CrossLoop, PopTop, OpenSwan, PPTP and L2TP/IPsec

CrossLoop is another Windows only (but soon to have Mac and Linux) remote desktop/file sharing app, similar to TeamViewer. Reviews I read said it works very nearly as a well as TeamViewer and has great support. The cool thing is that it is totally free -- no commercial/personal clauses. . TeamViewer has been working great for me with synapse from urgent care.


PopTop is a Linux PPTP server. All Windows versions 2000 and up have a built-in VPN client and server. PPTP is the basic fall-back (but still secure), and L2TP/IPsec is the newer protocol, also built-in to 2000/XP/Vista.

Details on how to setup a 2000/XP/Vista VPN server here.


Details on how to setup a 2000/XP/Vista VPN client here.


If for some reason you need to use a VPN to connect to your hylafax server, but can't use hamachi, consider using a PopTop server or OpenSwan server (OpenSwan is Linux L2TP/IPsec software).

I've only tried CrossLoop and was unable to connect to the client's workstation.