IP Helper 3.0 Review

Depending on the technical possibilities of your ISP and the type of subscription you got from them, your IP address can change every time you connect to the network. I don't want to get into technical details, because I am not a networking specialist and, to be honest, I am not really interested about networking either. Anyway, all I want is to have a steady connection and to know exactly what is my IP, when I need it.

Of course that are various system commands that can give you detailed information about your network settings, but what about having your internal and external addresses displayed all the time in a floating window? With IP Helper, this can be done in a flash!

Setup

Developed by Rebrand Software, IP Helper has reached version 3.0. Its setup package has 3.1MB in size, and installing it was a piece of cake. Now, I have one big question in my mind - being given the complexity of the program, why a 3MB setup package? Well, that's not a problem after all, but if you have a really slow connection, downloading this may take some time...












The trial version of this program has a nag screen that appears each time you open and close the application, but you can run it without any other limitation for as long as 15 days(I suppose that the full version also displays the animated banner from the trial).Interface

The interface of this program has three components: the main window, the system tray icon and, at last, the IP overlay window. While the system tray icon is only able to bring up the main window, close the program or display/hide the IP overlay window, the main screen of the application comes with a bit more, but not much. Almost everything there is to know about this program can be spotted in the screenshot to the left, so let's move on to the next part: features.

Features

As I already said, the best thing about this program is the fact that you can have your internal and external address on view all the time. If you are wondering about this, I guess I can tell you - the internal address is the one used by those from your LAN to "see" you computer, while the external IP is the one that identifies to the outside world, so various websites will only retrieve that address. Good, now...let's see what else do we get from IP Helper, shall we?

First of all, I must tell you that the File menu is useless, because you can also minimize and close the program by using the system buttons located in the upper right corner of the main window, just like with most Windows applications.

Additional services provided by this program include a DNS converter, Whois Lookup and, of course, the notification features. When one of your addresses changes, you can choose to receive an alert through email, by starting a program or by accessing a certain web address.

I wish there was more about this program...but unfortunately that's all, so let's get to the conclusions!

The Good

IP Helper is a program built to accomplish one main task, and that's what it does. Its additional features could make it a bit more interesting, but they don't seem enough for me.

The Bad

Although it has a nag screen, this program also has a banner inside its main window, and a button that leads to the producer's website. If these were not enough, you also have a Purchase menu inside the menu bar. At last, considering its features, and the so-called "Help" file which looks less than basic, the price is simply too high.

Conclusion

In the last years, I had the occasion to encounter applications that were completely useless. This time, it's not one of those cases, fortunately, but we're not that far either. If you wonder about your IP addresses, you can grab the trial version of this program and give it a shot, but I wouldn't recommend buying it unless you are really-really sure it's worth your money. After all, it's your money, in the end, but I would get some beer instead!

Developer: Rebrand Software, LLC
Price: 14.95$
Trial Link: Download