LogMeIn Hamachi: set-up and chat

Lots of you out there, especially fans of games such as Borderlands and Modern Warfare, will have heard of Hamachi (now LogMeIn Hamachi). Like dedicated techies, you’ll have checked it out, downloaded it and click, click, clicked your way to installation. Great! But what happens now?

The program’s interface gives away no clue. There’s no wizard, tutorial or even any advice about how to use it, so it’s up to you to figure it out. Well, you’re not completely alone: today we’re going to take a look at the basics of Hamachi – setting up a network and chatting. You’ll either need to ‘Create a new network‘ or ‘Join an existing network‘. In the case of the latter, it’s your friend who’ll have to create the network, but we’ll assume that you’re doing the creating in this tutorial.

When you choose ‘Create a new network’, you’ll be asked for a Network ID (just a name for the network – this can be whatever you want) and a password. Then hit create – it’s as simple as that. Remember! Your friend has to download Hamachi too and they’ll need your details to search for and connect to your network. Once they have found you, you’ll have to approve their request. When they appear in your list, you’re ready to chat!

This couldn’t be easier – you simply right-click on your friend’s name and select ‘Chat’. A (very basic) chat window will appear, and you use it like you would any other. Now that you’ve mastered the basics, it’s time to move on to more complicated tasks, like file-sharing and gaming, something we’ll tackle in the next Hamachi post. Stay tuned!