FAQ

No. Remote access is included for the life of the device. There is no monthly fee, no cloud dependency, and no plan to introduce one. The same software also runs free on a Raspberry Pi 4B.

Ships within 3 business days, tracked, worldwide. Duties and taxes are included in the price — nothing to pay on delivery.

12-month warranty. If the device fails, email support@beacon-kvm.com — most issues are diagnosed remotely, and if it's a hardware fault we'll replace it. Returns within 30 days, original packaging required, return shipping paid by you.

Beacon makes an outbound connection to our relay servers. When you open the device in your browser, your session is routed through the same relay. This means no inbound ports need to be opened on your network — it works behind NAT, CGNAT, and restrictive firewalls.

Yes. Beacon works on your local network with no internet connection. Remote access over the internet is optional — if your network is isolated, you can still access it via its local IP address.

Beacon captures at up to 1080p60 with H.264 and MJPEG encoding. Typical latency on a local network is 30–60ms. Over the internet, latency depends on your connection but is typically 50–150ms — enough for BIOS navigation, typing, and most recovery tasks.

Beacon uses encrypted connections for all remote access. You authenticate via your account, and the video/input stream is routed through our relay. The device also has a built-in firewall. For maximum security, you can use it on your LAN only and block internet access entirely.

Not yet. ATX power control is on our roadmap. Currently, Beacon can control keyboard and mouse at BIOS level but cannot power-cycle a machine remotely. If this is a dealbreaker, email support@beacon-kvm.com and we'll let you know as soon as it ships.

Beacon controls one machine at a time (one HDMI + one USB connection). To manage multiple machines, you can use a USB HDMI switch in front of Beacon. Multi-host switching is on our roadmap.

Beacon takes HDMI input. For VGA or DVI machines, use an active VGA-to-HDMI or DVI-to-HDMI adapter — these are widely available and inexpensive. The capture card accepts any HDMI signal regardless of its source.

Yes. Beacon runs Linux and you get root SSH access. Install packages, run scripts, customize whatever you want. The software is also open source and runs on a Raspberry Pi 4B.

You can run the Beacon software on it for free. You'll need to supply your own Pi, capture card, and cables. The main differences from the Beacon device: the hardware is pre-assembled and tested, the picture quality is optimized, and remote access is guaranteed to work out of the box. See our GitHub for setup instructions.

Yes. Beacon works at the hardware level — it captures HDMI and emulates a USB keyboard and mouse. The target machine's operating system doesn't matter. It works with macOS, Windows, Linux, ChromeOS, BSD, and anything else that drives an HDMI output and accepts USB input.