The concept of web laboratories with remotely controlled laboratory set ups or virtual laboratories with different simulations have an important role in engineering education and training. This paper presents an evaluation of the fundamental objectives of laboratories for distance education, comparing the effectiveness of a remotely controlled approach versus simulations. The results and analysis show that students prefer remotely controlled laboratories compared to simulation labs. The results show that remotely controlled laboratories better fulfill objectives important for laboratory exercises. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 23:191-202, 2015; View this article online at ; DOI