WinGate 2 Licensing
WinGate licensing is based on the number of machines connected to WinGate.
Each different machine has its own number (
When a machine connects to WinGate for Internet access, WinGate gets its IP
number and keeps a record of it. Depending on what size license you purchase,
WinGate will accept connections from (and hence provide internet access to) only
the licensed number of machines at any one time.
The WinGate machine can always connect, without violating the licence count.
This is so Administration is always possible. To do this, the WinGate machine
must use the name
Extra machines that try to connect will be denied access with an error message
stating that their request has exceeded the license count for WinGate. So, if
you purchase a 5-user license, WinGate will accept connections from only 5
different machines at any one time.
You should note, that this license count includes machines connecting from
anywhere, not just your LAN, so if you are allowing access to Internet users (say
for access to an internal HTTP server), then you need to allow for these users
as well. However, the license count excludes DHCP clients. This means any licensed version of WinGate will provide full DHCP to any number of clients.
When you purchase a license for WinGate, you are sent a coded Key. This key is
entered into WinGate along with a name (Licensee name), and together they are
validated to unlock WinGate.
What size license do I need?
This is quite dependent on the size of your network, and the expected amount
of traffic your users will be generating. A good analogy is for figuring out
how many external phone lines you need for your office PBX given the number of
staff you have with telephones on their desks.
People are not surfing all the time, if they are then they need a license
each, otherwise, they can share licenses. So, if your users mainly make infrequent
short accesses through WinGate, then you may not need a license for each one.
If however your users make regular use of the Internet through WinGate, you may
find you need a bigger license to reduce the number of requests being denied.
Another consideration is the amount of bandwidth you have for your Internet
link. Some people use the license count as an easy way to make sure that the
users that are gaining access get a reasonable amount of bandwidth. This is not
strictly true. WinGate limits machines, but not bandwidth per machine. If you are
having bandwidth problems, it may be because one or more users are using a
large proportion of the available bandwidth.
What does the license name mean?
When you get a key, it is validated along with a name - this is the license
name, and appears on the Info tab in WinGate. This information is equally as
important as the key itself, both are used to validate your license. When you get
License information, SAVE IT somewhere safe. It is all to easy to delete the key
by accident.
Can I try WinGate free?
Yes. Qbik generate 30-day trial keys. These are obtainable from your dealer,
Qbik, or Deerfield. You get two unlimited user keys, one for 1.3.17 (the older
simpler version) and one for WinGate 2.0 PRO.
WinGate 1.3 or WinGate 2 Lite Licenses:
Free 1 user license:
This allows the WinGate machine and 1 additional PC to connect to the
internet.
2 user license:
This allows the WinGate machine plus any 2 other PCs to connect via WinGate,
total of 3.
5 user license:
This allows the WinGate machine plus any 5 other PCs to connect via WinGate,
total of 6.
10 user license:
This allows the WinGate machine plus any 10 PCs to connect via WinGate, total
of 11.
Unlimited license:
This allows any number of connections to the internet via WinGate.
WinGate 2 Pro licenses:
Administration with Gatekeeper can be done from any PC. There is no free of 2
user PRO license.
5 user license:
This allows the WinGate machine plus any 5 other PCs to connect via WinGate,
total of 6.
10 user license:
This allows the WinGate machine plus any 10 PCs to connect via WinGate, total
of 11.
Unlimited license:
This allows any number of connections to the internet via WinGate.