I currently use Chrome Remote Desktop to connect to several remote Windows devices. It's free and generally works, but the mobile experience is poor, especially over airplane Wi‑Fi. I'm considering trying Splashtop and would like to know how well it handles unreliable connections, whether a headless Windows machine stays logged in after disconnecting, and whether desktop-dependent scripts and processes can continue running with the screen active. I'd also appreciate general feedback about Splashtop's reliability, performance, security, and any notable limitations.
3 Answers
Be especially careful if the systems are used for GPU-heavy applications. In some setups, disconnecting or turning off the monitors causes Windows to switch to a basic video driver, resulting in something like 800×600 resolution and no hardware acceleration. The user session may remain active, but the application itself could behave differently once the physical display is unavailable.
If you only need basic remote control, RustDesk may also be worth testing. The open-source version doesn’t impose a device limit and it has a mobile app. You’d still want to verify how it handles your unattended Windows sessions and any display-driver requirements.
We’ve used Splashtop for several years and have been pretty happy with it. I’ve used the iPad app over in-flight Wi‑Fi and it worked well overall, although there were occasional brief disconnects before it reconnected. Performance still depends heavily on the connection, so GUI actions can feel delayed, but command prompt and PowerShell sessions are much more responsive because they don’t need to transmit the whole desktop.
The Windows login state is separate from the remote connection. If the computer is already logged in, disconnecting should leave that session logged in. If it’s locked, you’ll see the lock screen when reconnecting and can unlock it normally. Splashtop can also lock the local keyboard and mouse or blank the physical display while you’re connected.
I haven’t had major reliability or security complaints. It has improved considerably over time, and the built-in command-line tools are useful for administration. One caveat is that headless systems or machines with their monitors disconnected may fall back to a generic display driver, producing a low resolution and disabling GPU acceleration. That matters for CAD, graphics, or anything else that needs hardware acceleration.
That’s exactly the kind of information I was looking for. I’ll probably run a trial and test both the airplane connection and the logged-in behavior on one of the headless machines.