VSPM-Virtual Serial Port is a free system tool that enables you to simulate serial ports for programs to properly run on your computer. The full meaning being “Virtual Serial Port Manager”, this lightweight utility offers various types of simulation and is easy to operate with its user interface. However, this feature is entirely dependent on you being knowledgeable about this matter beforehand. There’s no built-in tutorial with this software.

Highly versatile

Serial ports are parts of the computer that handle device communication via data transfer one bit at a time over a single signal path. Used for the mouse, modem, network being two systems, and even older printers, serial ports aren’t often in service nowadays due to how much faster USB is. However, they still exist in modern computers and some programs require their presence. You can emulate more of them by using virtual serial ports.

VSPM is capable of this but it also offers other features. For one, you can map a port to either the TCP/IP or UDP, allowing for online network connections. You can also do this to simulate a serial server or connect to a General Packet Radio Service/Code Division Multiple Access (GPRS/CDMA) Data Transfer Unit. This manager tool supports an auto-retry feature, keeping an eye on your connections.

When launched, you must select a work mode. There are 5 options: two of them lets you run it as either Client or Server and then support either Client or Server devices; another two also run it as either Client or Server but support either EIO Client or EIO Server devices; and the last activates a UDP broadcast. Afterward, you can select to either create a port by device scanning or just a default one.

More for advanced users

VSPM-Virtual Serial Port is quite handy, with its low memory consumption, easy serial port setups, and even a multithreading feature. However, the lack of a tutorial makes this unsuitable to users with no prior experience creating virtual serial ports. Similarly, the interface looks a bit too bland and there are techy terminologies involve that you’d need to familiarize yourself with first.