Web based service for Using Remote Computers..

Question

Are there any free web based service to manage/use your remote computers?

I use Logmein free. It solves the purpose. But wondering any other free services available.

Heard Copilot is great but not free!

Answer 1

I dont use a remote service, instead what I do is this:

On each of the computers at the remote location install VNC On the router set up port forwarding for each of the computers with VNC, for example

      Router Port 16000 > computer 1 port 5900
      Router Port 16001 > computer 2 port 5900
      ...
      Router Port 1600n > Computer n port 5900

Lastly I set the router to use a dynamic host name provider such as DynDns.org so I can always connect using office.dyndns.org:1600n directly to the pc using VNC.

It also means you can log in and out of the pc as different users, whereas I think LogMeIn needs the machine to be logged in to access it?

Answer 2

This chart gives a good comparison of Remote Desktop Software for various platforms. Other than Logmein, I haven't used any other free versions for home use.

Now a days, I am pretty happy just getting folder access using softwares like Foldershare..

Answer 3

I use Microsoft Live Mesh. I find it great as it does two things I haven't seen elsewhere:

1. It will allow me to remote control my home PC from work when the only external access I have it via an HTTP Proxy.
2. If the remote desktop is larger than the local one you can scale the image as well as scroll it.

And of course, Live Mesh offers some great file synchronisation too.

Answer 4

Aha! You are looking for Copilot, one of Fog Creek Software's newest apps. It's free to use on weekends, so hurry up and give it a shot. I think it's a great alternative to the built-in remote desktop for helping friends and relatives.

For more info about its development, check Joel's blog.

Answer 5

I honestly can't talk highly enough about CrossLoop (www.crossloop.com). It's free, protected by AES-128 encryption and uses VNC as the desktop viewer mechanism. Ideally, I'd like to see RDP as the mechanism, but being able to get this puppy up and running with clients in 5 minutes is worth the price (free!). If you open an account with them (again free) you get a complete audit trail of your sessions - which is great for us for billing purposes. It works on a 12 digit random code (which is presented in 3 sets of 4 numbers) which is only valid for 2 minutes. The client has to permit you access to control their PC - it justs works straight out of the box. And did I mention it's free?