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November 18th, 2021 06:00
U4021QW, switch input, Ethernet drops
I recently bought the DELL U4021QW monitor for use with my Mac mini desktop computer and my MacBook Pro laptop; the desktop is connected via HDMI and USB-A and the laptop is connected via USB-C.
When I switch input sources on the monitor to the desktop machine the network connection is lost on the laptop; this was not something I expected.
Is there some way of preventing this from happening?
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TalldaveUK
1 Rookie
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49 Posts
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November 18th, 2021 07:00
No. Dell designed it that way and don't see anything wrong with their design. It renders the network connectivity utterly useless for anyone who ever switches inputs. Doing it properly would cost more, of course.
I spent a few days wondering why my work laptop's VPN kept dropping out before the penny dropped!
DELL-Chris M
Community Manager
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56.9K Posts
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November 18th, 2021 08:00
You press Input Source button and change from MacBook Pro Thunderbolt to Mac Mini HDMI. The video and Ethernet functionality move to the Mac Mini.
* You are no longer using the MacBook Pro, so why does the MacBook Pro still need access to Ethernet?
You press Input Source button and change from Mac Mini HDMI to MacBook Pro Thunderbolt. The video and Ethernet functionality move to the MacBook Pro.
* You are no longer using the Mac Mini, so why does the Mac Mini still need access to Ethernet?
TalldaveUK
1 Rookie
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49 Posts
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November 18th, 2021 13:00
Why wouldn't you want network access maintained on a switched on computer? VPNs drop out when the computer's connection drops, emails and Teams calls still need to be able to be received and audible alerts used to trigger the user to switch back to that PC. You might want to stream audio on one PC whilst using the other. The list of use cases is endless.
Meanwhile, the list of use cases where it's necessary for a computer's network access to be removed when you're not looking at it has zero entries!!!
NutSoft
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November 24th, 2021 03:00
I'm surprised by this answer; I did expect the network to be available to ALL computers connected to the monitor all of the time. I realise this isn't the case now (and I can work around it) but I was surprised that this was how the networking was implemented and find it not suitable for my needs.