How do I access my home pc while on the road?
 

Leaving my home pc online and connected to the net, is there anyway for me to access files that I have on it, while I'm on the road?

I just have a regular dsl line with USB modem.

Thanks!

www.gotomypc.com
www.logmein.com

Or for free - if running a Windows OS

Allow Remote access
Know your IP address
Use remote desktop

there you go

Are you just wanting access to files or be able to run programs, etc?
 

Accessing files can be solved using a program like Hamachi. Painless and quick.

You should also sign up for dynamic IP services. That makes it easier to use since your IP gets changed every so often.

I use realVNC which is free although I also recommend their enterprise product (for security and file transfer capability). The size of the software is extremely small and it uses almost no system resources.

I have a dynamic IP address at home (meaning the IP changes every so often). I registered a domain name and then use DNSexit.com's free software to update my home computer's IP address every X minutes. There are many services that will accomplish the same goal here but I highly recommend using VNC.

When you use one of those website companies you are required to rely on them to make the services work, plus you are allowing them into your computer if they so desired. VNC is completely independent and you are not relying on any 3rd party to keep your data safe. VNC also has the ability to access the PC from any web browser without the need to download the client software (although the client software has more features than the web version).

Accessing a remote desktop can be a bit complicated...if you need any help setting it up, I'd be happy to lend a hand.

There is a good inexpensive service that works well on a remote PC & even from your smart phone.

http://www.avvenu.com/

If all you want is files, consider www.foldershare.com. I've been using their free version for years and years, and totally love it. You can have two directories that you are sharing (but before you say only two?, it includes all the subdirectories under those) in the free version.

You put the files you want to share in the shared directories, and every time one of the machines are online, it pushes the most recent version of those files to all the other machines.

I've got my bookmarks, documents, and a ton of other files that keep in synch between all the machines, just looked, 2,500 files, about 200 megs worth. Granted, I may use only a dozen of those on a regular basis, but within seconds of saving it, it's copied to all the other machines. I completly love it, and can't picture working without it now.

Microsoft bought them a few years ago, but the product didn't change at all.

If you want full remote access, then logmein works great, they have a free version. I don't remember exactly why, but I always prefered gotomypc.com, though they don't have a free version. It had something to do with requiring administrative rights on the machines at work, and that didn't work for people I didn't want to have that access, but that was a limitation of the system we had in the office, not the software.

Both logmein and gotomypc do not require a static IP address, just that you be online.

You also need to open port 3389 on your router's firewall. You can also setup an account with www.no-ip.com so that you can use a name-based address to reach your computer (e.g., flyertalk.no-ip.com).

Port 3389 is a well known port for remote desktop protocol. RDP is encrypted at the outset of communication, but if I was not using a VPN, I would want to change the port on the PC and of course forward that port on the router.

Logmein, etc, is useful, but not for file transfer, if that's an issue, although depending upon the size, you could email it to yourself or use yousendit.com.

A VPN solution is best, second best might be PCanywhere, then after that, the Internet based services.

Also printing files remotely can be tricky. RDP and USB printers, especially multi-function printers can be problematic.

As an aside, it might be useful to have one of these threads set up as a sticky, since remote access is a common question.

I've used Gotomypc.com quite a bit, but ended up cancelling it after a couple of years because of difficulty accessing it from behind a firewall at my clients' sites.

Aside from that issue, it was convenient to use and also reasonably efficient, even over a dial-up line.

I guess the main thing will be file transfers that I'd want to do, since it would be my home pc to my laptop (once i make the decision as to which one!) I should be ok WRT to firewalls, not that I know anything about them...

Thanks for the leads, i'll check them out.

logemein and gotomypc have limits on the free file transfers. Check it out in advance.

Thanks for this! I had not heard of foldershare, but this is just what I've been looking for -- remote access and file synchronization between multiple computers.

I have a Seagate Mirra that works pretty slick for this kind of thing. It's an external harddrive enclosure that you plug into your network. It does automatic backups of your PCs and you can access it remotely over the internet. Really slick product.

I had been looking at the Seagate Mirra and was very close to buying it before I read the post here about on foldershare. Seems to accomplish the same thing and it's free! I've been using it for a week now and it is great!