We've Moved!

We've just launched our first value-added, premium software, Connectify Pro v3.0! To go along with our brand new release, we've launched a new website, and a spiffy new blog, over at http://www.connectify.me/blog/.

Never fear, all previous content (including posts from our developers, tips-and-tricks, and past release notes) has been migrated to our new blog. But, all future content will be posted to http://www.connectify.me/blog/ only, so make sure to change all of your bookmarks now! And while you're at it, you'll want to download Connectify Lite v3.0 if you haven't already. It's the most feature-rich and error-resistant version of Connectify to-date! Just follow the below link to download Connectify Lite v3.0:

http://downloads.connectify.me/ConnectifyInstaller.exe

Upgrade to Connectify v3.0 and Get More From 'Clients/Services' Tabs!

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!

To upgrade to Connectify Pro v3.0 at a special one week only pre-launch price of $14.99, simply follow this link to the Connectify Store: https://sites.fastspring.com/connectify/instant/connectifyprelaunch

Try Connectify v3.0 Today!

The Connectify Pro v3.0 release is just around the corner, but we want to give our loyal community of users a sneak-peek at some of the new features and fixes in this latest major version of Connectify. We're sure that once you try Connectify v3.0 you'll want to upgrade to Pro (which we're offering this week at $14.99; 50% off the retail price). Click here to get your discounted one-year license for Connectify Pro v3.0.

Our development team has been hard-at-work addressing known issues, and adding some awesome new features to both the free and Pro versions of Connectify. If you'd like to take Connectify for a spin before you upgrade, follow this link to download the latest installer:

http://downloads.connectify.me/ConnectifyInstaller.exe

Check out the new features in both Free and Pro versions of Connectify v3.0:

• Faster performance: 30% higher throughput when sharing fast Internet connections.
• Improved Device Identification: Improved detection of XBox 360s and certain Motorola devices.
• Completely new UPnP implementation: Improved performance, no spurious warnings. Fully-tested with Xbox 360 (PlayStation 3 sees Connectify as Type 3 NAT. This issue is expected to be resolved in an upcoming Beta).
• All new tabbed User Interface
• Intelligent warnings when hotspot starts without Internet Connection (New in this Beta)
• Resizable User Interface: grab the top or bottom and resize UI to preferred height. (New in this Beta
• New, clearer Status Area across top of UI (New in this Beta)
• Easily access the Connectify Menu by clicking on logo next to the Start / Stop button (New in this Beta)

Fixes and Updates:

• Service startup on boot
• Support for multi-monitor setups where the taskbar is not on the primary monitor.
• Fixes to UPnP and fragmented packet handling to improve gaming and streaming video over Connectify. (New in this Beta)
• New algorithm for choosing IP address of hotspot improves compatibility with iOS devices. (New in this Beta)
• Uninstaller now requests error report.
• New 'About' screen thanks all open-source projects utilized by Connectify.
• Microsoft has been working with us regarding the Blue Screen of Death issues that certain computers experience when hibernating. Based on what we learned, we have reworked how Connectify interacts with the Windows power management system entirely. With this new power management code, no Connectify user (with up to date Service Packs) should ever see the BSoD again!

And here are some of the cool, new features available to Connectify Pro v3.0 users:

• Automatic Internet Selection: Connectify intelligently chooses which Internet connection to share! When set to “Automatic,” Connectify automatically detects your active Internet connection and makes necessary configuration changes to your hotspot.
• Support for Windows XP and Windows Vista (Ad-Hoc Mode only)!
• Service Discovery: In the all-new Services tab, Connectify will automatically scan your network for available shared folders or drives, web servers, and other remote services and provide you with options to easily connect. Now the services are also listed next to each client (in the blue oval) on the clients tab.
• Simple Client-by-Client Firewall Controls allow user to control which clients can get to Internet and which can access local computers only.
• Support for PPIP and Qualcomm Gobi cards: Connectify Pro now supports sharing Internet from Qualcomm Gobi-based 3G/4G cards.
• No Advertising

Brilliant People: Andrew Auwerda of Philadelphia Distilling

Each month at Connectify, we invite someone really awesome to give us a lecture on what it is they do. It's called the Connectify: Brilliant People Lecture Series. For last month's installment, we asked Philadelphia Distilling's Andrew Auwerda to discuss building, marketing, and growing his craft spirits-focused brand.

After the fascinating lecture (which you can stream below), we enjoyed a tasting of Philadelphia Distilling's tasty gin, and aromatic absinthe offerings. Bonus!

Hey, Microsoft: Connectify is 100% Spyware/Malware Free!

Ah, Mondays.

I got into the office early this morning, fresh and ready to tackle the various projects at-hand. Instead, I was met by a flurry of IMs informing me that over the weekend, Microsoft Security Essentials had updated their malware definitions to include our advertising partner, OpenCandy.

To be clear, the OpenCandy platform is NOT malware, and Connectify does not contain any kind of spyware whatsoever. We’ve made doubly sure of that. However, OpenCandy DOES provide the revenue-stream that allows us to keep Connectify totally free to the end-user. Here’s how it works:

When you run an installer powered by OpenCandy, it asks its servers for a list of applications that the developer of the software you’re installing has chosen to recommend for your language, operating system and country. At this point, you can choose whether you want to install the recommended software or not. OpenCandy fully ensures that all software being recommended on their network passes strict policies, “enforcing honesty, transparency and a top-notch user experience.” Additionally, OpenCandy doesn’t collect any personally identifiable information.

If you’re a Connectify user and you’re running Microsoft Security Essentials, you may now see the below warning pop-up:

From the “Select an action” drop-down box, click “Allow.” Microsoft is definitely mistaken here. I mean, they use OpenCandy themselves to promote the Bing Toolbar... seriously!

Update: Alex clicked 'allow' as I was posting this today, and a few hours later... Microsoft Security Essentials is still hanging, and won't even allow for Ctrl+Alt+Del or Shutdown. Surprise, surprise. We'll have to defer to the folks at Microsoft on this one!

Extend the Range of your Home or Office Wi-Fi with Connectify!

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...

Haynie's Hypothesis Part 01: The Personal(ized) Computer

At Connectify, we're lucky to work with some of the smartest, quirkiest, and coolest people around. The one staff member who truly embodies all of those qualities is our lead engineer, Dave Haynie. Besides having developed some of the most iconic personal computers of the '80s and '90s, Dave is a seasoned musician, documentary filmmaker, and the kind of guy that'll give you a Wikipedia-like response to the most esoteric question. Anyway, Dave spends a lot of the day staring at complicated schematics and tiny circuit-boards, but we're hoping to pull him away twice-a-month, to write about whatever he wants to, in a guest column that we're going to call, Haynie's Hypothesis.

Hello, Connectify blog readers! My name is Dave Haynie, and I've been an engineer, on the team here since the beginning. It's also worth noting that I've been around the personal computer industry in one way or another, since its inception. When I was a kid, I used to work on crazy projects all the time. On one occasion, I built a bomb that blew a hole in our street (back when home bomb-making was a bit more socially acceptable). I also constructed a variety of vehicles, including rafts and rocket cars. Mostly, however, I was fascinated by electronics. I built a radio for a science project in fourth grade, a laser for the junior high science fair, and at least one digital clock, among other things, every year of high school. I can also recall a  whole series of attempts to make a working electronic drum, and another run of pretty successful shocking devices (each one delivering hundreds or thousands of volts into friends, my poor sisters, etc.) 

But along the way, I discovered computing, about as early as a kid could discover computing in those days. When I was twelve years old, my dad was able to let me access a scientific mainframe computer at Bell Laboratories, on the weekends. This was a class ‘time-share’ system: the computer was who-knows-where (somewhere in the old Bell Labs building in Holmdel, NJ, that once housed 10,000 employees... they're turning that into a shopping center I hear), and you accessed it via a printing terminal. I started with games, and got bored pretty quickly. So then I took them apart, and learned some BASIC and FORTRAN.

Gaming on-the-go, with Connectify!

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...



Connectify and the Kindle

There's been a stunning amount of feedback from the Slashdot audience on the original post.  Seems we need to go test some things.  Clearly, metal is getting exposed, and making contact inside the Kindle.  Which circuit is being closed is less clear.  More testing is needed.  We'll get back to you... Thanks.  Meanwhile enjoy what the post was going to say in the first place:

Now that I’ve had a couple months with my Kindle 3 (sorry “Current Generation”), I thought that I should post a follow-up to explain some things that I’ve learned:

1) Hotel Wi-Fi Sign-in Pages: Many hotels and coffee shops have Wi-Fi networks that have sign-in pages. Now that the Kindle has a web browser, it is possible to make your way through them, but if you use Connectify, you can agree to the terms on your laptop, and voila, the Kindle (that’s connected to your PC’s Connectify hotspot) is on the network as well.

2) Downloading Books with Calibre: A free program that I really like to use with my Kindle is Calibre. Calibre is an iTunesesque desktop app for managing your ebook collection. It works by putting books on your Kindle either while it’s tethered over USB, or via a web server (in Calbre, under “Connect/Share”, there’s a “Content Server”).

If you run Connectify and Calibre’s Content Server on your PC, then you can launch the Kindle web browser and go to “http://me:8080” and browse your entire library online. It has a web page that is formatted for viewing on the Kindle, and any books you click are downloaded right into your Kindle’s book collection. Smooth.

3) Keyboard Shortcuts: Finally, unrelated to Connectify, there are a lot of keyboard shortcuts that make a big difference to using the Kindle.

4) International Shopping: A nice man from the government told me how he uses Connectify and it sort of blew my mind. There are commercial VPN services that you can use to dial in to other countries over the Internet. This is important because Amazon sells different books in different colors for very different prices in each different territory. Apparently Australia has 10% as many ebooks on sale as the US, but then textbooks cost a fraction in the UK of what they cost in the US.

So, if you decide that you want to shop for ebooks in another country, you install one of those VPN services, and dial in to their server in the country that you wish to shop in. Then, you use Connectify (ahem!) to create a Wi-Fi network on your PC, where you set the VPN as your Internet connection. Have the Kindle join the Connectify Wi-Fi network, and voila, apparently both Amazon and the Kindle think they’re in the country of the VPN server.

I’ve never tried it, but I’m told it works great.

Connectify Saves the Day!

“The Internet’s down, eh? Productivity oughta skyrocket today.”

That’s what Alex quipped, half-jokingly, as he walked into our offices early last week. The truth is, beyond being a company formed around cutting-edge networking solutions, everyone here is pretty technology-obsessed, and so much of our day happens in “the cloud.” Suffice it to say, there was some acrobatic thumb-twiddling happening that morning.

It’s not that we were really blind-sided by the situation, either. We’re in the process of moving into our shiny new office, and even the contractors warned us that our ISP is notorious for mucking up change-of-service requests. To their credit, our DSL provider did get the day right… they just scheduled us a month early!

Never taking things laying down, the Connectify team leapt into action.

While I sat at my desk, cluelessly alternating between Steve Winwood hold-music, and speaking with yet another “manager” on our ISP’s tech-support line, the brilliant folks here at Connectify managed to use our own product to transform one employee’s Cricket wireless broadband modem, into a secure wi-fi hotspot. For two days, our entire staff [across two lofted floors and 3+ rooms, mind you] successfully connected to a single 3G broadband card!

Crisis averted.

Posted by Raj

Community Update

As of today we are making Connectify v1.2 available again here for those that wish to go back.

With the recent updates to Connectify we've made great strides in development. In version 2.0 we completely replaced the built in Windows Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) service. This opens the door for all kinds of cool new features and improvements.

For some of you, Connectify finally works the way you need it to! For others, we may have tried to fix something that wasn't broken. In particular, we lost support for UPNP networking (used by Playstation and XBox), and some USB Internet devices.

We understand that some of you are frustrated, and rightfully so. That's why as of today, we're making version 1.2 available to those that wish to go back until we resolve these issues. Connectify v1.2.

NOTE: Be sure to uninstall 2.0 or 2.0.1 from your PC before downgrading.

Please understand that all of the cool innovative features you want, we want too! Some are possible, many unfortunately are not. We're not ignoring you when you say you want WEP or PSP support, if there were an easy way to do it believe me, it would be there already. We've got some very bright minds working on this and I promise we're not holding anything back.

Please forward any issues or questions to support@connectify.me and we will do our best to address them.

An important side-note, it has come to our attention that recently some antivirus applications have been identifying Connectify as a threat. We assure you there are no hidden trojans or viruses in the program, which can be corroborated by CNET's strict validation and screening process. We are addressing the issue and will have more information soon!

Our Parent Company Nomadio is Hiring!

We're looking for a few good men (or women!) in the Philadelphia area.

Nomadio is an agile developer of reliable communications technologies, providing high-bandwidth solutions to both government and commercial sectors. Nomadio specializes in mobile Ad Hoc networking software and frequency agile radio solutions. Nomadio recently launched a consumer application of its mobile Ad Hoc Networking technology, Connectify. Connectify has received hundreds of thousands of downloads, plus significant interest from wireless carriers and OEMs.

Nomadio is now evaluating candidates that are versed in agile methodologies for developing software. Candidates will be responsible for software development and engineering of Nomadio’s ad-hoc networking technology. Candidates will also be asked to actively contribute input to the design and architecture of the product line, including hardware selection, networking protocols, services, and systems.

Description:
Candidate should have experience, expertise and interest in the following disciplines:

• Development in C and C++ on Linux, and Java / C# on Windows.
• Embedded Linux experience, including Android and open router distributions, a big plus.
• Solid understanding of IP protocols and internals: TCP, UDP and SNMP. Streaming protocols, such as SIP, RTP, and RTSP a plus.
• Development and implementation of distributed networking systems (e.g. P2P, CDN), high performance IP networking services (e.g. wireless-optimized IP transport, VoIP, IP video), and carrier-grade IP networking equipment / solutions
• Network architecture principles including network management, load balancing, high availability, and clustering from a development perspective
• Standards-based IP systems including IMS, IPSec, and SOA
• Database usage (SQL), common management tools (phpmyadmin), and core database design principles

Required qualifications include:

• At least 2 years of engineering experience, with at least BS in CS or EE disciplines
• Very high current technical competence and track record of strong coding / engineering and individual technical accomplishments
• Ability to implement networks using off-the-shelf components, balanced with core expertise in development of advanced proprietary server / network / system methods
• Well-versed in recent mobile network, IP network, and IP protocol innovation
• Experienced in working with agile methodologies in developing software
• Based in the Greater Philadelphia Area or willing to relocate

Interested? Contact us regarding this position.

iPhone and the Connectify Wi-Fi Personal Area Network

Connectify is great for reverse-tethering your iPhone: connect your iPhone to your Connectify Wi-Fi hotspot, and whenever your laptop is on the Internet, then your data connections (web browsing, Skype, Youtube… pretty much everything but the phone calls and SMS messages) will go through Connectify.

But I’ve been using a couple of other iPhone apps, which really benefit from Connectify, as a Wi-Fi personal area network, whether or not you have an Internet connection:

• iTunes Remote - This free application from Apple allows you to control iTunes on your PC, as long as you’re on the same Wi-Fi network. It makes navigating and controlling your computer’s iTunes collection look and feel nearly identical to doing the same on the iPhone’s music collection. With Connectify, it just works: once you tell your iPhone to use your Connectify Hotspot, any time you start the Remote app on your iPhone, you’re instantly controlling your music collection!
  
• Snatch - This iPhone app turns your iPhone into a wireless trackpad and keyboard for your computer. There’s a free version, SnatchTest, which lets you use it just as a trackpad. It’s especially great for presentations, it lets you take a big step back and still have complete control of your computer.
  

I’m using both of these on a regular basis. But the App Store is a big place… are there other apps out there that also work better with Connectify? How are you using Connectify with your phone (Apple or otherwise)?

Announcing Connectify v1.1!

We are happy to announce that Connectify 1.1 was released into the wild today.

There are a number of evolutionary improvements that we added in this version for your wireless enjoyment:

• Intel driver work around: We worked around the bug in the lucky version 13 Intel drivers for the 5100 and 5300 (and probably all the 6000 series cards as well). This will bring Connectify back to those users who have the latest drivers.
• Wireless Cloning: On the menu (right click the icon either on the Notification tray, or on the Connectify screen itself) there is a new “Clone WiFi Settings” option. We created this based on how useful people found my “You can take it with you” blog post. Now you can select this to copy the settings from any WPA Personal, or WPA2 Personal network to which you have connected to your Connectify Hotspot. Devices which normally connect to the other network will now be able to connect your computer’s hotspot without reconfiguration. You can instantly use this to become a repeater, or take the devices with you.
• WPS Save to USB: Also on the menu is a WPS -> Save to USB Flash Drive option. Select this to write the information (including SSID and password) for your network to a USB flash drive. Then just insert the flash drive into other computers to have Windows automatically ask you if you wish to join the network. It even works in Vista and XP. No more passwords, and if you have a lot of computers to set up this is a fast and easy way to set them all up quickly.
• Improved Eye-Fi support: We make sure that the port needed by the Eye-Fi wireless card is opened in the Windows Firewall.
• Bug fixes: Support for usernames with ampersands in them, and support for computers whose clocks are more than 4 months behind the real time (but seriously, you might want to look at that).

We hope you enjoy it. From Connectify, you can click on the menu and select “Check for Updates,” or you can go straight to our homepage.

Join us on Facebook

We created a Connectify page on Facebook. Meet us there to chat with the developers about how you use Connectify and what you’d like to see in the future. We’ll being making announcements and be available to discuss the product and our plans.

Join us on Facebook

If you’re having problems with Connectify then you’re best off shooting an email to support@connectify.me with your problem. That’s the fastest way for us to help you.

Connectify and the Eye-Fi

I recently had a “chocolate and peanut butter” moment about the power of Connectify and the Wi-Fi Personal Area Network.

If you’re not familiar with the Eye-Fi card, it's a SD memory card with a built in Wi-Fi radio.  As you take pictures with your camera, it automatically connects to your WiFi network and uploads the pictures to either your PC or an online photo-sharing site.   Your camera does not need to be aware of the Eye-Fi or network at all: it’s just saving pictures to an SD card, the same as always.

A truly neat device for anyone who is into photography… except that it needs to be bound to your WiFi network. Since it’s just an SD card with no user interface, to change networks when you go from place to place it needs to be connected to your PC to change settings.  Also, because it doesn’t have a browser, it can’t navigate through the splash screens and captive portals of a hotel or coffee shop Wi-Fi network. And of course it can’t use a wireless Internet card from carriers like Verizon, so it’s really only useful in your home.

Connectify fixes that however.  Setup a Connectify network on your laptop, and bind the Eye-Fi to that network.  Now, wherever you go, if the Eye-Fi can reach your laptop, it can transfer the pictures:

 You connect straight to your PC, it can drop pictures right into your Pictures directory with no Internet sharing at all.  Right now I’m snapping shots from my Canon SD1200, and they are simply appearing in my Picasa Photo Collection, seconds later.  No cables, no import, no syncing - I just snap photos and seconds later there it is in my collection.  It’s more than just easy, it’s actually fun.  It’s likely that at my next party, there will be a projector to show photos as they are taken in real-time by a camera passed around the room (which, depending on the party, could be pretty scandalous).

If you’re trying to get them onto the Internet (say Flickr or MobileMe) it can use your laptop’s Internet connection, even if it’s isn’t one that an Eye-Fi normally knows how to use. At a coffee shop,  just navigate through their splash screen on your laptop’s browser, and then it’s done, the Eye-Fi will be on the Internet.  You can even transfer them via a tethered cellphone or a wireless Internet card.

To the Eye-Fi, nothing changed: it’s just getting on the same Wi-Fi hotspot that it was originally bound to, and it doesn’t notice if it moves, or if your connection to the Internet changes, its connection didn’t change at all.

You can take it with you

As you might imagine, I have quite a few Wi-Fi devices and I end up carrying a lot of them on my business trips. I am reliant on Connectify to make them all work on the road.  But what happens when I’m home?  What if my laptop is off?  What if I take it with me and my family wants to use the wireless printer?

I have come up with a solution that works with every device I have:  I set my home Wi-Fi router and my Connectify hotspot to both have the same network name (SSID), security settings (WPA2-Personal), and password (some devices call it a key or passphrase).  You can find these settings in any router’s web application for setting it up, and of course, the Name and Password are in the Connectify application.  Set them to anything you want, just make them the same.

Then when I'm home the Internet I share with Connectify is my home WiFi network.  Since they look exactly the same, all of my other devices connect to whichever one is closest.

So, I can take devices like my Wi-Fi phone, Wireless Printer or Eye-Fi enabled camera from home with me and can work just fine at any hotel or coffee shop, since my laptop is making the network look exactly the same to the devices.  Or I can go home and shut off my laptop and they go through my Linksys router.  Or, if I go home and leave my laptop on, it automatically acts as a wireless repeater to give me better coverage in my house.

It’s my Wi-Fi Personal Area Network, whether I’m at home or on the road.