Travel Technology - GoToMyPC or similar?

www.gotomypc.com seems pricey at $20/month.

Are there other alternatives that are cheaper or free?

Please answer in small words :D

www.logmein.com has a free option that has worked quite well for me. There are other threads discussing it so do a search on "logmein."

Has a useful free product, and a slightly better product starting @ 12.95 / mth

https://secure.logmein.com/productcomparison.asp

I travel a fair amount and have never really needed anything more then the free product. A pretty useful product.

Remote Desktop or VNC over VPN - free and secure.

1. In order to use this connection, your pc must be at a static address or have a name maintained by a dynamic DNS service (such as www.dyndns.org, or others - free if you update it monthly).

2. You must enable port forwarding on your router, and pass port 3389 (remote desktop) or 5900 (VNC) to the local IP address of your PC.

3. You need to use a router that allows VPN connections. Many people skip this step because VPN routers cost a bit more and IPSEC connections can be a pain to configure (depends on the router). However, you should know that the connection is not very secure if you do this. RDP has some security and is better than VNC if you have no VPN, either are just fine if with a VPN.

4. If you need to connect to more than one machine at a site, VNC allows this (1st on port 5900, 2nd on 5901, etc.). RDP lets you change the port number, but can connect to only one.

Another choice - pcAnywhere ($180 - $200). All 3 steps above apply, except the port numbers are different in step 2. Can also connect to more than one pc at a site. Best parts - easy printing - pull up a document on your home pc and print it at client or hotel printer. Also, file transfer - easy to move files in either direction between local and remote pc.

What GoToMyPC does for you is 1) handles the dynamic DNS stuff - it always knows how to connect to your pc, 2) uses port 80 (http) connection - no special software needs to be installed so you can use the hotel or client's connection, 3) simplifies installation tasks. Is it worth $20/month? Maybe to some, but I've found Remote Desktop and VNC each to be very simple to use.

BTW, if you ever install pcAnywhere host on a pc, it screws up the remote destop protocol so much that it's very difficult to ever use RDP to connect to that pc again. VNC still works.

deubster, as you say, opening up the router reduces security. About the only thing you can do to improve this is to limit - if available on your router - the IP address to a specific, set of specifics, or a limited range of IP addresses. It's still possible to spoof the IP's, but my experience seems to be that random scanning for open opens is limited to pretty non-threatening hackers. I mean, if you want to steal money, why go after an unknown entity who may or may not keep sensitive information on their computer vs. Bank of American or Wells Fargo.

I've used both gotomypc and logmein, they both work very well. I prefer gotomypc, the annual plans work out to be a much better deal from paying monthly.

Never had a problem with either, and I was using gotomypc from their first beta to about a year or so ago, when we moved in to our new office, we share our network and they don't allow remote access, period.

What are you trying to access, there may be better alternatives. I moved to an exchange based mail server at my mail host and use foldershare for my files I need on the road and haven't needed remote access since then.

I don't like:
1. Paying for something I can do for free.
2. Putting my security in someone else's hands.
3. Opening up unsecured ports on my router.

If you've got the IT geek horsepower I'd suggest using DD-WRT, getting OpenVPN up and running then just using one of the free (RDP, VNC, etc.) remote apps over the VPN tunnel.

deubster, as you say, opening up the router reduces security. About the only thing you can do to improve this is to limit - if available on your router - the IP address to a specific, set of specifics, or a limited range of IP addresses. It's still possible to spoof the IP's, but my experience seems to be that random scanning for open opens is limited to pretty non-threatening hackers. I mean, if you want to steal money, why go after an unknown entity who may or may not keep sensitive information on their computer vs. Bank of American or Wells Fargo.

If you use appropriate passwords on both router and desktop, and if your transmission is via a VPN, I'd feel reasonably confident as a home user. The ports utilized by RDP and pcAnywhere are rarely exploited for nefarious reasons. However, I wouldn't dismiss so easily what a hacker can get from the average home desktop - bank account and credit card numbers, personal data useful for identity theft, and email lists.

Another thought - if the primary use is to access files, plenty of websites are happy to give you hard disk space online along with free email. You could forward any mail or files you expect to need on your trip to one of these. No fees.

Thanks to everyone for your ideas. Keep them coming. And keep the words short for this networking newbie ;)

....What are you trying to access, there may be better alternatives.

I do a lot of day trips now for meetings on another island. I need my laptop but I getting tiring of schleping it (it's a big sucker). I have an old ThinkPad T30 or an even older (and smaller) IBM Workpad Z50. It would be much easier to take either of those for such trips and do webmail. (On my main laptop I do pop3). Very occasionally I'd like to either fetch a file from my laptop I left at home, or print to a home printer. I am on a wifi network with a Linksys router and Range Extender, if that makes a difference.

A long time ago, I used pcAnywhere and really liked it, but I can't afford $200 right now for such an occasional use.

Another thought - if the primary use is to access files, plenty of websites are happy to give you hard disk space online along with free email. You could forward any mail or files you expect to need on your trip to one of these. No fees.

I do occasionally do that, or use my gmail account in that way (or take files on a USB thumb-drive). But inevitably there is something I didn't take.

I like logmein. It's reliable, simple and (can be) free. The free version is fairly limited but works fine for those emergencies where you need "that" file.

Of course, there is no client for old stuff like the Z50...

I like logmein. It's reliable, simple and (can be) free. The free version is fairly limited but works fine for those emergencies where you need "that" file.

Thanks. Do I also need one of the dynamic dns providers mentioned above?

Of course, there is no client for old stuff like the Z50...

I know. Interestingly, the previous owner included a PC NIC card and I can plug right into my home network and it browses the web fine, albeit a little slowly.

Thanks. Do I also need one of the dynamic dns providers mentioned above?
.

Nope. They take care of it all for you.

Logmein for what you need, the free version should work just fine.

Also consider foldershare for the files, you set it up on the laptop and on the machine at home, share the directory with all your files in it (the free version lets you do two direcories, but you can have subs under those, I share thousands of files) and whenever a file is changed it's pushed to the other machines whenever they are online. I've been using it for years, never had a problem.

It won't help with the printing to the home printer though, but I print to pdf sometimes and push those to the machines at home when I'm on the road and print those when I get home.

Remote Desktop or VNC over VPN - free and secure.

1. In order to use this connection, your pc must be at a static address or have a name maintained by a dynamic DNS service (such as www.dyndns.org, or others - free if you update it monthly).

2. You must enable port forwarding on your router, and pass port 3389 (remote desktop) or 5900 (VNC) to the local IP address of your PC.

3. You need to use a router that allows VPN connections. Many people skip this step because VPN routers cost a bit more and IPSEC connections can be a pain to configure (depends on the router). However, you should know that the connection is not very secure if you do this. RDP has some security and is better than VNC if you have no VPN, either are just fine if with a VPN.


On my iMac at home which I need to access remotely from my MacBook, I've done as suggested above.

1. Check. I am using www.no-ip.com and a "daemon" to update the IP address every 15 minutes.

2. Check. Another suggestion I found in one of the Mac help forums is to configure the remote host (iMac in my case) to use "DHCP with manual address."

3. I have not done this extra step. Is it complicated to do on a run-of-the-mill Linksys WRT54G and the aforementioned iMac? Appreciate any help on this step.