Author Topic: Easy Remote access to another PC? (Read 57,741 times)

xtabber · « **Reply #50 on:** December 05, 2011, 11:01 PM »

I use Teamviewer to bail out several elderly relatives whenever they get their PCs bollixed up, as well as to access my personal system or my home PC network remotely.

In addition to the full versions for Windows, Mac, and Linux and client apps for iOS and Android, Teamviewer has a portable version that can run from a USB stick, or on a PC where you do not want to install the software.

I have successfully used the Teamviewer Android app to run programs on a remote PC from both a tablet and a smartphone. It's a bit of a challenge to do things remotely on a full HD screen from a smartphone, but it can be a lifesaver in an emergency. A tablet is easier, even more so if it has pen input like the Lenovo ThinkPad tablet.

rgdot · « **Reply #51 on:** December 05, 2011, 11:39 PM »

Recently tried join.me for the first time. Extremely slow. Teamviewer by default sacrifices graphics (remote pc wallpaper, etc.) quality to get around that. LogMeIn which doesn't do that by default is still faster in my experience. May have been an isolated case but I won't be using join.me for now.

Josh · « **Reply #52 on:** December 08, 2011, 11:53 PM »

Question for you teamviewer users. Does teamviewer require the use of the teamviewer servers or can you run your own "server" which manages your TV network of devices? I am looking for a solution similar to this. Right now, neorouter works this way, somewhat, in that I only rely on the neorouter servers to point to my server instance for management of my clients. My hope is to find a completely stand-alone solution so I do not have to rely on a third party server and can host everything on my own hardware.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #53 on:** December 09, 2011, 12:28 AM »

TeamViewer uses their servers but all connections are secure (256 bit AES):

http://www.teamviewer.com/en/products/security.aspx

I have been using it on a daily basis with clients for the last 3 years or so and can't remember a single instance where the servers were unavailable.

Josh · « **Reply #54 on:** December 09, 2011, 12:29 AM »

Do they offer an option for running your own server? Not that the services are unreliable, or that they might have some sort of security concern, but it is something I prefer to host in house, when possible.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #55 on:** December 09, 2011, 02:01 AM »

Not that I am aware of - why don't you drop them an email - they have proved very helpful when I have contacted them. (They even have telephone support).

Having said that if you want to host your own it may not be free!

xtabber · « **Reply #56 on:** December 10, 2011, 12:36 AM »

TeamViewer provides an option to connect directly to computers on a LAN by specifying the IP address or computer name, bypassing the TeamViewer servers. I do not know if it is possible to use that beyond a LAN.

One advantage of using their servers is that the free account manager they provide everyone (including free users) makes it much easier to handle all your defined connections by logging into one location.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #57 on:** December 10, 2011, 10:49 AM »

Quote from: xtabber on December 10, 2011, 12:36 AM

TeamViewer provides an option to connect directly to computers on a LAN by specifying the IP address or computer name, bypassing the TeamViewer servers. I do not know if it is possible to use that beyond a LAN.

One advantage of using their servers is that the free account manager they provide everyone (including free users) makes it much easier to handle all your defined connections by logging into one location.

It should be pointed out also that that free account can be accessed from any computer and remote machines accessed simply via the browser - no downloads or installation required.

Josh · « **Reply #58 on:** December 10, 2011, 09:47 PM »

Does TV support view only? Also, is there a way to hide the notifications which popup with TV when controlling a remote computer?

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #59 on:** December 10, 2011, 10:08 PM »

No - according to TV the pop up is a security feature for the viewed computer so they know you are connected. It can be minimised though so it is out of the way.

You can hide other popups including online status etc. but not the connection notification.

4wd · « **Reply #60 on:** January 07, 2012, 06:08 AM »

Adding another remote Desktop program to the mix: Splashtop Remote Desktop Free for personal use.

You install the Splashtop Streamer, (Windows or Mac), on the host computers and then use SRD to connect to it - including iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Kindle Fire and B&N Nook.

I don't think it uses an arbitration server either, it will automatically pick up computers on the LAN, (running Streamer), and add them to the connection list and you can add specific IPs for remote computers.

wraith808 · « **Reply #61 on:** January 07, 2012, 07:07 PM »

^ I use that also, and it's great for getting to my machine, especially from my iPad (which I do a lot in meetings- they don't seem to get as ticked when I code on the iPad during boring meetings as they do when I bring my laptop). But it's pretty intrusive, so I don't see setting that up for a remote connection that isn't your own.

Quote from: rgdot on December 05, 2011, 11:39 PM

Recently tried join.me for the first time. Extremely slow.

Hmmm.. I've never had that problem, even though several of my co-workers are in India and Pakistan, which would seem to lend itself to lag. Just my experience.

4wd · « **Reply #62 on:** January 08, 2012, 01:32 AM »

Quote from: wraith808 on January 07, 2012, 07:07 PM

But it's pretty intrusive, so I don't see setting that up for a remote connection that isn't your own.

Not quite sure what you mean by intrusive, anything that's not RDP, (for Windows anyway), is intrusive installation-wise, the same can be said for VNC.

At least the person on the remote computer can still see what you're doing and, (for me anyway), the fact that you don't have to rely on an arbitration server, (eg. LogMeIn, TeamViewer), in another country is a big bonus.

I'll have to do a little more testing though to see if it meets my needs but it does look promising.

wraith808 · « **Reply #63 on:** January 08, 2012, 05:25 PM »

Quote from: 4wd on January 08, 2012, 01:32 AM

Not quite sure what you mean by intrusive, anything that's not RDP, (for Windows anyway), is intrusive installation-wise, the same can be said for VNC.

Join.me (and I think TeamViewer from what's been said) don't require installation. They go to a site, and click share. I've talked people who don't know how to install software through this over the phone. I've installed Splashtop Remote Desktop, and it takes a bit of setup from what I've experienced with it (gmail password to find it over the internet, has a desktop notification area component, has a full installer, etc).

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #64 on:** January 08, 2012, 07:21 PM »

Using Teamviewer QuickSupport on a client computer requires only a click on a website and then click Run or double click the downloaded file. There is no set up or config required at the client end.

You can even generate a customised version of the software yourself and host it from your own website.

The only minor issue I have had with TeamViewerQS client software is if the client has a 3rd party firewall - it may ask to allow access. This is pretty rare these days though because most firewalls recognise TVQS as legitimate and apply preconfigured access rules.

4wd · « **Reply #65 on:** January 08, 2012, 11:55 PM »

Since it's only for the control of my computers, I don't consider the permanent installation of RDP/VNC software intrusive - how would I get the other end to click on the non-existent keyboard to download transient software anyway?

I also don't think it's intrusive for computers you have overall supervision, (or in the case of relatives, "Technical Support"), over across a WAN/VPN.

I do think it's intrusive if you have to rely on an internet connection, as you do with LogMeIn, TeamViewer and, as it now seems, SRD, etc to a an arbitration server not under your control, (this includes the assumption that you'll always have a connection to it), when it's not necessary.

So it's back to finding the perfect VNC server/client or read up a bit more on getting RDP via HTTP to co-exist peacefully with the other servers running.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #66 on:** January 09, 2012, 01:28 AM »

I was responding to the original premise of the thread - which was a remote connection over the internet.

wraith808 · « **Reply #67 on:** January 09, 2012, 04:27 AM »

Quote from: Carol Haynes on January 09, 2012, 01:28 AM

I was responding to the original premise of the thread - which was a remote connection over the internet.

+1

JavaJones · « **Reply #68 on:** January 13, 2012, 05:02 AM »

UltraVNC is my VNC client of choice. TightVNC has potentially better data encoding, but the new version lacks a display driver for mirroring, which makes it dog slow in my experience, especially over high bandwidth (e.g. LAN) connections.

- Oshyan

4wd · « **Reply #69 on:** January 13, 2012, 11:23 AM »

I use UltraVNC also, the only problem with it and other VNC variants is I've yet to find one that can handle overlay video correctly.

Something which RDP seems to handle fine but then I have problems because it wants exclusive access to the audio even though I don't pass it through to the client.

As an example, when I was in the UK last year I was editing video back in Australia over RDP. I had to start the edit using RDP over HTTP because the editing program, (VideoReDo), would complain it couldn't load the video because of no access to an audio decoder, (DirectX). After the video was loaded into the program I could then switch to straight RDP to do the editing.