Accessing Your Computer Remotely at a Fast Speed
I’ve been using some form of remote computing since 1989. First starting with PCAnywhere and then moving to GoToMyPC. PCAnywhere is a software based solution and GoToMyPC is a web based subscription solution. When PCAnywhere got bought out by Symantec, they started upgrading so frequently that I decided to go with GoToMyPC. A flate rate per year and no software to install or worry about whether you had the current version, plus it could be accessed from anywhere that had an internet connection.
Now, you can set up a virtual private network (VPN) without the use of either program (more about that later).
But in contacting our cable company to get a static IP address, they told me that I could have various speeds of accessing the internet, from a standard cable modem speed all the way up to the speed of a dedicated T1 line. Also, there were differences in speed in the ‘upload’ rates.
I was not familiar with what the upload speed rates were, but was told by my tech guy that it affected how fast I could access the office computers over the internet (e.g. remote computing). For a fairly small amount, I tripled the speed that we can access the office computers remotely.
The net effect is that I can be at home and working on my office machine and where there used to be a noticeable lag time, the remote access now is nearly at the same speed of sitting at the keyboard.
I had no idea and had never heard of increasing the upload time before. Check with your local internet provider and see what you can do to increase your upload time for faster remote access.
This is how the high speed companies make their money unfortunately. Any high speed connection comes with a extremely fast "download" speeds with upload speeds that are normally 5x's as slow.
Mostly because the average internet user doesn't send much data while surfing, but downloads a ton.
You'll notice in the pricing plans that the price jumps dramatically when you increase your upload speed, yet your download speed isn't increased much.
I must admit it's worth the extra cost if you want to telecommute. Any computer running windows XP with RDP (remote desktop protocol) enabled, which is free and already installed, and a connection with a fast upload speed can literally be controlling and viewing their office computer without any notice in lag.
This technology has come a long ways, and is really worth looking into!
Blake
David - another great addition to this is to download Hamachi from Logmein.com. Once you set up a personal vpn on Hamachi, you can use RDP to control your computer. However, the best of use Hamachi is to map your office drives to your local computer so the only data you need to move over the connection are the files themselves as opposed to sending all the graphic information with RDP or Gotomypc. You can also easily share printers this way. Since Hamachi is free it is a no brainer. This also allows you to close all the ports on your office and home routers thereby increasing security.
