Remote computer access

[Thunder_Mountai]

We've been using Logmein for accessing a computer in the house while snowbirding. I have a webcam and Davis Instrument weather station for monitoring temps inside and out. Logmein increased its yearly rate from $149 to $249. Really can't justify the cost for five months use a year.

Anybody got a suggestion for remote computer access programs that are low or no cost?

[pconroy328]

Ooops - my apologies - I'll confess I didn't sit thru the whole thing. Sorry!

I've been a VNC user since Olivetti tossed it out into the public domain. I use TightVNC on Windows and Vinagre on my Linux machines. But lately I have't needed to remote desktop much on Windows so I haven't kept up with things.

The only way into my boxes from outside is thru SSH.
I've tunneled X thru it but it's pretty slow.

[deltabravo]

pconroy328 wrote:
There's really no need to pay for any remote desktop product anymore. There are a half-dozen free ones and, like the previous poster posted, you can just RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol). See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL8NuI9C01M

What you pick will depend on your level of security desired.

Interesting video, but it doesn't tell you how to connect to computers that aren't part of the same domain. Corporate computers are all on the same LAN/WAN, so all you need is the computer name, as the video shows, but how do you connect to personally owned computers from personally owned computers, which are both on different internet providers?

[Community Alumni]

You should be able to access your webcam and weather station directly. I have several webcams and an AcuRite weather station at home that I access remotely from anywhere.

[braindead0]

RealVNC is free for home users: https://manage.realvnc.com/pricing

Properly securing remote access can be a problem, often you are at the mercy of third parties who may not exactly have your security as a top concern. Exploits in remote access solutions are fairly common, make sure to sign up for any security newsgroups/mailing lists..etc.. provided by the vendor, and update often..

[fj12ryder]

You can also use Remote Desktop with XP Pro.

[coolmom42]

Mercy go to WM and buy a cheap Win10 PC. XP is the pits any more.

[Thunder_Mountai]

fj12ryder wrote:
If you're using Windows 7 Pro you can use Remote Desktop. You don't say what operating system you're using.

Sorry about omitting the OS. I'm running a Dell with XP that can't be upgraded. Not enough HP to run Windows 7.

[Dutch_12078]

Team Viewer works fine for me on both Windows and Linux systems. I can even access the remote systems from my Android tablet and phone.

[AsheGuy]

I use both TeamViewer and Google's Chrome Remote Desktop. Both are free and both do the job just fine although they go about it a little bit differently.

[strollin]

pconroy328 wrote:
... you can just RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol). See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL8NuI9C01M ...

With the caveat that you need to be using a Pro version of Windows on the computer you are remoting into. Any version of Windows can act as a client but only Pro (and Enterprise) Windows can act as a host.

[pconroy328]

There's really no need to pay for any remote desktop product anymore. There are a half-dozen free ones and, like the previous poster posted, you can just RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol). See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL8NuI9C01M

What you pick will depend on your level of security desired.

[fj12ryder]

If you're using Windows 7 Pro you can use Remote Desktop. You don't say what operating system you're using.

[GordonThree]

I think TeamViewer is still free for personal use.

I use a VPN to dial into my home router and then plain ol' Windows remote desktop to connect to the PC.

The router can even wake up my desktop if it shutdown or fell asleep.

[quartzster]

Get teamviewer...free for non retail use...works great!