Which remote desktop?

[evilsatan]

Today I have been looking into remote desktop apps to help with software problems on clients machines. I really like TeamViewer but when I looked into the cost of it £889 seemed a bit steep, even though it is a lifetime payment. This is for the mid-range version which includes several additions over the £439 version:
http://www.teamviewer.com/licensing/index.aspx

I looked into RealVNC but from what I could make out you pay per client machine you intend to monitor/install to. I will be installing such software to all my PC builds so I can provide software support remotely so this will cost a fortune and I may not have to use it.

Are there any more recommendations of a decent remote desktop app at a decent price? TeamViewer has an iPhone app which may come in handy although no real problems could be solved using an iPhone.

Cheers

[Cooleo]

Why not Microsoft remote desktop?

[Sanj[UK]]

or VNC ?

[ant3b]

what about logmein? and has a iphone app also

[crashtestmac]

If all your clients are on one site and it is a windows environment then you can use Windows Terminal Services Gateway which i believe lets you just use the RDP clint but it is all done over SSL..!

[JonEp]

Logmein gets my recommendation does every think you could want to do but unlike other solutions where you send your customers a link for them to click to start the RDP session LMI requires each PC to be added to an account first.

VNC is another great solution.

[Conkers]

tightvnc.

http://www.tightvnc.com/

I use this with both iteleport & VNC Viewer on my iphone

[sirdave]

not free but i used NTR Support at a company i worked for, no need to pre install clients so can be used on any machine windows or mac, full access, file transfer etc, not sure about there pricing i do know they can be haggled with big time as we got them down to £400 for 2 users for a year you also get something like 10 monitored pcs/servers for that and its brandable.

Anyway get a free trial see what you think just expect a sales call as they are totally sales driven as a company, but to be honest the package gave us everything we needed for remote support/access.

[tom999]

Windows remote desktop
logmein (has a customer support option I believe)
tightVNC (Free), but be sure to secure it

[tronads]

We use UltraVNC at work, along with the standard Microsoft Remote Desktop. The reason we use both is some applications (Oracle) in certain instances require a bequeath (i think thats what its called) connection, which VNC gives but remote desktop doesnt.
It home I use the free version of Logmein, which is just superb.

[Over Carl]

MS RDP does the job but if your resolution isn't the same as the pc you are accessing, you may find you mess up the locations of their icons.

VNC is great and free - I used to use realvnc but now the new images have tightvnc instead as it seems to work better with versions of windows after xp and is easier to ctrl-alt-del to login. I would advise not putting the viewer on user's pc's - over here some users sussed the p/w and started having fun with other users!

For logmein type services in the event of needing to support a user and not having a vpn, I use mikogo - totally free of charge

[evilsatan]

Thanks for the fast replies, will work my way down the list and give them a try. I have had experience with logmein and VNC before but it was a while ago.

[tombott]

Just use VNC, I prefer RealVNC Free edition myself.
Just make sure you use strong passwords.

[Mystical_2K]

would highly recommend logmein mate, great service

[x_Mr_C_x]

I use logmein for accessing my internal network and personal PCs and the iPhone app works great.
For customers PCs I generally use GotoAssist Express. I usually get the Day pass at $9.95 and bill this to the customer. If you don't do that much remote support then this option is good value.

I am also a fan of Teamviewer but the price scared me away

[DejaVu]

Without question. All them are crap or mediocre at best.

Windows Remote Desktop = Flakey and Firewall/Port dependent - Sooo many issues it's stupid!

http://www.networklookout.com/employees_pro.htm
Is the dogs danglies. How else can you remote view ALL computers on the network at once - install the 'Agent' remotely without the need to leave your PC to install it AND can control the PC simply by pressing the button.

[tombott]

Without question. All them are crap or mediocre at best.

Windows Remote Desktop = Flakey and Firewall/Port dependent - Sooo many issues it's stupid!

http://www.networklookout.com/employees_pro.htm
Is the dogs danglies. How else can you remote view ALL computers on the network at once - install the 'Agent' remotely without the need to leave your PC to install it AND can control the PC simply by pressing the button.

lol, not being funny but they just uses VNC and gives you a front end manager.
You can roll out VNC to remote PC's easily, there are plenty of Free tools out there that let you do this, as there are plenty of free VNC managers.
i really don't see the point in spending serious money on things that are available freely and legally!

[evilsatan]

Only problem I can see with RealVNC is the free edition doesn't support Windows 7 and the pay for edition is £20 per PC and I may find I never have to use it on numerous PCs. I will keep looking through the list and work out pros and cons

[tombott]

Only problem I can see with RealVNC is the free edition doesn't support Windows 7 and the pay for edition is £20 per PC and I may find I never have to use it on numerous PCs. I will keep looking through the list and work out pros and cons

TightVNC works on Windows 7.