Labs

Remote access software

Expertcity GoToMyPC Corporate 3 [PC Pro]
COMPANY: Expertcity	PRICE: Ł17per user up to10 users; 100 users, Ł13 per user (all exc VAT)
RATING:	ISSUE: 104 DATE: Apr 03

Verdict: A remarkably simple web-hosted solution ideally suited to businesses that need to deploy remote access to a large user base and don't want to muck around with IP addresses.

View Spec Table

GoToMyPC takes a different approach to remote access, as it's a hosted web service provided by Expertcity. It's remarkably simple to use. First, you register an account at the company's website and enter the email addresses of those users whose systems you wish to control. They receive a message inviting them to log on to the Expertcity website and download a small utility that allows their system to be remotely accessed over the Internet.

The host utility can be loaded manually or run as a service making the system available at all times. When first loaded, you need to provide a suitable alias for the system and enter a password that's only stored locally. As luck would have it, when we registered our test account an attack on the Expertcity mail server was in progress, resulting in activation



ADVERTISEMENT

emails arriving some six hours late. However, once the message arrived, the installation process was commendably swift.

All communications go through the Expertcity website, even if you're controlling a workstation on the same LAN. The guest system logs on to the website, where it can view and select available hosts. A small viewer utility is installed and, once the connection is terminated, it's removed, leaving no trace. The remote-control window is a simple affair with options for file transfer, sending keystrokes, chatting and a basic drawing tool. Understandably, performance is dependent on the type of Internet connection and, although we were using a 2Mb pipeline, we didn't feel it was fair to run the file copy tests. However, we did find remote-control response was reasonable, if a little slow at times.

GoToMyPC provides plenty of security measures, as the website uses SSL and 128-bit AES encryption. Host passwords will only be accepted if they contain at least eight alphanumeric characters, and a counter can be set to disconnect the session after a specific period of inactivity. The Corporate version - as opposed to the personal version, aimed at SMEs with 1-20 users - provides an administration site, which is set up on the Expertcity website. This allows you to create multiple users, manage and monitor connections and produce detailed reports on service usage.