SG Broadband Community

So, I use TeamViewer to access some of my home PCs, and help relatives at times. I've gotten quite accustomed to having it in my toolbox throughout the years, even though I only use it a couple of times a month. The benefits being that setup is easy, it does not require messing up with multiple router/firewall port forwards and rules, and that you can view machines that are online, you can have a list without having to remember all their IPs/ports. I've also used UltraVNC, RDC and various other connections, but setup takes quite a bit longer and there is no way to save a list of machines to connect to (just try explaining to a senior citizen about firewall exceptions and router port forwarding so you can connect to their PC..)

Recently, TeamViewer cutoff my account because of "commercial use suspected" (it is free for personal use, but costs close to $600/year for the commercial license). I am absolutely not paying them that insane annual fee for VNC replacement, and I filled out a form stating it is not being used commercially, takes 2-3 weeks to get a response. Also, it started coming up with weird errors, as in "The remote TeamViewer is running an older version that is not supported anymore. Therefore you cannot connect." ... WTH? It was working recently, they just decided to prevent me from connecting with my 13.2 version to another machine on my own home network that has the same 13.2 version because it is a year old and no longer supported... If I don't have physical access to the remote machine at the moment I can't connect to it.

Long story short, I am tired of their team strong-arming their own user base. Is there another program that would work well as a substitute, besides RDC and VNC? Preferably without having to do too much setup on the remote machine, and something to keep a list of machines on my end so I don't have to type IPs/ports all the time? I don't like Chrome Remote Desktop as it is tied to my google account.

Splashtop? AnyDesk? Anything else that you've tried and works well?

For "free"...AnyDesk has taken over as the popular remote app for a lot of 1x man show IT people. Splashtop also...not sure if they still have a true free version, but it's a well known name.

Dameware has been around a long time, had a free version, think it's still free after Solarwinds picked them up.
Also check out "Remote Utilities"...(yes..that's it's name).
And AeroAdmin

Thanks for those ideas, will definitely check them out. Below is a summary of their pricing structure..

Dameware Mini -- $270 (includes a year of support)
Splashtop -- $8.25/month to access 10 computers, various pricing. Free LAN access for up to 5 computers lol.
Teamviewer -- $49/month, $600/year

Anydesk -- free for personal use (unlimited endpoints, no address book, business use is $10.99/month or more)
AeroAdmin -- free limited (up to 17 hours/month, up to 20 endpoints, "pro" version costs $80/year). "Contact book" is only available with Free Plus or Pro license.
Remote Utilities -- free limited (up to 10 endpoints, "starter" version with 20 endpoints costs $99 one time)

I guess I will fall back to VNC and try AeroAdmin, etc. where I don't want to bother with router config.

Philip wrote:
Anydesk one user -- $10.99/month ($132/year, unlimited endpoints, no address book for that price)

AnyDesk should still be 100% for "personal use".

YeOldeStonecat wrote:AnyDesk should still be 100% for "personal use".

Ah, you are right, it is free for personal use, must've missed that.

Kind of scary if you're the one asking.

Sorry, no suggestions.

RealVNC at work, TeamViewer with my father.

Curious, what's wrong with RealVNC from your end, (if other than TeamViewer is a hell of a lot easier for my father)?

Apologies if you mentioned it, long week.

The only advantage is ease of use... Two parts to it for me:

1) I have a list of remote computers that I can name, and see which ones are online.
2) I can explain to my elder relatives who are not very computer savvy how to install Teamviewer in 2 minutes. I've had hell of a time trying to make them login to their cable modem and forward ports to make VNC or RDC work.

Philip wrote:The only advantage is ease of use... Two parts to it for me:

1) I have a list of remote computers that I can name, and see which ones are online.
2) I can explain to my elder relatives who are not very computer savvy how to install Teamviewer in 2 minutes. I've had hell of a time trying to make them login to their cable modem and forward ports to make VNC or RDC work.

For #1, that does sound useful.

At work I have a RealVNC list of all the computers/servers in the store, normally around 15.

Just a desktop folder with RealVNC shortcut links to each specific IP.

yeah the old school programs like PcAnywhere, VNC, Timbuktu, Carbon Copy, etc....those that require port forwarding, they're so..."1990's"...and of course it exposes the computer to being exploited via the requirements of port forwarding. And the need to know the WAN IP address (either static, or some cheesy pizza tech dynamic DNS service).

New/current gen remote apps, you just have a centralized dashboard to log into and hit any/all computers on your list regardless of what IP they have from their ISP, transparently proxied through firewalls, etc.

A huge part of my daily activities is using remote apps to get to our clients computers/servers...however ours is built into our RMM, N-Central, which uses a couple of different remote desktop apps but the primary one is MSPAnywhere...a very robust remote app with many built in tools. However it's not free...our RMM is 5x digits in cost annually.

And make sure you Two Factor any remote app.

Does Anydesk retain a list of previously connected computers and a standalone program like teamviewer quick support? If so I will try it too. I too am tired of TeamViewer nagging me about "older versions" and cutting the connection after X minutes. And I sure as hell am not going to pay them an annual license fee. The advantage of TeamViewer is that all I have to do is tell the relative to go to teamviewer.com > download and run teamviewer quick support, so easy to walk them through it.

Tony, for those "quick one time" help sessions, the easiest remote I've worked with is Join.Me
https://www.join.me/

it's just one time quick support, not a lasting agent.

I went through the same thing but TeamViewer received so many complaints they have relaxed their security to what it was before. I still use it and do not get "commercial use suspected" at all anymore.

I had to send in a signed testament that I am not using it commercially to get it unlocked. I still cannot connect to a different/older version of Teamviewer, which sucks. I am using Ultra VNC more than Teamviewer these days.

I'm just wary of "free" ones. Security is of utmost importance these days (should be). How much money is being invested into security by the "free ones"? Imagine the "pot of gold" awaiting the hacker who busts into the servers of some remote desktop service that doesn't invest much in security? The ability to now be able to tunnel into tens or hundreds of thousands of various computers all over the world? It's not just simple ability to log in..it's the ability to poison the remote agent via some software exploit, perhaps disguised as some update to the software agents....that gets installed on all the various computers.

A good trusted brand name...and at minimal...supporting 2FA.

Another low cost one for IT people I didn't mention above...
https://www.housecallpro.com/

Stumbled on this newish one in a tech group
https://www.corporatearmor.com/connect-and-fix

A "port" of Teamviewer, apparently FREE...even for biz use.
https://ultraviewer.net/en/

Ultraviewer looks interesting.. The company seems a bit immature, and out of Vietnam, probably needs some proper sniffing/vetting to figure if it calls home.

Philip wrote:out of Vietnam

Damn! I need my drugs again (lights up joint)

WTH?!?!?!?!? Post count down to 1?!?!?!?!? Well... 2 now.....