I was after opinions on software for remote logging in and working on a work station that I have which I want to access remotely. Its a grunty HP Dual processor running some processor intense software packages. I want to be able to work on this computer remotely and I have seen several software packages that do this.
I’m keen for something that has good graphics and not too much latency. Probably something that handles dual monitors at both ends too.
I’ve looked at:
Teamviewer
VNC Connect
RemotePC

Any comments on these or another recommendations. At home base I have 900/500mbit internet, but the other end will be somewhat slower, but probably pretty decent.

I just use remotedesktop remote that is standard on windows i think?

To operate a pretty grunty CAD machine which really really needs good graphics and low latency becasue if i click on the wrong thing my models can take ten minutes to run through before i can do anything again.

I genuinely can’t fault it, sometime i forget and try and take calls on teams in the wrong computer.

@joshvegas thanks for that, I had seen that and will check that out too. Sounds like you have a similar situation to me.

I think HP used to do their own software, but I’ve not used it. I looked into it at my last job when we had HP kit.

Coincidently, I should be doing the same today, if I get given a laptop to take home. I’ll be running CAD at home, logging into a Dell tower PC in the office. Others at work say it works fine, so when I find out what’s  used I’ll report back.

Used VNC years ago, was ok but a bit laggy, may have improved. But does work nicely across different OSs (Windows, Linux, OSX).

In more recent years i.e. for ths last 20 years I’ve just used Microsoft Remote Desktop on an almost daily basis

Only challenge you may have with that is firewall rules and port forwarding. However if you can VPN onto your corporate network then those issues pretty much go away as you’re already past the perimeter.

Does where you work have an IT department? They may constrain your choices

If you’re doing this over the internet make sure the target device is extremely secure, patched and has good solid long secure passwords for all accounts.
RDP port 3389 is one of the most scanned and attacked ports in the network world (along with SSH 22)
Maybe use Apache Guacamole and do it over https instead.

If you don’t believe it just open 3389 to the internet and watch your security event log for a while.

I connect remotely to the company network using forticlient VPN.

Then connect to my office PC using the remote desktop connection that is built into windows.

I’m using cad and it works well.

I’m using a customised version of Citrix for very graphically intense work. Generally pretty good.

I have no idea what is required to set any of the below up…
I have been connecting to a graphics workstation (VFX) for the last two years. On the software side the two systems used at the different jobs have been teredici-pciop and hp-zcentral-remote-boost. Right now I am issued with a thin client which is a teredici solution. I believe the hp thing at current job is in limbo because hp or teredici has bought the others technology or something like that, so that may limit my above suggestions

Really nothing beats the RDP protocol which drives the Remote Desktop stuff built into windows. Your best using that over a proper VPN.

Oh and as you said GFX there is a switch buried in the registry somewhere to allow Remote Desktop to use the GFX card built into the workstation for GL/DirectX rendering!

Agree with RDP. As long as it is enabled and you have the right permissions to use the service (and are using an approved VPN to access the remote network) it should be plain sailing.

Adding things like VNC, TeamViewer, osv will only complicate matters and may give your IT department headaches. They also open up security holes in both ends of the system and I do not approve of that.

Please, PLEASE do not be tempted to front VNC or TeamViewer directly onto the internet (or RDP for that matter). Use a properly configured and protected VPN out front, preferably with client certificates or MFA set up, and a firewall that blocks other stuff by default.

i’ve always been impressed by teamviewers ability to sidestep all network security.

but the proper answer is RDP through a VPN. I have multiple PC’s in various labs around our site and I can work on any/all of them seamlessly from my laptop at home.

I would not be exposing either RDP or VNC to the public Internet. End of. If you have to take this route then they need to be tunnelled over a proper VPN.

I’ve used TeamViewer for years. They’ve had security issues in the past, but these days “who hasn’t?” is fast becoming a shorter list. The important thing with TeamViewer – again, as with pretty much all apps – is to make sure you’re always up-to-date with the latest version so that any security patches are installed. Enable 2FA. Ideally you want to be closing down the server (remote) end when not in use, though of course that will require someone to start it up again when you need it next. (Maybe you can start / stop the service as a Scheduled Task? I’ve never tried.)

I’ve used others in the past, GoToMyPC, LogMeIn and a supporting cast of thousands, but not recently enough to pass comment.

I had a thing called Tailscale recommended to me recently but I haven’t played with it yet. It appears to be some sort of simplified point-to-point tunnelling for RDP et al. That could be worth investigating, I know very little about it but it sounds interesting.

If your remote endpoint is at work, talk to your IT department before even considering any of this. They may have a preferred method of access. Randomly punching holes in your corporate security is the sort of behaviour that can lead to a P45. Randomly punching holes in someone else’s corporate security is the sort of behaviour that can lead to jail.

I had a thing called Tailscale recommended to me recently but I haven’t played with it yet. It appears to be some sort of simplified point-to-point tunnelling for RDP et al. That could be worth investigating, I know very little about it but it sounds interesting.

I use this extensively in my own network. Its a Wireguard based VPN that forms a mesh so very resilient. Its really simple to setup but if you were using it in business env you would want to hook it to your centralised signin system. The “free” (ie testing their tech version) uses github/google signins!

Thanks for all the info. I’m a free lance consultant so my Workstation and NAS box are set up in the office at home, so the IT dept is me.
Sounds like the MS remote desktop and using a VPN is the way to go.

Any recommendations for a VPN that is easy to set up and I probably only need it for a few months while travelling? I’ve used one on my laptop when travelling, but that was only for browsing, so I don’t know a lot about setting one up between two computers so any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks guys!

Any recommendations for a VPN that is easy to set up and I probably only need it for a few months while travelling? I’ve used one on my laptop when travelling, but that was only for browsing, so I don’t know a lot about setting one up between two computers so any recommendations would be appreciated.

The above mentioned Tailscale works really well as it doesn’t need any special firewall/router config to make it work. You just install it on both machines.

https://tailscale.com/

You can even adress machines by name if you enable the magic dns setting!

To finish what I said above, I’ve just got a laptop for me to WFH by logging into my office desktop. We’re using MS Remote desktop and the built in Windows VPN. Running Solidworks CAD over this and it looks fine.

OK thanks for the information and I set up MS Remote Desktop and also Tailscale. Tailscale was easy to set up and looks pretty secure.

I see it creates a custom IP address for the client and the server and is there anything else I need to do on the logged in computer to make sure no remote work port is sitting open?

On the advance settings tab of RD Connection do I leave it as automatically detect RD Gateway Setting or change it to ” Use these RD Gateway server settings”