Which FTP Client?

[David]

As a matter of interest; what FTP software are people using?

I'm currently using SmartFTP (http://www.smartftp.com/). A good program with an intuitive interface. There are lots of things I like about it - especially that it's free. BUT it won't do server-to-server transfers and that's what I need right now.

[francis]

I've always used FTPVoyager (http://www.ftpvoyager.com/) - dunno why as it's a pay one but it's always been good for me and I've never felt the need to try anything else. It does server to server (http://www.ftpvoyager.com/featurestools.asp) as well.

[David]

I used to use FTPVoyager for a few years and even bought it - after a while it grew out of favour (with me). The main reason for a change to Smart FTP was that you can save sites as Bookmarks whereas FTPVoyager requires that you set up a site profile and that got a bit annoying. I had forgotten the site-to-site thing. I'll give it another go.

I'm also looking at IglooFTP Pro (http://www.iglooftp.com/windows/). It has a good interface and some nice features and also claims to do server-to-server transfers. In fact, it just does a seamless download/upload so it's not particularly fast. Good for general purpose stuff though.

[James]

Smart FTP - unpaid for. There is a nag from time to time asking me to register but it's not a big problem. It is the fastest FTP client I have used.

[Phil]

FTP Explorer (http://www.ftpx.com/)

basic. easy. free

i only use this when the integrated dreamweaver ftp isn't appropriate.

[David]

I agree with James. For general purpose FTP, SmartFTP is the best.

What I've been trying to do is make file transfers between servers (without touching my PC). This is a much faster way of moving from one server to another since most servers will use a T1 link to the internet. The process is known as FXP or "server-to-server" or "site-to-site".

FTPVoyager will do this. You must open two instances of the program and link to two remote servers. You can then drag-and-drop between the two windows. IglooFTP Pro also does this but is a little better at integrating it into a single instance of the app.

What I discovered is that both remote servers must be set up to allow remote FXP transfers. I was trying to transfer files from a Fasthosts server to a Clook server. You won't be surprised to hear that although Clook was fine about this, Fasthosts would not allow it. It's another instance of Fasthosts locking everything down for maximum security.

So I must now do a download and then an upload. It would have been nice if it had worked but...