A Network Subscription is required if you want to connect to a NoMachine computer over NoMachine Network. NoMachine Network is the service we created, and released in NoMachine 9, to allow users to connect to their remote computers that don't have a public IP address. The Network service is complementary to the NoMachine software and does not replace your NoMachine software in any way. It provides an additional way to connect to your computer. Instead of using the target computer's IP address, you use its Machine Id. When you purchase a Network Subscription, you do not receive a license file. The service is automatically activated and associated to your User Id during the purchasing procedure, so that when you login on the Player device you want to connect from, you can start connecting immediately.

You must have NoMachine 9 installed on both client and server to be able to connect with Network. There can be a free edition installed or one of the Enterprise products on the server side, provided the software is version 9. The Network Subscription does not replace your Enterprise Subscription. NoMachine Network does not replace your NoMachine software.

The NoMachine Network model is straightforward and based on the number of connections that you start from your device. Each user has their own Network Subscription and the subscription type you choose will define how many Network connections you can start simultaneously from your device. A Network connection is defined by the Machine Id you use to create your connection.You can still continue to connect using the IP address of the remote computer as you always have done.

You can connect from whichever device you prefer but you can start remote access connections from one of these devices at a given time to reach any computer published on Network. If you have a Network Subscription with multiple concurrent connections, you can remote into as many computers as you want (provided you have enough connections in your subscription) from that single device. What you cannot do is connect with your User Id from different client devices all at the same time. This includes connections that you start from your browser when you connect to your Enterprise server - connecting from the browser is considered connecting from a second device. If you want to connect from two different computers or two browsers at the same time using a NoMachine Network connection, you will have to own two NoMachine accounts and two different Network subscriptions.  

Some examples:

You want to remote into your home computer (PC) when you're away. You've chosen to install the free version of NoMachine on your home computer.You intend to connect from your portable Windows laptop and your iPad. In that case, a Network Personal Subscription which provides one connection can suffice, or choose Standard which provides 4 Network connections.You can install the free NoMachine on all of your machines, and login to the Network Service in the Player on all of them. Start a connection from either your Windows laptop or your iPad using the Machine Id of your home PC.

You are a sysadmin and need to monitor several computers, sometimes at the same time, some of them have NoMachine Enterprise servers installed. You have various client devices/computers which you connect from. Solution: choose the Network Subscription that has enough connections to let you connect to more than one computer at the same time e.g Standard, Advanced, Business or Datacenter. You can be logged in to the Network Service on all your Players simultaneously. You can start multiple simultaneous Network connections from one of them.

You are in a team of 3 people that require remote access to different machines. Each member has their own client devices from which they are going to connect. Solution: each of the team members require their unique User Id. One Network Subscription can be assigned to each User Id. Which subscription each member has depends on how many concurrent Network connections they need to run from their device.