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Recently, someone in my family was not able to get into their home PC with their password, and called for assistance. This means having to drive down to the machine to see what they are doing, and log in with the appropriate account that can reset that password. Work commitments preclude driving there right away to see what is happening, and I am trying to locate a remote access solution. If they were logged into the machine, I could use some sort of remote assistance tool, but that is not an option in this case. There is the possibility of setting up SSH or OpenVPN to access the machine via the Internet, but I am not certain leaving those tools running all the time is the smartest idea in this day and age.
What recommendations do the Soylent community have for securely managing a machine over the Internet when someone is not logged into it?
(Score: 3, Funny) by SDRefugee on Sunday April 30 2017, @01:29PM (11 children)
Teamviewer.... That's what I use...
America should be proud of Edward Snowden, the hero, whether they know it or not..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 30 2017, @01:41PM (7 children)
Teamviewer 12 is getting spammy with the popup ads, in addition to its little annoyances such as hiding the user's desktop wallpaper for the duration of the session. I'm evaluating Remote Admin Tools for both use with friends/family and also as a business offering, and my interest dropped precipitously in regards to paying Teamviewer $700-cum-$850 for a license to serve my customers popup ads via an app I had them install.
I'm definitely interested in checking out the alternatives I hope others recommend here.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 30 2017, @02:12PM (6 children)
If you are using it for commercial use, you should pay up.
Freeloader.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 30 2017, @03:10PM (2 children)
Your assumption is incorrect. My evaluation is totally covered under their personal use provisions. What I see during the evaluation is quite unsettling and unbecoming for a "professional" product, thus my interest in other tools.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 30 2017, @03:16PM (1 child)
So you are actually saying that you are a fucking moron as well as being cheap. I get it.
Perhaps your 'customers' should look elsewhere for quality support.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 30 2017, @03:34PM
Look at the title of the post. Read the post. Do you see anything about supporting clients or customers? No. It is about supporting family members. It is you that is the moron.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 30 2017, @06:22PM (1 child)
If you are using it for commercial use, you should pay up.
Freeloader.
Yup, time to start charging! Pimp your family, I always say! What is the point of having relatives, if you can't profit off of them? It's the Betsy DeVos "school" of though!
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Monday May 01 2017, @11:14AM
Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #111 clearly states: "Treat people in your debt like family... exploit them."
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 2) by SDRefugee on Sunday April 30 2017, @07:51PM
Dunno WHY I'm replying to an AC, but anyway, I use Teamviewer to support my FAMILY... Which is DEFINATELY NOT a commercial enterprise.. Unless you and Teamviewer consider cookies or a fruitcake once a year as "commercial".....
America should be proud of Edward Snowden, the hero, whether they know it or not..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 30 2017, @01:54PM (1 child)
slaveware for remote access? yeah right.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 30 2017, @04:56PM
Closed source and proprietary are two huge strikes against Teamviewer, I agree. For Windows users, it's three primary draws are its generally good behavior (sans new popup ads), it's ease and cleanliness of installation (allowing for manual tweaking to keep it from always running), and it's third-party server relaying to overcome all manner of unexplored network shennanigans one might see in a home or non-profit environment.
A VPN to an open-source VNC server under my own control really should be the approach I look at next.
(Score: 2) by Popeidol on Monday May 01 2017, @01:11PM
This. It's cross platform, free for personal use, handles all kinds of dodgy or badly designed networks, and doesn't require a full install for people you're supporting - just get them to grab and run the quicksupport exe.
I previously used a reverse VNC client for the same thing. Teamviewer requires less maintenance and works better in a wider variety of scenarios. For ad-hoc support of family and friends I haven't found anything better.