I have been using Logmein Central for several years. Started with when Logmein was free. When I went to central I just needed the basic. Remote Control. Really don’t need file transfer for most connections. I basically need to remote control client servers and workstations easily. I really like Logmein’s Client which has an easily interface to connect to my clients within a few clicks. If I specify to remember credentials I don’t even have to type in passwords etc. I configured with 2 factor authentication. I use this for all my important software. The nice thing with this is when I assign it to a PC I never have to enter the 2 factor code because it knows its me from the beginning. Other things I like is speed. It is one of the fastest remote software I use especially on servers that don’t have a dedicated video card. I have tried several other remote software and they are extremely slow on servers. Not to bad on workstations but because most of my clients are servers it would never work for me. One issue I have had with Logmein is with certain OS. If I set it up with Windows Server 2012 (not 2012R2) If I remote in it would reboot the server. An extreme bug that they might have fixed but should never have been in. I Googled this issue and contacted them about but never seem to get an answer. Video quality is usually very good. When expanding the screen to full screen its very crisp. I don’t see blurry screens. Again always snappy.
Now for the major downfall for Logmein. When they started the Central its price was not to bad. 100 clients was at a decent price. Then every year for the last 5 years it has increased a lot. My client base is getting closer to more than 100. The next jump is 250 and the price almost doubles!! This is why I have searched for an alternative. So I looked. There are many cheaper alternatives but the major issue for me was speed. Especially on Servers and on clients that don’t have really fast Internet. When I tried these on other clients it was like dial-up days with BBS’s in the day. So this is why I still kept with Logmein. It’s reliable, fast, picture quality is excellent. Its the cost that is the largest factor.
So I found Take Control Plus by Solarwinds. I was skeptical and the first thing I tested was speed on my servers on slower Internet speeds. As long as you disable the hardware acceleration on the client side its good. Maybe not as fast as Logmein but close. The quality of the screen maybe not as good as Logmein but with the right settings its not bad and livable for me. The initial start of the app I need to enter the 2 factor code each time but if I leave it loaded I don’t have to enter it again till I fully close to program. Grouping and renaming is better than Logmein. There are more details on client information than Logmein. And then there is the greatest benefit over Logmein. Thats price!! For Take Control Plus I get 500 connections!! I also get file transfer and remote printing (Logmein premium benefits that are even extremely expensive) all at a much cheaper price!!. Example my Logmein Central Basic 100 is around $1200 CDN per year. The Take Control Plus 500 is $720 CDN per year.
So if I can live with the small limits that Take Control has BUT I get 5 times the clients, file transfer and extreme price difference, oh and there is a on demand client option, its well worth it. For a Logmein Central with file transfer and other benefits for 250 clients is over $4000 per year!!!
Would like to hear from other people that have used Logmein and Take Control and other remote software and do a good comparison.
Found this article about another person that feel the cost is too much!!
Amendment:
Seems Logmein now changed the 3 options in central to now a Base version for 2019. It would have cost me $1900 for 100 PCs. Sorry Logmein you are pricing yourself out.
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