Which is better Netops or NetSupport Manager

[saas]

I am looking to purchase a classroom management software and the 2 that interest me are Netop School and NetSupport Manager. Anyone have suggestions which is better?:confused:

[mrbios]

Not heard of netsupport before, just looking at it as we currently have netop (albeit an oldish version now) and it looks a whole lot better the only issue ive found with the trial im running of it is that their ctrl+alt+del doesn't work on windows 7, but i've managed to get that working by using a cad.exe from ultravnc and just plopping it on the c:\windows folder of a windows 7 PC and rather than clicking ctrl+alt+del doing execute task instead!

[Iain.Faulkner]

We use Netsupport here. Nice piece of software, if a little on the expensive side. Netsupport is the base package that is used by Viglen for Classlink (albeit a stripped down version) and is also used for Ranger in the same way as Viglen.

[jsnetman]

ABTutor here works fine on windows 7 32 and 64 bit and it is cheap compared to the rest, and I think does just as much if not more than the others.

[mrbios]

Iain.Faulkner when you say it's expensive how expensive is it? do you pay for a set amount of licenses? and is there a set amount of licences for teacher, technician and student?

 

We would be looking at 3 Techs, 8 Teachers an 179 Student licences, any idea on cost of that lot?

 

EDIT: /me runs off to have a look at ABTutor

[subjones]

We use Lanschool lower cost and good support. The teachers love it.

[jsnetman]

I like netsupport too but there licencing model is very expensive. Basically you need to pay for the licence by machine, in our case it was going toi cost about 10k for the whole school based on 400 PC's. AB Tutor you pay for the tutor licence only meaning if you just want one tutor or techie to use it it will cost 140 quid and for that you can view every computer in the school.

[mrbios]

As much as i like netop, lanschool and ABTutors demos they seem to be lacking the one major feature that has me leaning towards netsupport (given that the price is within our budget) and that's the fact it has the technician aspect install of it and it installs in a whole classroom in the space of about 5minutes from the teachers panel, I've not fully tested the latter 2 of the 3, do they have this functionality like netsupport school does?

 

My previous experience with netop (again just to state, version 5.5 which is pretty old now!) is that you have to install the student by going to each student PC with the student serial key (or by intalling it via package) and you can only have the teacher connected to the one classroom, there was no technician facility, i might run off to take a look at the new version of netop now actually and see what it's got...

 

EDIT: just started looking at netop, never realised just how much we have been missing out on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it's a pitty intel vPro tech is only available on expensive CPUs and motherboards, would of loved that, certainly one for the future though!

Edited April 13, 2010 by mrbios

[tazz]

We use Impero which is ace. Good featurse from a techie view include remote command prompt and mimic scripts.

[tech_guy]

Sorry, off-topic, but I couldn't resist after reading the wording of your Thread's title:

 

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i67/mattfinn_206/HarryHill_fight.jpg

[mrbios]

We use Impero which is ace. Good featurse from a techie view include remote command prompt and mimic scripts.

 

Althought it was probably a little exagerated, i just watched the video demonstrating the video streaming and network bandwidth usage on the impero site which i was quite impressed with, yet skeptical about, can you vouch for it's validity? I signed up for a trial but i guess they have to authorise it manually as im just waiting for an activation key to test it out

 

EDIT: whats the cost like?

Edited April 13, 2010 by mrbios

[Iain.Faulkner]

Iain.Faulkner when you say it's expensive how expensive is it? do you pay for a set amount of licenses? and is there a set amount of licences for teacher, technician and student?

 

We would be looking at 3 Techs, 8 Teachers an 179 Student licences, any idea on cost of that lot?

 

EDIT: /me runs off to have a look at ABTutor

 

Sent you a PM :-)

[Dos_Box]

NetSupport is a Rolls Royce product, but it does come with a Bently price tag. It is though worth every penny if you can afford it. If I were you I'd try haggling (not joking).

[jsnetman]

and that's the fact it has the technician aspect install of it and it installs in a whole classroom in the space of about 5minutes from the teachers panel

 

To me that is a cumbersome way to install, after every rebuild you will have to perform the install again. ABTutor comes with an MSI installer that you simply roll out to the workstations with no effort at all, Netsupport does as well should I say (silent exe install). I have used both netsupport and ABTutor and I can honestly say there is nothing that ABTutor can't do that netsupport can, there might be something but it will probably be insignificant. So ABTutor for me becaause of the cheaper price tag.

Edited April 13, 2010 by jsnetman

[Lyptherion]

Althought it was probably a little exagerated, i just watched the video demonstrating the video streaming and network bandwidth usage on the impero site which i was quite impressed with, yet skeptical about, can you vouch for it's validity? I signed up for a trial but i guess they have to authorise it manually as im just waiting for an activation key to test it out

 

EDIT: whats the cost like?

 

The video performance is incredibly smooth it does have to be seen to be believed, we are currently in the process of moving to a very thin client heavy environment and they have worked very closely with our consultants to create a very impressive product

 

cost wise £2000 for a unlimited client 15 console site licence, £1000 for a year support contract. PM for the supplier

[john]

NetSupport is a Rolls Royce product, but it does come with a Bently price tag. It is though worth every penny if you can afford it. If I were you I'd try haggling (not joking).

 

I agree with this, we haggled when we bought it where I used to work and I know we got a better price, it is certainly a Rolls Royce product though and very much worth the money if you can find it. They do NetSupport Manager and NetSupport School, the Schools is more for teachers, but if you buy Manager you get School as part of it and Manager is what IT Pros like over the School, so if you can get the Manager but just give the teaching staff the School part

[James2k]

As much as i like netop, lanschool and ABTutors demos they seem to be lacking the one major feature that has me leaning towards netsupport (given that the price is within our budget) and that's the fact it has the technician aspect install of it and it installs in a whole classroom in the space of about 5minutes from the teachers panel, I've not fully tested the latter 2 of the 3, do they have this functionality like netsupport school does?

 

I use ghost to install ABTutor to my desktop here. Works a treat and is easy to.

 

If your school has the money then go for NetSupport but think about were else you could spend the money on.

 

We've been using it at our school now for little under 2 years and we moved from NetSupport. I can honestly say it was a brilliant move.

 

If the feature above is the only thing swaying you then all be it... But I'm sure saving a few pennies is more on the cards than spending it on an over priced piece of software. (just my 2pence)

[mrbios]

I use ghost to install ABTutor to my desktop here. Works a treat and is easy to.

 

If your school has the money then go for NetSupport but think about were else you could spend the money on.

 

We've been using it at our school now for little under 2 years and we moved from NetSupport. I can honestly say it was a brilliant move.

 

If the feature above is the only thing swaying you then all be it... But I'm sure saving a few pennies is more on the cards than spending it on an over priced piece of software. (just my 2pence)

 

Well i've just done a little trial of impero, didn't like it so im avoiding that one, i'm going to give netop and ABtutor a trial run too and see how they fare, currently though i prefer netsupport school far more than any other

 

We have ghost for pushing out packages but only version 2.0 of solution suite, which supposably doesn't work with windows 7, everythings going to be windows 7 after the summer so buying licences for the new version ofghost would be another cost

[Ric_]

@mrbios: Have you also looked into the cost of NetSupport Manager?... it's a couple of quid extra but gives you the School product plus all the useful things like inventories, a nicer console to work with, app distribution and much more (i.e. it's not just the fluffy teacher stuff).

 

What are your requirements? If you only want to monitor activity, LanSchool Lite is a good option (being free). I expect the paid-for version will compare well with other offerings too.

[subjones]

The Lanschool paid for version is easy to install and has all the monitoring and controls you will need.You can down load a trial version. Note not all the functions work on the trial version.

[James2k]

Well i've just done a little trial of impero, didn't like it so im avoiding that one, i'm going to give netop and ABtutor a trial run too and see how they fare, currently though i prefer netsupport school far more than any other

 

We have ghost for pushing out packages but only version 2.0 of solution suite, which supposably doesn't work with windows 7, everythings going to be windows 7 after the summer so buying licences for the new version ofghost would be another cost

 

That's all we have here.

 

Due to us turning into an academy in september we wont be doing windows 7... (even though it is a good idea)

 

In Ghost make a new template.

 

Check

 

Transfer Files and Execute Command

 

Transfer Files

 

Select Abtutor.msi (name is variant)

 

Destination C:\

 

Execute Command

 

"c:\abtcsetup6.msi" /Q

 

Works every time for me and we tend to re-ghost in the holidays so that everything is upto date. With this task which I have for each room I can install it without faffing around.

[mrbios]

@mrbios: Have you also looked into the cost of NetSupport Manager?... it's a couple of quid extra but gives you the School product plus all the useful things like inventories, a nicer console to work with, app distribution and much more (i.e. it's not just the fluffy teacher stuff).

 

What are your requirements? If you only want to monitor activity, LanSchool Lite is a good option (being free). I expect the paid-for version will compare well with other offerings too.

 

Hi Ric, we're currently trying to contact NetSupport about pricing, NetSupport manager looks like our best bet as we would make good use of all the bells and whistles, though im going to do a more in depth test of it first before any money is spent!

 

Our aim is some software where the teachers can do everything they can do currently with NetOp with the added benefit of us being able to use a technical aspect of it (like the technician install of NetSupport school) from our office, if we can get app distribution out of it as well then that would be perfect as it would save us having to buy new licences for Ghost solution suites new version, there are other odds and sods it seems to be able to do that would consolidate about 2-3 pieces of software we currently use into one handy management area.

[Rebecca_H]

Hi there.

 

Thanks Saas for considering NetSupport Manager and it's good to see others confirming that it is a great product for use in the classroom as well as yes, it does come with the NetSupport School components.

 

Saas (and anyone else who likes the software!), please do give us a call to talk about pricing. We're here to discuss it with you and if we have an idea of what your budget is, we will do our best to help out. We know times aren't easy right now.

 

Please don't miss out on our product for the sake of a conversation.

 

We're here - give us a shout.

 

Rebecca

[mrbios]

Right i've spent the past few hours scratching my head over NetSupport Manager, seems our lovely Vlaned network doesnt allow broadcast packets across subnets, so i have had to set it up to use the HTTP protocol instead of TCP/IP, a few niggles with that: Connecting to a PC disables Aero and the wallpaper during a connection, not something i want to happen! Also it requires alot more setting up which was something i was trying to avoid, though im still getting my head around the way in which it uses ini files for deployment

[rdhawkins]

mrbios,

 

You can configure the NSM to browse across subnets by adding other network addresses. To do this go to Network->Configure and select the TCP/IP section under Connectivity. From there you'll see a Browsing section which you can change with the Settings button.

 

We use a mirror driver for performance and unfortunately when a mirror driver is activated Aero is turned off, this should only happen though when you actually view the client rather than when you just connect.

 

Any other problems post here or contact our support guys and we'll be happy to help.

 

Regards,

Rob