USB Network Gate

USB Network Gate is a program that lets you share USB devices across computers.

When you connect a USB drive or other USB device to a computer that drive or device is generally only accessible by the computer it’s directly connected to. USB Network Gate is a software solution to overcome that problem, and it supports Mac and Linux in addition to Windows, which means that computers using different operating systems can access each other’s USB resources. This program is suitable for home use but also powerful and flexible enough in a server environment.

The primary feature of USB Network Gate is redirecting USB devices over a network. In other words, the program can share a USB asset via an IP address, and this works via a local area network, wide area network, virtual private network and directly over the Internet. You’re not limited to just sharing USB drives this way. You can share webcams, scanners, and practically any other USB device. There are no limitations. The device behaves just as it would if were connected to the computer accessing it.

USB Network Gate also supports USB device over RDP or remote desktop protocol. With this program, tech support can access USB assets during a remote desktop session just as they would any other device. Companies who manufacture and sell USB devices can even use this functionality to provide support. If a USB device isn’t behaving as expected, the client just has to share the device, and then the vendor can troubleshoot the device, perform diagnostics and so forth without physically possessing it.

USB Network Gate also supports USB pass-through for virtual machines. This means that in addition to providing USB access from one computer to another, you can provide it from one virtual machine to another or from a computer to a virtual machine or vice versa. A computer can even share a USB device to a virtual machine that it hosts, which can help overcome some typical obstacles.

The documentation included with USB Network Gate is a bit bare, and the learning curve may seem a bit steep for the casual user. The good news is that USB Network Gate generally just works out of the box without much fuss, but if you want to handle more advanced tasks with it, then you probably won’t find the resources needed to do that included with the software.

Pros

• Supports Windows, Mac, and Linux
• USB pass-through for virtual machines
• Facilitates USB device support

Cons

• Lacking documentation