Remote Utilities for Windows review: The best remote desktop for Windows? review

Remote Utilities for Windows review: The best remote desktop for Windows? review

TechRadar·2020-03-27 23:19

The best remote desktop software needs to be easy to use yet offer a sufficiently deep feature set to support all of your businesss IT needs. RemoteUtilities for Windows is an impressively affordable remote computer access tool that provides a wide range of access options. While its largely limited to operating on Windows computers, RemoteUtilities makes tasks like remote file transfer, audio sharing, and webcam access easy.So, is this the right remote desktop connection manager for your business? In our RemoteUtilities for Windows review, we will highlight everything you need to know. RemoteUtilities for Windows: Plans and pricingRemote Utilities for Windows pricing depends on how many licenses you need for your IT team and how many remote computers you plan to connect. IT managers can share a technician license, but you can only have concurrent sessions up to your number of purchased licenses.Pricing for RemoteUtilities. (Image credit: RemoteUtilities)Technician licenses start for free and allow you to have up to 10 remote computers in your address book. If you need more endpoints per controller, there are three different paid options. You can access up to 20 computers with a $99 license, 50 computers with a $249 license, and unlimited computers with a $499 license. RemoteUtilities also offers a site-wide plan that costs $12,000, which includes an unlimited number of technician licenses. Endpoint licenses, which are required for each remote computer you plan to access, cost $29 each. You have to purchase a minimum of 10, but can choose to add more up to the maximum number allowed based on your technician licenses.Importantly, these prices are a one-time fee, not a subscription. You get access to any major upgrades released within one year of purchase. But after that, youll need to pay to upgrade the software.Remote Utilities for Windows: Features and utilities RemoteUtilities for Windows includes a number of features that are relatively simple but extremely helpful. Beyond  remote desktop functionality on Windows 10 and older versions of Windows, you can drag and drop files between connected computers and make use of a shared clipboard. On top of that, you to take control of the webcam, share audio across devices, and record high-definition video of remote sessions. An open remote view only session. (Image credit: RemoteUtilities)Another thing that many business users will appreciate is that Remote Utilities enables you to integrate with your own server. IT managers can thus set up user-based access roles, sync host computer addresses for all technicians, and add additional layers of security.Its worth noting that while Remote Utilities primarily works for Windows, theres also a controller app available for iOS and Android devices. You still cant connect to one of these devices as a host, though. Remote Utilities is also developing clients for Mac and Linux computers, but theyre in beta at the time of writing.Remote Utilities for Windows: Setup Unfortunately, getting started with Remote Utilities is pretty cumbersome. Downloading and installing the technician and endpoint versions of the software onto the appropriate computers is fast. But, once thats done, you need to connect to each remote computer one at a time and verify the connection. This takes around 5 minutes per endpoint computer, and potentially longer if youre routing connections through an in-house secure server rather than over the internet. Dialog box to add a new host computer to your address book.  (Image credit: RemoteUtilities)Remote Utilities for Windows: Interface and performanceThe Remote Utilities user interface is fairly user-friendly. It resembles Windows File Explorer, except that instead of folders, the software displays remote computers in your address book. Its easy to start up a connection just by double-clicking on a remote computer, and you dont necessarily have to take full control of the host when starting a session. Instead, you can enter view-only, file transfer, or screen recorder modes, among other options.The Remote Utilities dashboard. (Image credit: RemoteUtilities)Performance can vary somewhat widely since your connection speed will depend on the internet connections of both the controller and host computers. That said, we tested a full control session between two computers running Windows 10 on a 26 Mbps connection and there was no noticeable lag.We also tested out the file transfer performance. Dragging and dropping a 100MB file from the host to the control computer took about four minutes with a 3Mbps upload connection. Thats about what wed expect based on the connection speed.Remote Utilities for Windows: SecurityRemote Utilities does a nice job at managing security. Technicians address books can be encrypted, and the platform supports two-factor authentication when logging in to the controller software. When you connect to a host computer, Remote Utilities automatically tests its identity to ensure the IP address hasnt been commandeered. Remote Utilities allows users to encrypt their address book of connected hosts. (Image credit: RemoteUtilities)Another plus for security is that Remote Utilities for Windows doesnt support web-based user accounts or password management. Although that means you cant access cloud accounts from the software, it does ensure Remote Utilities doesnt contain the necessary information to compromise those accounts. Remote Utilities for Windows: SupportCustomer support at Remote Utilities is good but not instantaneous. You can only contact the company by email, and your estimated response time depends on your technician license level. Site-wide license holders can expect a response within two hours, while responses for other license holders can take up to eight hours. Remote Utilities support team only works Monday to Friday, US Eastern time. The responsiveness of Remote Utilities to support requests depends on your license.   (Image credit: RemoteUtilities)Thankfully, you can get answers to most questions through the companys online documentation. Remote Utilities also runs a community forum, where support team members frequently respond to questions. Remote Utilities for Windows: Final verdictRemote Utilities for Windows is an extremely affordable remote desktop connection manager for Windows computers. Licenses are a one-time cost rather than a subscription, which can ultimately save a significant amount of money for businesses small and large. The software has a number of small but highly useful features that can help IT teams manage helpdesk services. While it would be much better if this platform had support for Mac and Linux computers, that shouldnt be a dealbreaker if your company primarily runs on Windows devices. Remote Utilities for Windows: The competitionArguably, the biggest downside to Remote Utilities is that it only enables you to connect to Windows computers. If you need a remote desktop on Mac computers, its worth looking into GoToMyPC or TeamViewer. Both of these platforms offer much of the same functionality as Remote Utilities, including drag-and-drop file transfer, screen recording, and audio sharing.But, they can also be much more expensive. GoToMyPC charges $33 to $35 per technician license per month for an unlimited number of endpoint computers. Meanwhile, TeamViewer charges $49 per month for one user and one concurrent session or $199 per month for unlimited users and three concurrent sessions.To find out more about Remote Utilities for Windows' competition, read our Best remote desktop software guide.

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