Network Magic 4: Network Management Made Simple New in Network Magic 4.0 and 4.1 Joseph Moran
Remote Access
With Network Magic's Net2Go feature, you can access your home network from any browser when you're on the road. Setting up Net2Go is easy since basically all you need to do is create a unique Web address (you access your network by going to yourname.net2go.com) and select a password. Network Magic displays guidelines for good password creation (i.e., eight characters, mixed case, inclusion of numbers) and helpfully ticks them off as you create a password that meets the criteria.
Once Net2Go is configured you can access the data on any system running Network Magic by pointing a browser to your customized Web address. The password is used to protect access to those folders you deem private, but you can also set up public folders that anyone can get to. (Whenever you share a folder in Network Magic you're given the option of sharing it via Net2Go as well.)
The new iteration of Net2Go adds a few new capabilities like the ability to publish your Net2Go page via RSS and view images from a USB-based Webcam. Net2Go's remote camera support is sparse, though, and often doesn't allow you to view streaming video but only still images that you have to manually refresh.
A feature that's still missing is the ability to log into Net2Go via an secure SSL page, which makes it technically possible (though unlikely) that an eavesdropper could intercept a Net2Go password since it's transmitted across the Internet without any encryption. (Though to be fair, implementing SSL login would likely be a significant performance drag on the system running Net2Go.)
New in Version 4
The recent releases of version Network Magic 4.0 and v4.1 (now in preview release) have upped the bar considerably in terms of usability and advanced features.
Version 4.0 offers helpful new features such as a Wireless Connection Manager that keeps you connected to your preferred wireless network (whether you're at home or away), an enhanced network repair tool for quickly troubleshooting and repairing network connection problems, a quick way to test your Internet speed and diagnose your Internet connection), a new Status Center personal dashboard that reports everything going on in your network), and Network Tasks (tools that make it easy to set up printer sharing and file sharing, troubleshoot and repair broken wireless networks, protect your wireless network, etc.)
The 4.1 release has two useful additions: a Network Reports feature that sends you a daily email showing Web sites visted, time spent online, and software programs used for each computer in your home; and the Network Magic Advisor, which provides personalized advice, including product reviews, on how to enhance your home network.
Conclusion
You can download a fully functional trial version of Network Magic that works with any version of Windows and use it for 30 days. (Linux users are out of luck, but a beta release of v4.0 for Mac OS X users is now available.)
Registering the downloaded software costs $29.99 to run it on three PCs. Five- and eight-system licenses are available for $39.99 and $49.99. (If you'd prefer to have an actual CD and printed manual you can pick up a three PC retail copy for $39.99.)
If you don't register the software or let a registration lapse, you lose many of Network Magic's features, including Net2Go, network alerts, and the file and printer sharing wizards (though you can still set up sharing directly through Windows).
Network Magic's name certainly seems hyperbolic when you consider that some of the software's features are already available within the Windows operating system or a broadband router. If there is magic involved, it's in how Network Magic manages to aggregate and simplify these networking features so that the average non-technical person can actually find and use them.
We can't speak for Arthur C. Clarke, but in this regard the software does a pretty good job. Still, it needs to go just a little farther to be 100 percent worth it for wireless users.
Pros: Easily view and manage all devices on your network, Network Magic simplifies resource sharing and the configuration of some router features
