Questions on controlling Home PC remotely - i.e. security and performance

Hi everyone,

I've been madly researching everything I can find on remote control of home
pc. I'm about to go away for two weeks and will be taking my laptop.
Unfortunately, I will only have dial-up access whilst away.

Four that I've looked at are:

1.Windows XP - Remote Desktop
2.PCRemote
3.Logmein
4.Gotomypc

Windows XP Remote Desktop is the most economical option as I have XP on two
home PCs that are networked as well as XP Home on my laptop. I believe so
long as the host machine (Home PC) has XP, client machines will function
with XP Home (i.e.laptop from holiday location). I've also read Microsoft
has an extra download for XP Home. I'm not sure if this gives XP Home the
same functionality as XP Pro, but it's something to look into further.

My main concerns are security and peformance. My home PCs are networked via
a Linksys router (which also acts as a firewall). I will need to install
firewall software on my laptop once it's not part of the home network. If
any of you could share your thoughts on easy-to-configure software for this
purpose I'd be ever so grateful. (I often hear talk about Zone Labs or Zone
Alarm). I have Avast Antivirus already installed.

The next issue I'd like to learn more about is performance. At home I have
ADSL and, as mentioned, I have my PCs networked via the router. I have the
IP addresses for both computers. As I only have dial-up while away I'm
wanting to know that I remotely control my main PC at home via the laptop,
say for checking and sending email, which internet connection is used? I'm
thinking the dial-up connection will slow down any commands I will be
sending to the home PC, but that the actual functions carried out, i.e.
checking and send email from my home PC, would use my home ADSL connection.
Is that correct? It all gets a bit like mathematics after a while...I get
the formula at the beginning but once I add in too many variables I soon
lose the plot.

Let's say I'm correct and functions I'm carrying out remotely are being
performed by the home pc - what about applications, such as Word, Shorthand,
Dragon Naturally Speaking. Will I be able to use these apps remotely (as if
I was sitting in front of the Home PC) without performance suffering? Or do
I need the apps to also be installed on the laptop? The reason I ask is
that in the past when I've used the laptop whilst away I have to wait while
it catches up - i.e. it lags when I'm using Word/Shorthand, whilst
transcribing voice files using DSS Player and USB footpedal.

So many questions, I know, but I have to admit the technicalities do get the
better of me sometimes.

Sorry for the very long post and hope I've managed to explain things clearly
enough.

Any help with the above would be great appreciated as I leave for two weeks
away in a couple of days.

Cheers and best wishes to all,

Julie (MT in Oz)






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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Questions on controlling Home PC remotely - i.e. security and performance
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