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What to do when the mouse cursor lags?

Updated

Product: Synergy (all versions)
Operating system: Windows, macOS, and Linux

 

The most common cause for a mouse cursor to lag is usually a bad WiFi connection. You can check if this is the issue by doing a ping test. The best solution is to use an ethernet cable. If your ethernet network is in another room, or you don't have one, then you could set up an ethernet network. If your computers don't have ethernet ports, you may need to purchase a USB ethernet adapter.

Windows and Linux

There are currently no known issues in Synergy for the Windows and Linux operating systems that could cause mouse lag. Other than slow wifi, the only possible cause could be a problem with the CPU or memory problems that can cause the mouse cursor to lag.

 

macOS

On macOS, the wifi adapter can sometimes lag randomly. This is also known as a "ping spike" (named after the ‘ping’ tool). This wifi lag could affect your Synergy experience, causing mouse lag where the mouse cursor movement appears delayed or choppy. Generally, mouse lag happens on macOS when the macOS is the client computer and not the server computer. You can tell if a machine is the server computer if it has a white dot on it on the Synergy config app.

Some tools such as WiFriedX have been created to disable AWDL and AirDrop, which some people suspect causes this issue.

You can also disable AWDL via command line:

  1. Open Terminal
  2. Run the following command: 
    1. sudo ifconfig awdl0 down

 

Handoff (macOS)

macOS feature Handoff is causing the clipboard to be updated continuously, causing lag. Try disabling Handoff:

  1. Open the Apple menu and select System Preferences.
  2. Select General.
  3. Disable the box next to Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices.

 

Port forwarding rules

In some cases, the latency/lag can come from your network router/access point, sometimes creating a port forwarding rule can help:

  1. Go to the admin page of the router/access point via the default gateway (example: 192.168.0.1, but address depends on the router)
  2. Find section about ports, or NAT/Gaming section, and add Synergy for both UDP and TCP on port 24800.

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