Sorry. Nerdy question 😳

I have need to dial in and remotely control a computer. Must be available 24/7 without needing another party at the other end to initiate a session. Without going into ‘how to’ what are the options?

Both computers are owned by us and we control the network at both ends. The objective is to dial in and remotely control the PC to run diagnostic software and trouble shoot or re program equipment on site. Basic understanding of networking and would be extatic if a solution exists within my knowledge base.

Logmein. Can access via web, desktop or smartphone iPhone/iPad interface. All free, and very easy to use.

Jamie, do you not need someone to press buttons to ‘allow’ the link?

Teamviewer is another one that I use or VNC.

As long as teamviewer is set to run at start you don’t need anyone at the other end. I use this to control a PC that doesn’t have a keyboard or mouse connected even.

Jamie, do you not need someone to press buttons to ‘allow’ the link?

Nope. Essentially you are logging into the system with your computers user account details, I do it on OSX for the record.

What are the features of LogMeIn Free?

With LogMeIn Free, you can take Remote Control of a Host computer, allowing you to work on that computer as if you were sitting at it. You can open and edit files, run programs, reboot the computer, etc.

Great. Thanks guys.

Logmein +1

Bit of reading:

Logmein: Getting started.

Logmein: Guide.

Nice one. Just what I’ve been looking for as I am the mother-in-law’s PC help desk 🙁

I go for VNC, but my recommends are all Mac based – Vine Server on the Mac mini upstairs, Chicken of the VNC on the book downstairs and MochaSoft VNC Lite app on the iPhone.

It can be set up to work locally or via the net.

http://sourceforge.net/ will probably have Windows equivalents.

the remote desktop plugin for chrome looks quite promising, only beta version available at present but its completely free.

I’d recommend VNC too as:
-its cross platform
-its free
-it works

There isn’t ever going to be a situation where the remote machine is powered down, is there?

ps44 – Member
Nice one. Just what I’ve been looking for as I am the mother-in-law’s PC help desk
POSTED 47 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

I feel your pain!

I use logmein for my inlaws too 🙂

VNC/Chicken of the VNC (pc/mac) + Jaaduu (iphone).

Guessing ssh is out then?

I’d recommend VNC too as:
-its cross platform

Not really a concern for one PC, though?

Unless VNC has changed since I last looked at it or I’m misremembering, I don’t think it has the ability to negotiate a hardware firewall in your average home router. You’d have to open the ports manually.

I use LogMeIn and TeamViewer a lot. I’ve found TeamViewer to be best for one-off connections as it’s simple, you don’t need the remote end to start creating accounts or worrying about login details, they just click a link and read a couple of numbers to you.

LogMeIn is stronger when there’s a number of techs needing to connect to multiple machines regularly. Log in to the website and get a list of all your available connections along with a live status of whether they’re live or not.

In the OP’s case, I think TeamViewer is going to be the best choice. You’ve got the option of running it as a service so it’s always on, but I prefer to have it as a manual service started by the user when they need help. It’s more secure that way, and it prevents you from getting the blame when something mysteriously goes wrong in the night.

We use LMI quite extensively here at work, it’s ace!

Whoever suggested VNC…. not very sensible idea!

I use Logmein – another In-Law remote support ….Yes….Painful !

Typical experience ….
‘Right, I’m just going to’ …..’Please stop moving the mouse’……’STOP CLICKING ON THINGS’ !!!!! … ‘WILL YOU JUST LEAVE THE BL**DY MOUSE AND KEYBOARD ALONE’ !!!

….etc ……

You think they’d know after all this time to just let me get on with fixing it, but no – They were put on this planet with the sole purpose of p*ssing me off ! – They’re Very good at it !

Sorry – Had to vent steam.
Chris

I think you can disable the keyboard/mouse when using LMI.

Another happy LogMeIn user here – have a number of home-based users for whom it’s a complete godsend.

When you install it on the target machine make sure you select the option to prevent the computer going into sleep mode when power is available.