Mikogo: share screen or access remote PC

[Curt]

Today "Samer" from FreewareGenius is telling about Mikogo, a new free and smart way of sharing your screen, or files, or access and even remote control a PC. The 'smart' thing is that it works via your Internet browser, and your meeting is taking place online at Mikogo's site.

Mikogo's homepage is offering 2 fine video tutorials, one for the inviter and one for the invited, two with- and two without- sound, but the program really is easy to use. Here is a nice 15 pages user manual in PDF with lots of pictures:

MikogoUserGuide.pdf (534.8 KB)

http://www.mikogo.com/Welcome.aspx

Once you download and install this program, you will have to create an account and log in. What’s really cool is that if screen sharing / broadcasting is all you need your audience on the other side will not need to create accounts or install software (they do, however, need to download and run a single no-install executable). Moreover, all interaction happens through the browser and there are no firewalls or routers to configure, no IP addresses to investigate and ports to open or close.

The verdict:[/b] although there exists a number of free VPN solutions, the reasons I like this one are:

(a) avoids the need to configure firewalls, routers, ports, etc, because it is entirely browser based,

(b) avoids the need for others to install software and create accounts to see your screen remotely,and

(c) works very well and does what it sets out to do.

How to share your screen: once you launch your Mikogo account and log in, right click on the Mikogo icon in the start menu and select "Start meeting". You will be provided with a meeting ID (a kind of password) that others could use to view your screen. Once you have your meeting up and running, you can easily switch presenter to view another user’s screen rather than them seeing yours (subject to their acceptance, of course). Meeting limited to 10 participants.

How others can view your screen: all your audience members need to do is go to a Mikogo website and click on "join meeting" which will download a small executable (approx 680K) that they can run and enter the meeting ID into. This will instantly open a browser window that with your own shared screen displayed in it. They can also switch to broadcasting their screen or controlling another desktop without the need for any further download. Once the meeting is over, they can simply delete the executable and the config file that it creates (in the same directory in-which it is placed).

Remote access: allows you to asume control of the remote computer’s keyboard and mouse. What’s worth mentioning here is that Mikogo maintains a list of programs that you can check/uncheck to enable remote access. Performance is a is a little bit sluggish, which is typical for browser based remote access I think (e.g. Yuuguu’s performance was about the same). I would be interested in a comparing remote access performance for freeware VPN solutions; if you know about this or if you use a remote access platform whose performance you like please let us know in the comments.

File sharing: offers a very handy file sharing option which is surprisingly fast.

Portability: you can run Mikogo from a USB. See this page.

Memory use: a mere 10 megs or so in the background.

Privacy policy: the connection between computers is relayed through the Mikogo servers, which means that in theory Mikogo has access to what you broadcast. I did not find any privacy policy in the Mikogo site, but in truth I am not worried about it.

[mrainey]

I'm going to give this a try.  I need a way to help my mother in law keep her new Vista system working (is that possible?) - from 2500 miles away.  Mikogo looks like a zero-configuration way to get control of her computer, if it works.

[klsgfx]

Regarding the safety issues, I would like to post a link to babelfish-translated thread in a German freeware forum. On employee of Mikogo explained a few things about Mikogo:  http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=de_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.essential-freebies.de%2fboard%2fviewtopic.php%3ft%3d13875%26start%3d0%26postdays%3d0%26postorder%3dasc%26highlight%3d%26

I did not test Mikogo yet but I am going to test it, because they say, I can switch the viewing direction within a session and this way not only give assistance but also show examples and more on my screen to the person I am assisting.

Until now I use for remote assistance (I am currently helping a few old ladies with their PCs ) http://www.showmypc.com/, which is really pretty easy to use - for me and the old ladies.

I hope this post is not understood as promotion - I am not related in any form to either of both companies.

[Steffen_Mikogo]

Hi
I noticed this thread about Mikogo, and as one of the Mikogo Team members I’d like to say a few words to clear up a point.
A link has been posted to a thread, which I participated in, about Mikogo and security. However, that thread was originally written in German, and the link is just a translation using babelfish.
Klsgfx, I appreciate you posting a link to the thread, however the quality of translation is a bit difficult to understand, so I thought I should clear up some issues that we had been discussing:

1.Is the transferred data during a Mikogo meeting secure and do we have access to it?
We use a 256bit AES end-to-end encryption. When two computers connect via a Mikogo meeting there is a key-exchange and only those two computers have access to the key – no one else has access to this, including us. We don’t know the key, therefore we cannot access the data.
Also, we are a German company which means that we are bound by German privacy laws. These laws are very strict, and we follow these laws 100% in everything we do, protecting the privacy of our users. We also offer professional desktop sharing tools for companies worldwide.

2.What are the functions of the Mikogo server? Wouldn’t it be possible to use the server only for the handshake?
This server has several functions. The server is always available and you can connect it to it through the standard ports (80,443) and protocols (TCP, HTTP). And these ports need to be open if you want to use the Internet. So these ports are already in use when you’re connected to the Internet. If you wish to connect directly, without the server, for example through VNC player, you would have to open other ports. This could cause a security issue, and is the reason why many companies and computer users have blocked such port access.
Another issue is the performance: If there was a peer-to-peer connection and a meeting with 10 participants the performance would be slow and poor because the organizer would have to establish a connection to all 10 participants with a limited upload speed (private broadband internet connections normally provide much higher download than upload speed).
Our servers are located in professional data-centers with a fast connection to the Internet, so we can provide a high performance even with a higher number of users.

I hope this clears up the issues that were no doubt difficult to read on the German-English translated thread.
I’ll continue to check this thread so if you have any more questions about Mikogo, feel free to let me know and I’ll be sure to respond and help you out.

Regards,
Steffen

[mouser]

Welcome to the site Steffen, nice to read your post 

[cmpm]

I believe this is quite unique to include multiple users, file and screen sharing.

I'll have to check it out.
Just gave the link to someone who would be in need of such a free program.

Thanks Steffen,this will be most useful in many ways.

[Steffen_Mikogo]

Thanks for the nice welcome mouser. I'm sure to return and check out how things are going here.

Cmpm, you're very welcome. I hope my last post was of assistance. You're right, the Mikogo features are quite special, and our users have been finding so many reasons and uses for the program. Let me know how it goes with your friend and Mikogo (and yourself, for that matter, when you get a chance to try it out).

Steffen

[klsgfx]

Klsgfx, I appreciate you posting a link to the thread, however the quality of translation is a bit difficult to understand, so I thought I should clear up some issues that we had been discussing

Ehm, yes Steffen, I was a littlebit lazy not to translate it by myself.

In the meantime I used Mikogo to give my father support. Normally I use ShowMyPC for this, because it is pretty easy, the help seeking person just has to enter the password-number and I have control over his mouse and keyboard and can see his screen.

• For this purpose, Mikogo needs more interaction from both the supporter and the help seeking participant, which could be difficult with persons having less computer-affinity.
• But Mikogo was very handy for me, when I used it to show my father the progress on the webpage I am doing for him, which is due to early state still on my local web server.
• The performance was good in both directions, both me and my father used a DSL line.

For the first topic it would be great if one could start a session in a so called "supporter mode", with the supporter seeing the screen of the help seeker, like it is with netviewer (which I often used at my former job) for example.

It is a nice tool and I for sure will use it more often.
Thanks
Klaus

[Steffen_Mikogo]

Hey Klaus,
Thanks for the feedback, and i'm glad to hear that Mikogo has been helpful for both you and your dad. Great to hear!

The feature that you described - instantly viewing the help seeking participant's screen when starting a meeting - is actually a major feature from one of our professional products: Beam2Support. You can check it out at http://www.Beam2Support.com With Beam2Support you have the option of selecting the screen that is to be transmitted upon starting a support session: either the supporter or the participant's screen. You can download the Beam2Support trial for free and check it out for yourself. Perhaps it is what you're looking for.

Steffen

[Curt]

The listed asking price for Beam2Support is high (Setup fee: €50, license: €35 per month) - so the license must clearly be targeting professional tech supporters. Will BeamYourScreen take up offering licenses for the full featured Beam2Support for private once-in-a-while customers,  or does such *(none-)clients* have to 'settle' with Mikogo??

[Steffen_Mikogo]

The listed asking price for Beam2Support is high (Setup fee: €50, license: €35 per month) - so the license must clearly be targeting professional tech supporters. Will BeamYourScreen take up offering licenses for the full featured Beam2Support for private once-in-a-while customers,  or does such *(none-)clients* have to 'settle' with Mikogo??

Hi Curt, at the moment there is no plan to release a Beam2Support version for "once-in-a-while" occassions. Mikogo was designed for this reason: people wanted BeamYourScreen technology, but only needed it for private purposes, on a "once-in-a-while" basis. So with the technology at hand, we developed Mikogo - a simple, easy to use desktop sharing tool. I don't think you should feel that you have to 'settle' for Mikogo. Mikogo provides everything you need for occassional remote support help: Screen sharing, switch presenter, remote control and more. And Mikogo is completely free.
And with that, you can provide really great, smooth-running, easy-to-handle remote support sessions.

Regards, Steffen.

[klsgfx]

You can download the Beam2Support trial for free and check it out for yourself. Perhaps it is what you're looking for.

As there are only a few old ladies and my dad I am helping with their computers and as I am not being paid for this, Beam2Support is too expensive for me.
As I used your competitor netv... in my former company pretty often, I am glad that with Mikogo I have a similar tool for private purposes at hand. Think I can live with the restriction - still it is a great tool fro free.

Klaus

[yksyks]

I'm using the opportunity we have Steffen here and I'd like to ask about one problem. Just now I discovered the Mikogo Skype Extra--this seems to me miraculously simple to use, exactly for the purposes mentioned above. However, when trying to use it, the only result I always get is "Invalid input parameters" message. I tried it on two machines, one running WinXP SP2, the other Vista Business, both with Skype 3.8.0.115.

More, during installation and the first run the application didn't ask for permission to use Skype (as explained in the manual), and it's not listed in the "Manage API Access Control" list.

Thanks in advance for any idea, Steffen.

[Curt]

@ yksyks: do you have both Mikogo and Mikogo Skype Extra installed, or just the latter?

- is it true that the Skype Extras should be sufficient? 

[yksyks]

Just the Mikogo Skype Extra. According to the user guide it should be sufficient:

Before you start your first Mikogo Skype online meeting, please ensure that both the organizer and participants have already installed the Mikogo Skype Extra.

[Steffen_Mikogo]

I'm using the opportunity we have Steffen here and I'd like to ask about one problem. Just now I discovered the Mikogo Skype Extra--this seems to me miraculously simple to use, exactly for the purposes mentioned above. However, when trying to use it, the only result I always get is "Invalid input parameters" message. I tried it on two machines, one running WinXP SP2, the other Vista Business, both with Skype 3.8.0.115.

More, during installation and the first run the application didn't ask for permission to use Skype (as explained in the manual), and it's not listed in the "Manage API Access Control" list.

Thanks in advance for any idea, Steffen.

Thanks for informing me of this. Another user mentioned this as well, and we have discovered the source of the problem. The Mikogo extra is currently not functioning properly on the new version of Skype 3.8.0.115 which was released on the 29th April

There is a new thread about this on the Mikogo forum:
http://forum.mikogo.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=67
However it is still working perfectly on the older versions of Skype.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused. You can be assured that we are doing our best now to overcome this problem ASAP.

In regards to the application not asking for your permission, it could have something to do with the new version of Skype. However its more likely that you have already accepted to allow the extra to access Skype, and therefore it doesn't ask you again.

We're looking into the situation for you.

Regards,
Steffen

[yksyks]

Thanks, Steffen. That was what I expected. For technical reasons I'm not going to downgrade my Skype installation, I'll wait for your solution instead. Fortunately, someone already posted the mentioned link on the Skype Extras site.

[Armando]

Thanks Curt (and Stephen). I'll have a look at mikogo -- like mrainey I need something like that to help my parents...

[Carol Haynes]

Been trying this and think it is a great app. Well done Steffen

[nudone]

used this today to help a friend out.

crossloop failed to work with his machine so mikago gets a big  from me now.

[yksyks]

In fact I'm using LogMeIn for exactly the same purpose (helping my friends and relatives), which is an absolutely perfect and rock stable application and also for free, but this is more appropriate for people you're helping regularly, as they don't have to move a finger. I'm looking forward to this Skype Mikogo Extra for "one-shot cases", because it seems to be simpler to install on the remote side.

[Armando]

LogMeIn seems nice too. Thanks yksyks.

[Carol Haynes]

If you do a forum search on LogMeIn you will find quite a few threads mentioning it over the last 3 years.

[Steffen_Mikogo]

Thanks, Steffen. That was what I expected. For technical reasons I'm not going to downgrade my Skype installation, I'll wait for your solution instead. Fortunately, someone already posted the mentioned link on the Skype Extras site.

Not a problem yksyks. Unfortunately it was just bad timing for us with the new release so soon after we released our Extra. Our developers are working on the solution. I'll inform you when a solution is found. Thanks for your understanding and patience.

Thanks Curt (and Stephen). I'll have a look at mikogo -- like mrainey I need something like that to help my parents...

Armando, great to hear that you're enjoying Mikogo. Like you and mrainey, there are many people using it to help their parents  I also use Mikogo every now and then for the same reason. But now my Dad is so familiar with it, he's actually using it to help clients! I think that's really cool.

Been trying this and think it is a great app. Well done Steffen

Thanks Carol. We do our best, and we're really pleased with the positive feedback we've been receiving.

used this today to help a friend out.

crossloop failed to work with his machine so mikago gets a big  from me now.

Hi nudone, thanks for the thumbs up! Great to hear you're enjoying Mikogo

Till next time everyone,
Steffen

[yksyks]

Mikogo says the problem is solved, but:

[attachimg=#]

Well, I thought it's too simple to be true...