Posted by jshaab on April 18, 2012 under Tips & Tricks | Comments are off for this article
Have you ever had a painless traveling experience? Traveling is rarely a walk in the park for anyone involved. No matter how many times you double, or triple, check to make sure you didn’t leave anything at home, there always seems to be an unplanned setback along the way. Mine, unfortunately, happened while traveling with my boss, Connectify CEO Alex Gizis.
We were up way too early, standing on the platform waiting for the Amtrak Acela to take us to an important meeting. I know what you’re thinking, and no, the obstacle wasn’t that we were up at the crack of dawn.
When we boarded the train, there were no two seats next to each other, and Alex and I found ourselves on opposite ends of the car. I was supposed to update him with our latest Powerpoint slides before the big meeting, but instead I was stuck in a window seat with someone snoring next to me. The clock was ticking, and the train was moving…fast.
Luckily, we were both running the latest version of Connectify PRO. After starting a Hotspot, right there in the train, we were flinging files back-and-forth via Wi-Fi, even with no Internet access. And really, why should we go through the Internet, when all we wanted to do was send files between laptops that were right there in the same room… erm.. car?
Connectify PRO allowed us to update the presentation with plenty of time to spare. On the train ride home, we did sit next to one another, but I still didn’t need to dig through my bag and pull out my USB stick when I wanted to share the video file I was working on with Alex. Again, he just started a Hotspot, and I flung over a huge video file – no problem.
Connectify has a new concept called a “Peer,” and we wanted to give you a quick tutorial on what exactly a peer is, and how you can interact with your peers in Connectify. You can view your Connectify Peers in the Clients Tab, just below the usual “Connected to my Hotspot” section:
A “Peer” is any computer that your PC detects is also running Connectify, on any network that is shared with your PC in some way, perhaps sharing a Wi-Fi or LAN network with your PC. You can transfer files to connected devices or to Peers, share iTunes, and run various other services. These functions operate much easier than in the past, as services now show up under the specific peer they serve:
Now that you understand Connectify Peers, we want to give you a chance to win a FREE copy of Connectify v3.3. Just comment on this post, with your favorite aspect of the new Connectify release. Winner will be selected Monday 3/5 at 12p and will be notified via e-mail.
Since Connectify Pro launched some weeks ago, we’ve gotten a few emails from users asking us to clarify exactly what you get with the purchase of a Connectify Pro v3.0 license. Some folks were under the impression that the Connectify Pro purchase was simply a one-year license, where the software would cripple back down to its “lite” features after the end of their year. Others emailed us, wondering if they would have any access to updates after purchasing their Connectify Pro license.
Actually, we like to think we’re offering the best of both scenarios. Here’s how Connectify Pro pricing works (it’s simple!):
When you purchase Connectify Pro, you’re purchasing a perpetual license for the product. That means, you’ll be able to use your version of Connectify Pro forever. Period. On top of that, you will receive, as part of your purchase, complimentary updates for an entire year. So, when the Connectify team rolls out an awesome new feature, ten or eleven months down the line… you’ll get that upgrade absolutely free-of-charge. Connectify Pro users also enjoy pro support for one whole year. If you have any questions or concerns installing Connectify on a new machine, or connecting that new tablet you got for Christmas, our support staff will automatically escalate your ticket!
At the end of the year, you can extend your license at a discounted price to keep getting upgrades and support for the next year, or you can keep using whatever version you have.
We’ve been seeing more-and-more ‘SSID Graffiti’ (if that’s not a term, it should be) lately. These days, people are using their Wi-Fi network names to air out grievances with neighbors, advertise their businesses, and express their personality in general. In my neighborhood there was a network called “I Love Horses” for a long time. Then, an “I Love Horses Too” popped up. Just the other day, I went sniffing for my own Wi-Fi network, and saw an “I Love Horses 3.” Increasingly, we’re seeing people use Connectify Pro to easily broadcast a unique SSID, while still running their primary hotspot. Here are three cool ways to use Connectify Pro to broadcast your personalized hotspot name:
1. Are your upstairs neighbors partying and carrying on ’til the wee morning hours, while you’re just trying to get a little bit of sleep after a long day? No need to go knocking on their door again, and risk a chance encounter with the burly boyfriend (sorry, getting imaginative here!). Simply start a Connectify Hotspot with the name ‘DEARAPT301PLZKEEPITDOWN’. That oughta embarrass them into submission after a few days!
2. Perhaps you’re a coffeehouse owner, and one of those chain coffee shops rambled into town and setup shop across the street. Not much you can do about that, eh? Well, we suggest you tip passersby off with a unique Connectify SSID. While your patrons sip their coffees and surf the web on your primary Wi-Fi network, you can also broadcast a secondary Connectify network called ‘GOLOCALCOMETOJOESCOFFEE’, or if you’re feeling feisty, how about: “ITSLARGENOTVENTI”. That should get some tongues wagging.
3. OK, maybe this is the treament for a John Cusack rom-com, or a 2011 version of ‘You’ve Got Mail’, but we think it’d be awesome to propose to your significant other via Connectify SSID. Just imagine, your girlfriend goes to connect her Xbox Live for massively multiplayer gaming,and suddenly she sees ‘LAURAWILLYOUMARRYME’. Oh, how nerdy!
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Connectify CEO, Alex IM’d us last night joking about a slightly subversive SSID that actually broadcasts your password. How about: ‘THEPASSWORDISMELGIBSON’. Get Connectify Pro today, and get creative with your Connectify Hotspot name!
We’re always listening to what features Connectify users want to see implemented into upcoming releases. With the latest major version of Connectify being released next week, our development team has added several useful features that Connectify users themselves have requested. If you’re interested in trying out these new features and updates, you can take advantage of our pre-launch offer, which gets you a full one-year Connecitfy Pro v3.0 license at $14.99 (half-off the retail cost).
One of the coolest new features gives Connectify users the ability to see, interact, and control access-level of the various devices connected to your Connectify Hotspot.
Before you get started, you’ll want to click on the Connectify ‘hand’ icon at the top-left corner of the user interface to access the Connectify Menu, click ‘Display Options’, and make sure that ‘Always Show Access Icons’ is checked. Now, click on the “Clients” tab where all connected computers, smartphones, tablets, and any other devices will appear, along with an IP address and descriptive icon (when Connectify is able to determine what type of device is connected). To the right of each device, you’ll see four icons which allow you to do as follows (clockwise from top-left):
Globe Icon: Disable Internet access for the particular device, while still allowing for local access.
Refresh Services Icon: Allows user to manually refresh the services running on an individual client.
Available Services Icon: Shows users the number of available services that are currently running on the client device. The Available Services Icon can be refreshed by simply clicking the Refresh Services Icon directly above it.
LAN Icon: Allows user to enable or disable local area network (LAN) connection between the host and client. When the LAN Icon is disabled, client devices will still have Internet access unless the ‘Globe Icon’ is also disabled.
With Connectify v3.0, now you can control which client users/devices can access Internet through the Connectify Hotspot, and which can access the LAN only. This feature adds a strong measure of security, where you can allow client access to your Internet without compromising your local data. You can even totally block certain clients by disabling both the LAN Icon and Globe Icon.
In addition to seeing what devices are connected to your Connectify Hotspot, the pro version of Connectify automatically scans your network for available shared folders or drives, web servers, and other remote services and provides you with options to easily connect. We like to call this the “Scannify” function, named after our popular port-scanning Android app. To do so, just click on the “Services” tab in the Connectify application, where a list of available services will be listed. To launch any service, simply double-click on it and Connectify does the rest!
I spent a few minutes poking around Scannify with one of our developers this morning. To those of you just tuning in, Scannify is a new Android app from the Connectify team. The application, which is already available on the Android Market, offers port-scanning, network discovery, launching of services, and a host of other value-added features to any Android device. Simply put, Scannify allows you to see who’s on your Wi-Fi network, share files with connected devices, and even run a variety of programs and services remotely, right from your Android phone or tablet.
Anyhow, while using Scannify to roam around our office Wi-Fi network today, I was reminded of a useful, and often-overlooked feature: you can drop Scannify widgets right onto the Android desktop for one-touch access to frequently used peers and services. Do you find yourself running Scannify to share files with your work PC or to access iTunes on your tablet fairly often? Use the desktop widget functionality, and you can launch these regularly used devices and services right from your Android desktop.
To use Scannify desktop widgets, navigate to the Android desktop and hold your finger down on an empty space to activate the Android desktop menu. Then select ‘Widget’ and choose the Scannify widget from the desktop menu. From here you’ve got the ability to make custom widgets for any device on your network. For even quicker access, create widgets that directly launch host services like Remote Desktop and Windows file-sharing right from your Android desktop.
In the video below, Connectify CEO and all-around tech-guy, Alex Gizis explains how to extend the range of any home or office Wi-Fi network using Connnectify. The best part? It’s totally free! Just fire up your Windows 7 PC, and the Connectify software [available here], and you’re ready to boost your Wi-Fi signal to reach the elusive guest bedroom or backyard bbq…
Ever since its very first beta release, we’ve seen people use Connectify in some pretty unique ways. Recently, the gaming community has really embraced the capabilities of our software, using it to connect Playstations, Xbox 360s, and other consoles to the internet, where no wired connection is available. With only a mobile broadband card, or even just a tethered mobile phone, gamers are now able to bring their massively multi-player worlds with them, on-the-go.
In the video below, Connectify CEO [and card-carrying tech whiz] Alex Gizis explains how to Connectify an XBox 360 with a Cricket 3G mobile broadband card, to play Call of Duty: Black Ops online. We’ve always known that Connectify is capable of some amazing feats, but getting gamers out of the basement…
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