What's good "remote control"? software

[mimic]

I'm not sure if it's obvious what I'm looking for and if that's how you call it (remote control?) I think it's some other name for it. Anyway I just need to be able to connect to another computer in another location, from home. I'd prefer free, and easy to setup choices. But good paid ones and easy to setup would be ok as well.
thx

[Ed_McCarron]

TightVNC, RealVNC, these are two I've used.

[Ginsu Victim]

www.logmein.com

[saint]

RealVNC (or the other VNC derivatives). Direct from computer to computer. Not as good for remote locations on another network, unless you can map routable IP addresses to the destination you're trying to reach. If that made no sense, don't try it

Logmein and/or gotomypc seem to be the other choices out there that get most use.

In a Windows environment, remote desktop works, but it can be a real pain in the behind getting past firewalls and routers.

[protokatie]

www.logmein.com

+1

This is what I use to access my headless file server. The free account has most of the features you could ask for. The premium account allows for remote audio, easy file transfer (no emailing files to yourself), as well as a bicomputer cut/paste and local printing of remote files. The free version does everything I need to do tho.

[Ginsu Victim]

The free version does everything I need to do tho.

Same here. I was able to work from home using it the other day.

[NiN^_^NiN]

I use www.weezo.net just cause it lets me stream my music and movies through flash if i really need them but also goves u access to pics and all your files plus it has remote desktop support

[protokatie]

SO:


2 votes VNC (or similar)

2 votes Logmein

~1 vote for microsoft remote desktop

1 vote for weezo.net

VNC is a bit of a hard on to set up (IE once you do, you can act like you are "King ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---")

Logmein (as well as gotomypc) are easy to setup but may lack file copy features in the free versions.

MRD sucks

IDK about weezo.

[Dexter]

Another vote for logmein. I can use it through my firewall here in work. A lifesaver.

[Ginsu Victim]

Logmein is easy to setup but may lack file copy features in the free versions.

The free trial allows a month of file copy. After that, it's remote control only.

[ChadTower]

[smalltownguy]

I like VNC for work within my own LAN, but for WAN work I've had better luck with logmein. Most equipment comes with firmware that is configurable for use with the VNC protocol, but many of them require you to 'turn on' or 'unblock' VNC traffic. I'm usually able to get port forwarding and TCP/IP settings rigged up to use the service, but as stated above, it's different wherever you go.

VNC has saved my father's butt several times. I live 30 minutes from him, and more than once he's called me with the "what's this message I keep getting" question that I've been able to answer pretty quickly by remoting in to his computer.

I use VNC to tweak settings on my cab from my laptop. Really makes things nice -- no need for a local keyboard or mouse for most work. Not to mention I can work on most of my settings right from my couch upstairs, allowing me to be sitting next to my wife, giving her the illusion that she's getting some 'quality time' with me. 

[mr.Curmudgeon]

If it's XP (or greater) on both machines, why not use the built in RDP (remote desktop)? I use it all the time, love it.
No additional processes, or installations needed, and it's seemless in fullscreen.

[saint]

If it's XP (or greater) on both machines, why not use the built in RDP (remote desktop)? I use it all the time, love it.
No additional processes, or installations needed, and it's seemless in fullscreen.

Can be tricky to get to work across different networks (router and firewall issues).

[mr.Curmudgeon]

Never had much of any issue, and I'm RDP'ing out from my XP work machine (mega-firewall) to my home Windows Server 2008 machine behind a NAT'd Firewall. Works like a charm. It's easy enough to try out (since it's already installed on XP), and if setup gets too messy...then I'd suggest moving to third-party software.

[ChadTower]

What type of employer do you have again?  I forget... but pretty much the only excuse for that is tiny operating budget.

[mr.Curmudgeon]

What type of employer do you have again?  I forget... but pretty much the only excuse for that is tiny operating budget.

Heh. Nope. Fortune 500 Networking company.

[ChadTower]

...and 3389 is just flat open on the corporate firewall like that?

[mr.Curmudgeon]

Jep. We use RDP for all our remote troubleshooting. So I get behind people's home routers everyday (once they're tunneled in on VPN). That's why I recommended RDP. My home machine is not on the VPN, and it still works like a charm.   

[saint]

RDP is blocked by our firewall admin at work (me).  

[mimic]

wow talking about abundance of answers! Thx
But let me ask you very simple question. Will all the above mentioned software let me see the other computers desktop like I would be looking at my own. and will I be able to configure windows' control panel. I don't need to be able to transfer files or listen to audio files, just be able to configure another computer remotely.

[protokatie]

wow talking about abundance of answers! Thx
But let me ask you very simple question. Will all the above mentioned software let me see the other computers desktop like I would be looking at my own. and will I be able to configure windows' control panel. I don't need to be able to transfer files or listen to audio files, just be able to configure another computer remotely.

Yes.

Logmein (as well as all of the RDP type software/services) shows the desktop and locks in your mouse and keyboard when in focus. I like to freak out my roommate when he sits down to use the livingroom computer while I am logged into it under logmein. We do "mouse fights" (where both of us are controlling the mouse at the same time, kinda fun and it gets him tired of using the computer as he hasn't paid his share of the internet in almost 3 months).
There are plenty of options out there, but I would suggest starting with logmein free to test the waters. It WILL ask you to DL a firefox (or IE) plugin to work better, but you can set it to JAVA or even HTML (not recommended). You get to see your desktop, and control the remote mouse and keyboard. Its just like you are sitting in front of the remote machine, and if you have a good internet connection there is very little lag (although it is never wise to try to watch a movie over a remote connection, it can't keep up and you get like 2 frames a second).