14 DAY TRIAL // When it comes to remote desktop management, one thing is certain: there is no shortage of software specially designed for the task, not even free programs.
Ammyy Admin also falls into this category. It is designed as a simple solution for working on a computer remotely. The application is free of charge and requires no installation. Simply launch the executable and the interface pops right up.
Looks are not impressive but the layout is intuitive enough for a beginner user to find their way around with no effort. In fact, in order to start a remote session you don’t even have to go past the main application window as it works straight off the bat.
No special configuration is necessary to initiate a remote session because the application is transparent to firewalls and it also works with PCs behind routers (no port forwarding necessary). Obviously, the computer at the other end must have Ammyy Admin running as well.
The connection between the computers is based on a unique ID (hardware-based) generated automatically by the program, but there is also the option to use the IP address, although we were not able to carry out the task this way.
Before connecting to a remote computer, you can make some settings, such as choosing the connection speed of the distant unit or enabling the view-only mode.
For securing access even more, you can enable password authentication. Thus, remote users have to know your ID and your password in order to connect.
All connections are run through a set of public routers from the developer. However, it does not take long to establish the connection (less than 10 seconds in our case).
Ammyy Admin also provides the possibility to route the connection through your own devices and you can set the desired IPs in the program’s configuration panel, in the “Network” tab. Furthermore, you can make proxy settings or add new TCP ports for direct TCP connection, in order to increase the connection speed.
Once the link between the two computers is established, the client at the other end has to accept the incoming connection. The remote user decides the level of access. As such, they can grant remote control over the computer or just view-mode, decline or accept voice chat.
Ammyy Admin also packs basic file management capabilities that allow copying data between the two systems, renaming, deleting files and creating new folders, but only if the remote end agrees to enabling this feature in the session. The status of the job is displayed at the bottom of the file manager, complete with estimated time of completion and current speed.
Although this is a handy feature, during our tests it proved to come in handy only in the case of smaller files, especially when the connection is poor.
Needless to say that in the case of Ammyy Admin the quality of the remote session depends very much on the connection between the two computers. We were able to remotely access a system with a very poor connection and carry out various tasks, although the refresh on our end took a while to complete.
The wallpaper is removed automatically and there is no possibility to enable it (in order to improve the quality of the session).
We also tried it on a connection way above 10Mbit/s and the application still took a while to refresh the screen. This happens because the entire connection (display images, mouse, keyboard and file transfer) is encrypted through AES and RSA encryption algorithms (use different keys for each session).
During the remote control session, you have access to various other settings that can speed up the quality of the connection or the quality of the display. As such, the color quality can be changed between 8-bit to 32-bit and there are multiple options for the encoder (use AAC for anything less than 10Mbit/s).
Voice chat is the only built-in solution to communicate with the user at the other end; other programs of this kind also make available text chat. Before you enable this, make sure there is a microphone available on both ends, otherwise the entire session will collapse because of a DirectSound capture error.
The quality of the transmission is not the best on the market, but you will be able to carry out a conversation.
Working with Ammyy Admin is far from being a tough job. The application accomplishes its goal but it has some weak points.
The Good
You can run the connection through your own routers instead of the public ones available from the developer.
