Many claim to be fast, but Radmin really is. In fact, it is the fastest software we tested; it downloaded a file that took other services over 20 minutes to download in less than four minutes. Radmin boasts that it can capture hundreds of screen updates per second, even via GPRS.
Radmin is standalone remote access software. You only have to purchase it once for a lifetime license and they offer reduced priced bundles for businesses. Like most remote access tools, it requires a local and host side installation; however, Radmin cannot connect to a PC without a static IP address. Since the remote PC we wanted to connect to accesses the internet via a wireless router it required us to install Hamachi to create a direct link.
This remote access software can provide full remote control. We used Radmin to use Microsoft Excel and Adobe Creative Suite 4 on the host computer and it remotely used these applications effortlessly. We opened Windows Media Player during our tests to see if we could play music and hear the music on the local PC. Though the player ran easily, we could not hear sound on the local PC. This software can access the control panel and was exceptionally fast at removing software from the remote PC.
Radmin works with Intel's Active Management Technology (AMT) to control powered-off computers (connected to power). With AMT features, it can start a remote computer even if the operating system is not responding or turn it on if it is powered off. It can also shut down a computer, reboot remotely or even boot from the local drive.
The Radmin viewer has everything we were looking for in sharing tools. It has a dual-paned file transfer tool that is faster than most. We transferred 1MB image files in less than three seconds and an entire music album in less than four minutes. You can drag and drop files between PCs and it has a two-way clipboard. This software supports chat conversations between the host and viewer, and unlike most applications it has voice chat too. The voice chat tool can support up to five participants and only requires a microphone and speakers to work. You can also send rich text messages to a remote computer and share phonebooks.
We had a bit of trouble getting connected with Radmin. We installed the server version to a remote PC desktop outside of our building and not connected to our network. We installed the viewer version on a PC in our test lab; however, we could not connect to our remote PC. After consulting with Radmin support, we found out that if your remote PC accesses the internet through a router and does not have a static IP you have to install Hamachi. Hamachi is a free download via LogMeIn that can connect two computers. Once we successfully connected, Radmin was easy to use, but this was a bit of a frustration and certainly not as simple to implement as other services.
Radmin offers excellent security with only one shortcoming: screen blanking. We were surprised with this since Radmin offers such exceptional security in other areas. Nevertheless, we did not see this feature available; we even searched the Radmin site to see if they are planning to add it. However, we could only find references to this ability in their forum, where users were asking for it. Screen blanking is a useful tool since it can block from view what you are doing on the remote computer. So, you can see what you are doing on the local computer's screen, but not every person that walks by the remote monitor can see what you are doing.
In other areas of security, all data transfers are protected with 256-bit AES encryption, and you can filter IP addresses and networks from accessing your remote computer. Radmin can also work with Windows security and permission levels for each user, and you can switch between Windows and Radmin security. Radmin uses a Diffie-Hellman based key exchange with 2048-bit key size for secure user authentication, and it has technology to block or limit keyword guessing.
The upside to Radmin is you only have to purchase one lifetime license; there are no service fees and there's no paying for software updates. The downside is they offer few support options. In fact, if you visit their Contact Us page you will not see a phone number for technical support, only sales. Their website reports they offer "free technical support," but for the free support you are required to submit a support ticket and wait up to 48 hours for assistance.
Online they post some FAQs and they have an active forum. They also provide support files within the software. We clicked their newsletter link on several pages and it appeared to be an inactive link. We checked their Twitter profile, but they only use this social media tool for relating company news, not support.
For those with a moderate comfort level with installing and configuring software, this is a capable, fast and affordable remote access option. Radmin is the fastest remote tool we have tested and is ideal for those who need to do a lot of file transferring and synchronizing. However, we would like to see Radmin work around routers more easily and hope to see this functionality improved in future versions.
