The development of remote lab has grown during the last decade. However, almost all current laboratories use proprietary software (a Labview like software) and expensive hardware (server) to implement them. This paper presents the development of a low‐cost alternative, flexible, and reconfigurable remote lab, based on an architecture built around an Arduino Mega. Low‐bandwidth connections requirement was carried out by the use of HTML code for the development of the required graphical user interface. The usability and effectiveness of the proposed solutions were evaluated by considering a case study of two groups of students that carried out the same lab work: The first one remotely and the second one in a hands‐on lab. This test showed that the remote laboratory was well received by students: Remote students group realize their task in a shorter time and have slightly better outcomes than students group in a hands‐on laboratory. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 25:480–488, 2017; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.21815