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Dear Aunt TUAW: From Earth to Romania

by Erica Sadun Sep 1st 2010 at 10:00AM

Dear Aunt TUAW,

I have a late 2008 MacBook Pro and a 4 year old MacBook Pro that I will be taking to Romania next month to give to my in-laws so we can video conference with them. Seeing as they are not very computer literate, I want to be able to perform remote control / screen sharing in case the need should arise.

I know that OSX has built-in screen sharing capabilities on a local network, but over the Internet is something else altogether. I know that there are several services, such as LogMeIn, that provide this service for a fee, but I was wondering if I could do this without paying for a service.

Can you direct me to some documentation as to how to set this up? ssh configuration, port forwarding on the firewall, etc.... that might be able to get me started? Or make a recommendation that would be how you would do this.

Love,

Your Nephew Chris M.

Dear Chris,

While there are a number of available solutions, not the least of which include iChat and Skype, Auntie is going to recommend LogMeIn, the service that you mentioned (but you were worried about pricing). LogMeIn has a free, basic package that offers remote desktop access from any Flash-enabled Web browser.

You install the free client software on the computers you're going to bring to Romania, and then you can enable remote access from the LogMeIn software. For security, you can add an extra layer of access-control passwording in addition to normal user account authentication.

The LogMeIn client is smart enough to set itself up to reinitialize after reboots, so your in-laws will remain on-line and accessible, even if the computer has to be restarted; that's something you don't get with iChat screen sharing. And if you're worried about access overseas, don't be. A LogMeIn spokesperson assured TUAW that, "whether the computer is located in the same room or on the other side of the Earth, the setup is the same."

Paid options beyond the free remote control feature include a $30 iPad client (which TUAW found well made and easy to use) and upgrades that allow you to use local printers and disk drives to interact with your remote client. You can read about those upgrades here. Going by your letter, however, all the features you initially need should be available in the free package.

Best of luck with the trip, and congratulations on finding good homes for your old friends.

Love,

Auntie T.

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Dear Aunt TUAW, I have a late 2008 MacBook Pro and a 4 year old MacBook Pro that I will be taking to Romania next month to give to my...
 

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23 Comments

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julian

Dear aunt tuaw,
I wish i could annotate my pdfs on my mac with audio but i cant seem to find an app that does this by itself. Circus Ponies is great but it doesnt allow me to do both PDF and Voice annotation.
Am I missing this magical app?
thanks

September 07 2010 at 8:01 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Eugen M.

I would suggest to think twice before writing such a statement without scruples. What you wrote can not be generalized, regardless of nationality that would be raised. Admittedly, there are plenty of both Romanian and Americans, Germans, Poles, Chinese, etc.. who earn their bread by all sorts of unorthodox methods. So such cases can be linked closely with a specific individual or more than a marginalized group of people but not a nation. All the best.

Ți-aș sugera să te gândești de două ori înainte să scrii o astfel de afirmație fără scrupule. Ceea ce ai scris nu poate fi generalizat, indiferent de naționalitatea care ar fi adusă în discuție. Este adevărat, există destui români atât cât și americani, nemți, polonezi, chinezi etc. care își câștigă pâinea prin tot felul de metode neortodoxe. Deci, astfel de cazuri pot fi corelate strict cu un individ anume sau cel mult cu un grup marginalizat de oameni dar nu cu o națiune. Toate cele bune

September 04 2010 at 7:49 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
uncle_bob

You *have* to watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HDM6ERbBKA

September 01 2010 at 10:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to uncle_bob's comment
Eugen M.

Very funny. But we can not apply to all Romanians.
Foarte caraghios. Dar nu se poate aplica tuturor românilor.

September 04 2010 at 8:11 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
milkmage

@Chris

don't forget to set up a user account that's "limited" most problems are self inflicted - don't give them admin access.




September 01 2010 at 11:15 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
homan2

I use logmein daily- there is a free version for Mac and PC. Just needed to register the computers and create an account, never had to do any firewall or router config for logmein, and can log in remotely from a web browser (though I do prefer logmein ignition for iphone/ipad, it's 30$, but well worth it, IMO).

I like iChat as well, but I tend to use that for connecting to Macs that aren't mine, like friends and family who will be at the computer for on-demand troubleshooting.

September 01 2010 at 11:07 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to homan2's comment
Eddie

THJ, now that's an interesting idea -- I hadn't thought of that. I've had some friends call for Mac support, but I've walked them through the process over the phone instead of having them add their computer to my LogMeIn account. I'll have to look into this further. Thanks for the tip!

September 01 2010 at 11:46 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
GlennAC

Same here, Have had a free LogMeIn account since 2007. Just add the computers of friends and family and you are set! And I agree, the LogMeIn Ignition for iPhone/iPad is well worth the one-time charge of $29 to access a free account.

September 01 2010 at 10:07 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Roberto

I can't believe the amount of gipsy-phobia in this thread.
Personally I would go for an IPv6 tunnel on both your and their Macs. That way, if Apple RDP is IPv6 aware, your in-laws Mac will look like they are on the same LAN.

September 01 2010 at 11:03 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Massimo

Jeez... just use iChat already. It's already there, requires no set-up and you can use talk to the end user.

September 01 2010 at 10:49 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
welchb

Not only is teamviewer free and lighter weight than a lot of the alternatives, (if you want to set it up this way) you can initiate from your end without confirmation on their end, even - PLUS the iphone client is *ridiculously* good. And works surprisingly well over 3g. And it's also free.

September 01 2010 at 10:47 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
pskennedySOS

TeamViewer is also a free option...

LogMeIn is great but IMO, it's nothing compared to a true SSH-tunneled VNC remote access.

Granted to make this secure, it requires a little config...

e-mail me @ pskennedysos@gmail.com if you want a little more info on setting up a SSH-tunneled VNC connection.

September 01 2010 at 10:38 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Randal

Try team viewer. It's free works from osx/windows and iPhone/touch and iPad.

September 01 2010 at 10:37 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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