One page runs the whole thing. This is it.

The KiteRelay control page in a desktop browser: the other computer’s desktop fills the view, with the settings icons along the right edge.
Drawers
The real control page, captured from the shipping software: pick a drawer and the picture shows it open. On a computer, click the picture and type, or paste into the bar along the bottom. The typing runs in your browser as a simulation. The desktop inside the page is an illustration, and the Devices drawer is cropped to its first two cards.

  • Monitor

    Live status and health at a glance: uptime, temperature, load and power state, with its keyboard, mouse and video links, and anyone connected, listed underneath.

  • Security

    Change the page password, switch on Two-Factor Login, and use Network Lockdown to stop the box answering anything outside your private network.

  • Power

    Restart or shut it down from the browser, and set it to unplug its own keyboard and mouse from the other computer whenever it sits idle.

  • Stream

    Picture quality chooses between Smooth, Balanced and Sharp. It ships Balanced, a middle ground between crisp text and smooth, low-lag control; pick Sharp for the crispest text on a fast link. Ease off on a bad connection keeps your keyboard and mouse sharp when the line is weak.

04What sets it apart

Everything a good box does. And a few things they don’t.

  • Fixes itself.

    Plug it in and it sets up its own video and connection. If WiFi or power blips mid-session, it reconnects on its own.

  • Type and paste across.

    An on-screen keyboard for keys your laptop can’t send, saved clips and key-sequence macros, plus paste a password or block of text straight onto the other machine.

How an update lands

How an update landsFour steps: it checks for an update, checks the signature on the device before anything runs, installs it while the small screen says so, then comes back up and checks itself. Healthy, it stays on the new version. Not healthy, it rolls back on its own to the version it had.01Checks for an updateon its own, or from the Update drawer02Checks the signatureon the device, before anything runs03Installs itthe small screen says so04Comes back upand checks itselfHealthy · stays on itNot healthy · rolls back on its ownkeeps checking
Signed, checked on the device before it runs, and undone on its own if it does not come up healthy. The small screen’s frame, redrawn sharp.

1600x900picture

sharper than 720p, and the 60 Hz signal that even locked-down corporate laptops accept.

60fps

one to one with the source, so no frame is ever dropped.

2cables

to the other computer: one carries its screen, one lets the box act as its keyboard and mouse.

0installs

on the computer you control. It sees a keyboard, a mouse and a monitor.

Two lanes, one link

Two lanes between the box and your browserThe picture travels on a wide lane that eases off on a weak line. Your keyboard and mouse travel on their own lane and stay sharp.Picture1600 x 900 · 60 fpseases off on a weak lineKeyboard and mousestays sharpKiteRelayYour browser
The picture eases off on a weak line. Your keyboard and mouse never do. Product renderings.

Questions about this? The FAQ has a section on using it.

Next: Screen unlockReserve yours