Connectify Dispatch (does it work?)

[Mysteryman2000]

As much as I would love to put money out on a program I don't know much about. Has anyone here tried this program? From what I gather it is suppose to combine multiple internet services so you can get the fastest internet possible. I thought I would get some insight first.

 

[jrgray93]

As much as I would love to put money out on a program I don't know much about. Has anyone here tried this program? From what I gather it is suppose to combine multiple internet services so you can get the fastest internet possible. I thought I would get some insight first.

I don't personally have it (yet), but I intend to purchase it soon and try. I will tell you my results, assuming my neighbor lets me temporarily bum his wifi and combine it with my own for the test. It appears people are having good luck with it, so I would guess that it works.

The thing is, it probably won't benefit you if you are pulling two connections on the same network. For example, I have a wired connection and I will soon have a wireless adapter to connect with. I don't think it will increase my speed if that adapter is connected to the same network as my wired connection, but it will off of a second network (my neighbor's). This is because of the limited bandwidth you pay for via your ISP.

So basically, the general consensus is that it works, but I won't know for sure until I see it for myself. I am hoping to test it out in the next few days, so I will report my findings back here, and perhaps in my own thread.

 

[Mysteryman2000]

That would be nice, I plan on buying my own internet separate from the rest of the family. Casual gameplay by day and if this does work cross country MMO gameplay by night. I would plan it out by using my wireless connector for the families and using the Ethernet for my own, 2 separate internet service providers altogether.

 

[agent99]

I downloaded and tried the basic Connectify. What I found, was that they will not answer even a simple question unless you first pay for their program. Their products may be OK, but their customer relations are not.

I eventually found a way to do what Connectify does, without buying their program.

 

[jrgray93]

Still planning on getting back to you with some hard numbers once USPS decides to find my lost package -.-

 

[Mysteryman2000]

I downloaded and tried the basic Connectify. What I found, was that they will not answer even a simple question unless you first pay for their program. Their products may be OK, but their customer relations are not.

I eventually found a way to do what Connectify does, without buying their program.

I know what you mean about customer relations. But you would think that if this product does what it says it does, there would be a whole lot more info out there. Customer reviews, tech spots, basically anything that would make them very popular and known. But everywhere I looked I pretty much got the same info. I know Tom's had a page about it but it was the same info as everywhere else. There was nothing on youtube but them testing it, and you really can't rely on self tests. Almost how you can't trust a company when they say MSG's in there food don't lead to obesity (independent tests show they do, beside the point), but you can't really trust what the manufacturer says without that large mass of tester (regular people who know what they are doing) say otherwise.

 

[agent99]

That would be nice, I plan on buying my own internet separate from the rest of the family. Casual gameplay by day and if this does work cross country MMO gameplay by night. I would plan it out by using my wireless connector for the families and using the Ethernet for my own, 2 separate internet service providers altogether.

I wondered who could possibly be interested in such a program. But you seem to be one.

Can't imagine many computer owners would have access to more than one wifi signal unless their neighbours are running open systems. (Actually my neighbour is, but it was me that set up his system!) I should change that. And even then, how many would need more bandwidth than their isp provides? Sounds like it could just be gamers?

 

[jrgray93]

I wondered who could possibly be interested in such a program. But you seem to be one.

Can't imagine many computer owners would have access to more than one wifi signal unless their neighbours are running open systems. (Actually my neighbour is, but it was me that set up his system!) I should change that. And even then, how many would need more bandwidth than their isp provides? Sounds like it could just be gamers?

For one thing, large corporate buildings may have multiple networks, allowing you to take advantage of multiple methods of connection. Also, hotels often have multiple wireless networks, and most like to randomly cut, at least in crappy hotels. Having multiple connections would certainly speed things up there, and keep it from going offline at random intervals.

Oh, and USPS lost my wireless adapter, but Rosewill was kind enough to replace it for free. I will have it soon!

 

[agent99]

For one thing, large corporate buildings may have multiple networks, allowing you to take advantage of multiple methods of connection. Also, hotels often have multiple wireless networks, and most like to randomly cut, at least in crappy hotels. Having multiple connections would certainly speed things up there, and keep it from going offline at random intervals.

Oh, and USPS lost my wireless adapter, but Rosewill was kind enough to replace it for free. I will have it soon!

Don't know which buildings or hotels those are, but seems to me most connections require a secure log in. So would this software. Allow multiple secure logins?

Even still, why would someone visiting a large building or hotel have a ned for increased bandwidth?

 

[jrgray93]

Don't know which buildings or hotels those are, but seems to me most connections require a secure log in. So would this software. Allow multiple secure logins?

Even still, why would someone visiting a large building or hotel have a ned for increased bandwidth?

I stayed at a Red Roof Inn in Elkhart, Indiana, on a business trip. There were at least 3 open wifi connections broadcasting as "redroof-#." I could only connect to one, and it would periodically go out, causing my internet to become unresponsive. With 3, it is unlikely it would go out. And the internet itself was painfully slow, so that would eliminate that issue as well.

For businesses, it could help for rapid cloud computing or more reliable conference calls.

For the average user, bumming your neighbor's WiFi is probably the best application

 

[jrgray93]

So I finally got my wireless adapter and tried out Dispatch. Sorry to say I couldn't get any solid data. I tried using internet speed tests and just Steam downloads.

I used my neighbor's wifi to combine it with my wired connection to my own internet. It was only sometimes able to get anything from my neighbor's connection, which showed some slight improvement to download speeds, but it all averaged out the same because it barely ever got a solid connection.

So it appears that the program works. I'm just not sure it is worth the price tag. Maybe if I had a more reliable secondary connection, I could say for sure.

 

[Mysteryman2000]

That is good news in a way. I might test it out myself now, I will try it out with 2 hard line connections once I am able to get my own internet and try mixing it with my parents.

 

[Mysteryman2000]

Best answer selected by Mysteryman2000.

 

[Guest]

I've bought the lifetime license. For a time I had 3 separate connections, 1 ethernet and 2 wifi, the eth connection gave me 70 mbps, and the wifi connections gave me 15 mbps each. I got a full 100 mbps with various tests, don't remember if I got 90 or 100 with steam though. If you have problems with the speed, you can first start a download, then start dispatch, so that the measurement of the adapter speeds is correct.

 

[dtrwos dtrwos]

I know this thread is OLD, but yes it does work - it is ideal for a hotel, or a airport where there might be multiple connections - both wired and wireless.
It is basically a round robin solution so a single stream wont ever be able to pull faster than the biggest single connection - but you can pull at that speed and have another pulling at the max of the other connection - this will speed up any multi threaded process - ie web browsing.
It also optimizes DNS and latency such that you might send DNS requests over your wifi tether - but stream netflix over the airport free wifi.
It is also able to store connection metering info so you dont go over your data plan amounts if thats a problem for you.

 

[Bron]

Thanks dtrwos_dtrwos for the update -- very helpful info to me as I am considering this. Thanks for taking the time to share!

 

[RavenMoon21]

I hate resurrecting old threads as much as the next guy, but Tom's seems to be the only place where this discussion is even taking place and hell I found some useful information on this old thread. In my case, I live in a rural area and didn't want to mess with getting a SAT dish installed. I use a Virgin Mobile U600 for 3g access to the Internet. However, when I need some additional speed or even to pull my ping down a bit Dispatch works wonderfully. I combined my Virgin 3g connection with a tethered connection on my Straight Talk (also on 3g) prepaid and saw speed almost double that of either connection independently. There are some great features with this software as well such as setting limits for metered connections (like me). Just remember to set the limits in Connectify generously so you don't burn yourself on data overages. I have also tested it on my laptop at my wife's job. Combined the Wi-Fi there with my U600 and saw a nice increase in speed overall. In all of these cases I used www.testmy.net , www.megapath.com/speedtestplus, and www.pingtest.net to determine connection speed and line quality. With Dispatch, I saw improvement in ping in League of Legends matches as well.

 

[melgov]

(I eventually found a way to do what Connectify does, without buying their program.
)


how can u tell me plz?????