MidPoint Connection Sharing Software Link
from MidCore
 Software
Score: 3 out of 3 
Review Type: Hands On
Reviewer: Chris Kaminski
Date: May 23, 2001
Version: 5.00
Price: Starts at $79.99 for 3 users or $9.99 / Month
 People ask me about Internet connection sharing for
their home network every day. Every day I give them the same answer, buy a broadband
router. I recently had a chance to review a piece of software that may change my
answer.
Midcore Software has been publishing a piece of software called MidPoint for Internet
connection sharing for over 5 years. MidPoint has grown into a feature rich solution
that few other programs can touch. Midpoint includes all the basic features you
would expect and then adds a shared browser cache, connection teaming, fail-safe
downloads and so on.
Midpoint allows incredible control over how your network acts and reacts to the
Internet. It comes configured to support many different software packages and allows
you to add special configurations for others. Some might say MidPoint is a tweakers
paradise.
Sharing technology: NAT and Proxy (SOCKS too!)
Midpoint includes NAT (network address translation), proxy server services,
and SOCKS services to share your Internet connection. Each of these sharing technologies
has its benefits. A configuration application (called the guest application) configures
your computer’s Internet applications for the sharing technology that is best
for each application. Client browsers are set to use the proxy server while most
other applications are left to work with NAT. By configuring your browsers to use
a proxy server, Midpoint can offer advance features like the download doubler, connection
teaming, a shared cache and more. Midpoint does not lock you into a single connection
sharing technology because you can choose to use either one. Read all about it in
Midpoints sharing document
Connection Teaming and the Download Doubler
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Connection Teaming on a Cable modem
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Connection teaming is an advanced feature of MidPoint that lets you use more than
one connection to the Internet at the same time. If dissimilar connections are used,
MidPoint will compensate by splitting up the workload based on the throughput of
each connection. Download double works in conjunction with connection teaming by
using a feature in the HTTP 1.1 protocol to start downloads in the middle. When
a large file is requested, part of the file will be transferred on one connection
and the other part will be transferred on the other connection. When both parts
are finished, the file is joined together. All this takes place completely transparently.
Related to connection teaming is MidPoint’s automatic fail over support. If
multiple connections to the internet are available, one may be assigned a ‘fail
over’ roll. If the primary connection does down, the second connection will
be used automatically.
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MidPoint
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