Has anyone used remote desktop access to their Hub? Getting ready to set up a friend and he is very un-technical. Trying to find a way to help him if needed without driving 2 hours.
I am pretty sure his router/modem doesn't have any way to add VPN and he wouldn't want to get another one.
Your router doesn't need to support a VPN; you could run in on a tiny dedicated device like a Raspberry Pi (admittedly, the former option is usually easier to set up and it's one less device to worry about). There's no reason Remote Desktop wouldn't work, but you'd still need a way to access it from the Internet, and without a VPN, that's probably a bad idea, too.
Here's an idea, though. I'm assuming you'd only be helping him when he's around/at home? If so, if you're both on Windows, you could use Quick Assist or Remote Assistance (the latter is the only option in Windows 7, which is something else you'll probably want to worry about soon, but that's another story). If only he is on Windows but you aren't, you could also use screen-sharing features built into a lot of video chat apps like Skype. Neither would let you log in as yourself without intervention like RDP would, but both require no extra hardware, VPNs, dynamic domain names or IP addresses, and should at least be possible for non-techie people to get the hang of.
@j715 Another vote for Teamviewer. Once you both load it (free version) on your individual PC's the other person whom you are trying to help opens Teamviewer and gives you a user code and a pw. You type those into your Teamviewer screen and your in. You now have control of his system.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I would only need it when he is there. Mainly if he needs a new rule or something I can lead him thru it. My computer is Windows 10 and I believe his is also. So I'm gonna look into all those suggestions.
There are a few options for sure. Try it out and see which one is working best for you. I tried PiVPN, teamview, windows remote desktop and a few other one.
I find OpenVPN works really well with phone/tablet
Teamview works well with desktop on both Windows and Mac.
I was using VNC running on a Pi for a while but then had some issues. Now I'm using Teamviewer on Pi's at 2 properties and it's been very good, and like VNC it also has a free mode for non commercial activity. Recommended!
Vote for Teamviewer as it's the only one I've found that can be installed and setup to gain access to Windows pre-login and respond to any and all screen (UAC) popups.
So if you're the tech support person for Mom, Uncle Bud, or another neophyte family member or friend, TV is my goto unless you get busted for being "commercial."
I do mostly remote tech support. I bought several different versions of Teamviewer over the years but ditched the upgrade (every other version) after they went to a high-dollar subscription model in version 13. Basically it jumped in price to where it was no longer reasonable. I've stuck with version 11 and it's met most of my needs. But I've also subscribed to Splashtop and allow customers to remote into their own PCs under my license. Splashtop also allows Windows logins and to access all UAC prompts. One main advantage with Splashtop Personal with the (paid) Anywhere Access Pack is that you don't have to be concerned about being flagged as a potential commercial user which requires them reviewing your usage to manually unlock it. From:
Please know that we review every request that has been placed.
Due to the large number of requests we receive, answering the requests can take some time, although we are now aiming to solve all requests within seven business days . We are sorry for the inconvenience.
If you don't need to remote access more than 5 PCs, then Splashtop is pretty reasonable at $16.99/year.