Remote access

[PaulG.]

In changing with the times we have decided to work remotely, not only from home - which many of us were doing before COVID - but also remotely accessing customer's machine and trying to do as much development as we can before actually heading out to the site to finish and sign off.

There are a lot of options out there for remote access software. Anyone have a suggestion? Favorite? Anyone try something they'll never use again? That kind of thing. Thoughts? Thanks.

[altenbach]

I often use chrome remote desktop to do some LabVIEW programming on my office computer. Works great!

(both computer have same screen resolution and I maximize the remote desktop)

Similarly, If somebody else has computer problems, they can quickly setup a "remote support" code that allows me to connect and use it remotely while talking to them on the phone.

All this works flawlessly even if both sides are behind NAT or corporate firewalls. Nothing to configure.

(In contrast, Windows Remote Desktop only works on Windows Pro (not home) and probably requires port forwarding, etc.)

Of course they still need to install the client, which might require IT permission.

I am sure there are many other solutions.  (This page has a (incomplete?) list)

[Hooovahh]

We have a corporate license for TeamViewer and it works pretty well for small the medium sized teams.  We pay by the concurrent connection.  So even though we have 10 people in the group, and we have probably 40 computers that are in the group that can be remoted into, we are only paying for 1 concurrent connection license.  If someone is connected and someone else tries to connect it gives an error.  We plan on buying more but the large majority of the time people are at their desk and can remote desktop into the station they are checking on.  They only need it if they are checking on a station, while working from home.  The way we use it, it is pretty uncommon for multiple people to need to be connected at once.  Development still takes place on your local computer.

As the corporate manager of the license I can add, remove, and update computers and they just show up in everyone elses list of computers to connect to.  There is also a mobile app that works well.

A few years ago TeamViewer was hacked, and since then they lock down security a lot more.  Either needing 2 factor authentication for every login, or specifying authorized devices that need to be added via an email before being able to use it.

It seems to get around all network and firewall issues and just works, even in places that have poor, or locked down internet connectivity.

They say it is free to use for personal use.  But based on your activity they may flag your account as a business and say you need to start paying.  

[wiebe@CARYA]

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@Hooovahh wrote:

They say it is free to use for personal use.  But based on your activity they may flag your account as a business and say you need to start paying.  

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If you use it for business, you can't use it privately anymore. At least, that's what I hear.

My colleague uses it privately, and since he used our license (for his first business usage), TV knows he has it and he can't help his grandy anymore, as that is private use... He wants to play by the rules, and got punished for it. Not sure if he followed my advice to contact TV or if that helped. 

[PaulG.]

I use Chrome everywhere and that would be my first choice, but my IT guy is leaning towards TeamViewer, and that seems to be a good option. Whatever we choose we try it Monday.