It,Computer/ Software Gurus

[supercharged88]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone out there can point me in the right direction.

I want to setup 2 laptops using wireless internet adaptors (EG,SIERRA WIRELESS AIR CARD 880U) and use some sort of remote log in software so that I can control one of the laptops from my laptop via the internet.

Both laptops are running Windows XP.

I have been told about 1 program called PC ANYWHERE.

If anyone has experience in this field your opinions would be greatly appreciated.

[Worm]

Yeah you can use pcanywhere...

Basically you install the software on both computers... Just say you leave one at work and one at home... You want to log into the one at work from home.. You leave the computer on at work, set it up as a host... And leave the software running... (you create a username and password)

They you go home and run the software... And put in the ip address of the machine that is running at work... So it's best if you have a static ip address (one that stays the same)

Then you type in your username and password... Connect and you control it remotely...

You will need decent Internet speed at both ends... And you can change the settings to display less colours and background images etc to make it run faster...

[supercharged88]

Thanks for the reply.

I downloaded a trial version of PC ANYPLACE this morning.

The user name and passwords you select, can they be anything you want, or do I have to use my actual Bigpond account, username and password.

I see there is an option to open an account for the user name and password, but I wasnt sure if I should or not.

Iread the available info and watched there videos but I am still a bit unsure of this part.

[DashMatt]

I use www.teamviewer.com

It works by using an ID # and password and works thru firewalls...no IP addresses needed.

It also works across platforms - Mac linux and even iphone

I use the unattended host at home and a portable one (www.portableapps.com) from my USB @ work, as my work PC wont let me install software...

[ubute]

I'd forget PCAnywhere and use UltraVNC instead as it's totally free, and the host is a lot more stable. We do most of our remote support for customers using either of the 2, usually on dial-up modems.

PCAnyhere username and password are whatever you want them to be.

[Worm]

Yeah... VNC is good...

I only talked about pcanywhere as that's what he asked about!

[Rusty XR6T]

RealVNC and the good old Remote Desktop work perfectly.

Your biggest problem will be a static IP from any of the 3G providers, to get around this you will need a DNS provider and a DNS updater on the PC.

for example to get into my home network all I have to do is type something like http://rusty.thruhere.net and no matter what my remote IP address is the DNS will point to it... you can do this with www.dyndns.com (its free)

The number one thing people F'up is port forwarding, make sure you allow or forward any ports needed by your chosen software

[ZAP]

As Rusty has stated the biggest problem is getting through the WInet providers network from one PC to another.

AFAIK Bigpond wireless is the only wireless ISP that provides a public IP address. We have run into problems with Telstra/vodafone/optus using NAT Proxied addresses for their wireless services.

Depending on how much you plan to use the service would also depend on what software to use.

Teamviewer is excellent as it will reverse SSL you into the box, bypassing NAT and firewall policies. PCAnywhere was good in the 1990's, but old school now.

IF you can get a straigh connection between the 2 PC's you can just use the included Remote Desktop service that is included with XP. It is fast and will give you remote control of a XP box.

Personally I would pay the money for TV, although it is not cheap. VNC is free for a reason and will drive you nuts if you plan to remote the PC regularly.

Radmin is another package we used to use as is LogMeIn.

If you tell us what you want to do on the notebooks and how often, we may have a different suggestion.

[ubute]

Oh yeah, no static IP. If you set up the dyndns account you'll also need an update utility to keep the host name up to date with your current IP address. I don't think you'd need port forwarding if it's just a laptop with a 3G modem, should just need to open the ports in your firewall. This all probably sounds more complicated than it really is though.

So if you are going to always connect one way from your laptop to the other laptop and you don't normally have anyone at the other laptop to help you connect at the time, the easiest way I'd go about it is:

1. install a VNC host/server on the other laptop and set it up with the password of your choice.

2. install a VNC viewer/client on your laptop.

3. register an account at dyndns.

4. install an update utility on the other laptop (can download one from the dyndns website) and set it up with the hostname you registered on that site.

5. make sure that VNC port 5900 is open on the other laptop's firewall. If you just have windows firewall then it's easy to just add an exception and add TCP port 5900 to that list.

6. on your laptop when it asks for IP address or hostname, use the hostname you created and it will look something like rusty's example.

7. voila!

I'd probably recommend using a different port to 5900 as that is probably going to get hammered by nasty people looking for ways in, but that just requires a few little changes.

[xr_velocity]

PCAnywhere is overweight and always has been. Radmin was a very good tool a few years back, not sure about now. RealVNC I have found to be a good tool and never really have dramas with the latest version. But, RDP native to Windows is the easiest and most hassle free method. You can also change the port number RDP uses through the registry to be a little more secure.

But, if you are going to leave yourself open to the internet with a service like this....I would be securing your laptop. Make sure you have a firewall installed on that laptop, even better would be a 3G router with firewall instead of a 3G card if you can.

Edited 22/09/10 12:33 AM by xr_velocity