a method and apparatus are disclosed for providing communication between and among multiple keyboards and a common host . the keyboards can be peers , transmitting to the host either independently or cooperatively . alternatively , the keyboards can be prioritized , with lower - priority keyboards transmit to the host only when higher - priority keyboards are not , thereby avoiding interference with the higher - priority keyboards . also , the keyboards can be prioritized with lower - priority keyboards communicating with the host only through the higher - priority keyboards , the higher - priority keyboards storing and forwarding data from the lower priority keyboards to higher - priority keyboards and / or the host . a method for organizing data from multiple keyboards for transmission to the host is also disclosed , in which the intended message is received by the host in the presence of interference .