VNC: Remote Desktop for Free
Have you ever been at school, work, or a friend’s house, and needed to get on your home computer? If so, you may want to set up a Remote Desktop system. Remote Desktop systems let you control your computer from other computers, giving you access to all your files and applications. You may even want to control computers on your home LAN. Apple’s Remote Desktop starts at $300, but there is a free and easy alternative.
VNC, or Virtual Network Computing, is a remote desktop protocol that many free clients and servers utilize. OSXVNc, the server I use, is available here.
When you start the app, you are given a preferences window, in which
you can set the server password and more. Now, if you want to access your computer from outside your network, and you are using a router, you will need to forward the port 5900 to the computer on which the server is running. Note that in order to access your computer remotely, your computer must be on and connected to the internet.
On the client side, there are many options available. If you are looking for a Mac VNC client, I have found Chicken of the VNC the best, which is also free. But if you are not on your own Mac, there is a very easy way to connect to your home computer. RealVNC, who makes VNC clients and servers for Linux and Windows, also makes a Java applet VNC client that can run on almost any computer. This Google search will give you many mirrors for this Java applet. All you need to do is enter your IP or domain name, as well as your password. Speaking of IP addresses, if you don’t have a domain for your home network, you will need to remember or write down your IP address. If you plan to use VNC frequently, you may consider getting a free domain name from a service like DynDNS. Also, your IP will most likely change every time you restart your modem, so you may want to grab a updating utility, which are also available at DynDNS.
Remote Desktop may not work well with laptop owners and those who don’t keep their Macs running all the time, but nonetheless, VNC is a great, free solution.
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