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The Ultimate Free Network Applications, Period

David Murphy — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:44:00 -0600

With just five applications--five, free applications--you can do anything you ever wanted to do across a network connection. We're serious. Using these applications, you can bridge your computers together from anywhere in the world across a secure, hacker-proof connection. From there, you can dial into your desktop as if you were sitting right in front of it, looking at the exact screen you'd be seeing were your butt in the groove of your favorite office chair. If you're a hardcore network enthusiast, we'll even show you how to tab-browse through multiple, connected desktops as if you were pulling them up in Firefox or something.

LogMeIn Hamachi

What it does: We really hate recommending LogMeIn Hamachi all the time. It just feels like we're using the same ol' program every time we run any large networking story. But try as we have to find a better alternative to LogMeIn Hamachi, there simply is no better way to connect two computers over the Internet, hassle-free. Rather than having to fool with managing a computer's internal IP address, external IP address, port permissions, and what-have-you, Hamachi turns this headache-inducing networking configuration into a one-button step. Fire up the program, create a group for your connected devices, and run LogMeIn Hamachi on any of the computers. The program sets up a secure tunnel between your connections, giving each device its own, unchanging IP address. You can then connect to your other desktops for any number of purposes, be they the programs listed below, LAN gaming, or anything. LogMeIn Hamachi is the ultimate networking foundation.

Download it here!

UltraVNC

What it does: Although we strongly recommend you use the previous program to set up your network before firing up UltraVNC, you can use this awesome networking application to connect to any computer with an IP address. Once connected, you're looking and interacting with the computer's desktop as if you were sitting right in front of it. You can also establish file transfers, chat with whoever it is might be sitting at the terminal, and utilize a variety of compression mechanisms to maximize your session's performance regardless of what speed of connection you're using. A number of "VNC" varieties exist on the Interweb, but we have found the most success (and usefulness) with UltraVNC.

Download it here!

Terminals

What it does: So you liked UltraVNC, but you have more than one computer you're planning on connecting to at once? No need to fire up a bunch of UltraVNC sessions--not when you have terminals, that is. This is the tabbed browsing program we mentioned previously. It's a great way for the hardcore network enthusiast to manage multiple networked screens at once, and it comes with a bunch of system administrator network tools built into the application for easy access. You never know when you might need a Trace Route...

Download it here!

Live Mesh

What it does: Live Mesh lets you pull off the same remote desktop features as Terminals and UltraVNC, but the true strength of this application lies in its powerful synchronization features. You create a mesh, which is a grouping of computers and users who all receive special access to a batch of files. To create this batch, you assign folders on your computer to serve as Mesh Folders--anything placed in them gets synchronized to the devices in your Mesh. It's a great way for keeping your files and folders organized across multiple devices--even better if you and your friends like to share a hot batch of jams amongst each other.

Download it here!

Advanced IP Scanner

The name of this application should give away its features, but there's more to this helpful program than you might think. Not only will it scan through a class of IP addresses and tell you details about all the computers it sees, but it lets you perform simple--but powerful--commands on the network devices you find. Throw them wake-on-LAN commands, shut them down remotely, and connect to the computers (via Radmin) at the touch of a button. If you're running a large network of PCs, put this program on your "to-install" list immediately.

Download it here!

Use any programs we missed? Leave a note in the comments and we'll recognize your contributions in a future post!

How To: Use Your Computer From Anywhere

David Murphy — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 20:05:49 -0600

We’ll set the stage. You’re at work, toiling away on yet another spreadsheet for the Man, when you suddenly have a flash of inspiration. You’ve installed Peggle Deluxe at home, and surely a round of puzzle-ball action would make the day pass faster! But how are you ever going to access your computer and fire up your saved game?

It’s easy to move files from your home computer to any location you want: That’s what portable hard drives are for. But why use your legs when a simple program will let you manipulate any faraway computer using the mouse and keyboard sitting in front of you. Double-click folders. Create pretty Photoshop pictures. Transfer files. Private networks are the ultimate way to manage your computer from afar.

Time: 00:15

What You Need

Two computers
UltraVNC
Free, www.uvnc.com
Logmein Hamachi
Free, www.logmein.com

1. Create a Virtual Network

If you’re planning to connect to a remote computer, you first need to know where it is—and “in my house” isn’t the answer you’re looking for. In technological terms, you need the host machine’s IP address. It’s the unique identifier that’s bestowed on Internet-attached computers by an Internet service provider. At least, that’s the simple version. If you’re running behind a router, the IP situation gets a little more complicated. And if you’re trying to remote-control a machine at your workplace… well, things could get interesting. Unless you use Hamachi, that is.

Rather than fiddling with a bunch of complex settings, forwarding options, and other technological thaumaturgy, install the Hamachi client on each machine you want in the connection loop. This one-stop solution to network configuration creates a virtual private network (VPN) on top of your current configuration. Think of it as the difference between following a series of directions to get somewhere versus taking a teleporter that deposits you exactly where you want to go.

Installing the client itself is simple. Once you’ve finished running the executable, follow the onscreen directions to create your first (password-protected!) private network. Set Hamachi to run when Windows starts. This will save you the head-slapping you’d surely inflict on yourself the first time you try to remotely access your desktop only to find that you forgot to start Hamachi before heading out.

Make sure you give your computers descriptive names as well. If you’re planning to include multiple rigs on the network, you’ll definitely want better differentiators than “dave-desktop” and “dave-desktop2.”

You can label computers via IP address if you’re a real network nerd. We prefer an IP address followed by a label such as “PC in Lab,” which tells us exactly what we need to know.

2. Install UltraVNC

Once you’ve got Hamachi up and running, you need to install UltraVNC, which actually handles all the remote interface fun. Installing it is as easy as clicking a mouse button a few times. If you want the program to run when Windows starts, select the option to register UltraVNC as a system service—unless you’re using Vista; Microsoft’s latest OS frowns when you try to do that. Vista users will want to copy the shortcut to UltraVNC from the program’s Start Menu folder into the Startup folder. You’ll get UltraVNC when you log in to Vista, and better still, you won’t see any error messages.

You’ll see an icon in the lower-right corner of your taskbar when UltraVNC’s running. Right-click it and select UltraVNC’s Administrative Properties. Most of the options can be left at their defaults, but a few offer handy upgrades to UltraVNC’s network operations. If you’re accessing a computer located in a public location, you can prevent local users from disabling an UltraVNC connection. You can also turn off a local user’s ability to type, move the mouse, or even edit UltraVNC settings. Most importantly, this is the screen where you set UltraVNC’s password—without one, all someone needs is your IP address to take over your machine.

Next: Get Connected!

3. Get Connected

To connect your UltraVNC Server computers you also need the UltraVNC Viewer included in the initial installation. But before you run this program on the computer that’s doing the connecting, you’ll want to double-click the Hamachi icon in the Windows toolbar and connect to your private network. You’ll now see why installing Hamachi is a good idea: Look at the window and copy the IP address of the machine you’re connecting to into the UltraVNC Viewer window.

And that’s it! It’s the easiest way to figure out a machine’s IP address without physically being at that machine or establishing a static IP.

You can quick-set your connection-specific encoding and coloration options on the tiny viewer, but the Options menu offers you far more control over your network session.

4. Tweak Your Connection's Settings

Now that you’ve connected to your faraway machine, you might very well be staring at an image of your desktop with scroll bars attached to the sides of the window. It’s an annoying way to manipulate your host machine, so here’s how to change it—and a raft of other options.

The specific encoding techniques are complicated. Your best bet is to run through the list to see which gives you the best performance on your connection.

At the top of the UltraVNC Viewer window is a series of icons. Select the one that looks like Earth with a gear over it; it should be third from the left. Clicking the icon pulls up the options for the UltraVNC Viewer client. The program is initially set to replicate a 100-percent duplicate of your desktop, which can lead to the scroll bars on your window. Crank this value down by selecting a different percentage for Viewer Scale and you’ll be able to fit your remote desktop on your current display.

UltraVNC is set to automatically select the remote image’s encoding settings, but you can manually adjust the options for greater control and speed. If your mouse response time is slow, select the option for the remote server to deal with the mouse cursor or disable the cursor image entirely.

If your connection is pokey, first try selecting different compression algorithms to find one that best fits your needs for quality and speed. To maximize the latter, nix the colors—pull up your remote computer in grayscale if you have to, as it’ll reduce the amount of bandwidth required to transfer the desktop image from your remote box to you.