Working Remote?
Having a Remote Desktop tool is a terrific bonus. For a few years I’ve used Teamviewer to remote control the computers of my kids and family members. As an IT Consultant, I’m the goto person for fixing any computer problems and/or helping with online homework, answering weird questions about why some piece of software works (or doesn’t!).
But for the last few months Teamviewer has decided that something about the way I frequently help my technology challenged Uncle in Spain makes it a commercial transaction. It’s not commercial, I am just helping a family member…. A lot ?
This morning I was once again using it PERSONALLY, signing onto my daughters macbook to help her with homework but *PARP* the software blocked me saying this was COMMERCIAL use. Boohoo.
Unfortunately once Teamviewer decides you are doing these remote sessions as a job, it restricts the sessions to a few minutes. ?
I’ve asked Teamviewer for help. No reply. I’ve left a support ticket and pleaded to remove this restriction but no joy.
So, my only option is to pay $$ for the premium version. Which I would… but.. the price is ridiculous!
“I would pay for the Teamviewer Pro version, but at $600 a year for their cheapest subscription model it’s outrageously overpriced.”
Me. Watching my pennies.
So, reluctantly I tried many different remote desktop tools. All were clunky, complicated or just not as smooth and easy to use as Teamviewer. Hashtag sad face.
Teamviewer – Free Remote Desktop Alternatives
So, after trying a few different free contenders:
- cloudberry remote desktop – good but glitchy. Frequently dropping connection and I could never get the audio to stream with a good quality
- chrome remote desktop – smooth to use but forces you to use Google Chrome. As a Firefox/Edge user, this is a pain.
- Ultra VNC – neat solution but a technical setup means it’s hard to configure on remote machines for people like my Uncle who is not tech savvy. I didn’t like the setup on Apple devices either.
- and a few open source packages…
I finally stumbled across this excellent alternative
RemotePC by iDrive
REMOTEPC is $50 for 10 machines and it’s rather bloody good!
RemotePC uses RSA algorithm-based encrypted sessions and all connections are secured by SSL encryption. on a technical note, this means your connections are nice and secure. This is great to know for us propeller heads.
For the non-propeller heads (like my Uncle Dave) they just know that its super easy to use and its safe. This remote desktop tool works on Windows, Mac and iOS. I’ve played with this to connect to my Uncles Windows PC in Spain, and my daughter’s college MacBook in South Carolina. Both worked flawlessly. Great work iDrive!
Unk knows that he can simply click a menu option and let me see his computer screen, and I can then request control and take over his mouse and keyboard to help him with whatever computer questions he has. ?
If you are looking for a FREE replacement for Teamviewer – Remote PC your clear winner.
Want to watch a video of Remote PC in action?
Download it and enjoy some simple remote control.
While you are downloading, here is some blurb iDrive’s website:
Why RemotePC for your Enterprise?
- Remote Deployment Allow deployment for users and grant them permission to install RemotePC on other computers and access them remotely.
- Computer Grouping Add computers, organize them into groups, and view the most recently accessed computers.
- User Management Create new user accounts, organize them into groups, provide access permissions and more.
- Remote Control Users can remotely access the computers assigned to them from anywhere, anytime.
- Remote Reboot Reboot the remote computer in normal mode or safe mode (for Windows) from your RemotePC desktop application or web dashboard.
- File Transfer Enable or disable permission for your users to transfer files between computers.
- Security Remote access is secure with TLSv 1.2/AES 256 encryption. Option to set unique Personal Key for computers, acts as a secondary password.
- Scalability Add more remote computers to your plan, based on your needs; no additional hardware or software required.
- Mass deployment Remotely install the RemotePC application on multiple target PCs and Macs in one-go.
- Logs and Reports Track activities across entire account or individual users with remote access logs and web activity logs.
- Compliance We assist businesses using our remote access solutions to meet regulatory compliance governing their industry.
- Single Sign-On Allow users to access RemotePC by signing in to a central identity provider.
Feel free to check out RemotePC and share your feedback in the comment section below.