Accessing iMac Remotely-How?

[daveyjokes]

Hi there, sorry if this may be obvious to some of you, but I was just wondering, if I was to leave my iMac on and connected to the internet via a Wireless Belkin DSL Router (which is also connected to a PC Latpop), how would I go about accessing it, say, from a Mac in an Apple Store connected to the internet, or a Mac accross the road? And how about a PC accessing my Mac (if you happen to know)?

Thanks in advance, Tom.

 

[NJuul]

You could setup your mac as an FTP server, and access it from whereever with an FTP client.
Cyberduck is a nice free mac FTP client. You enable FTP in the "Sharing" preference pane.

 

[Gee]

Or you could set up a VNC server on your Mac, and use a VNC client on a PC or Mac (or PDA even!) to access it. Search for Chicken of thr VNC and OSXVNC.

You will probably need to sign up for a fixed IP address from your provider if you want to do this on a regular basis, otherwise your computer will keep 'moving'.

 

[72930]

Or you could set up a VNC server on your Mac, and use a VNC client on a PC or Mac (or PDA even!) to access it. Search for Chicken of thr VNC and OSXVNC.

You will probably need to sign up for a fixed IP address from your provider if you want to do this on a regular basis, otherwise your computer will keep 'moving'.

Please could someone give me a step by step guide for getting a fixed IP address. I heard about DynDNS, but do not know what to o with it. I can access my brother's and sister's macbooks in the same room, but when they're somewhere else, it does not work (Chicken of the VNC).

 

[Gee]

Please could someone give me a step by step guide for getting a fixed IP address. I heard about DynDNS, but do not know what to o with it. I can access my brother's and sister's macbooks in the same room, but when they're somewhere else, it does not work (Chicken of the VNC).

Well essentially on a home broadband connection, every time you reconnect your provider assigns you a new ip address dynamically. For extra money, you can buy a fixed ip address from your provider that won't change when you restart.

I'm not sure how you can get a fixed ip when you're out and about and using other wifi sources, because every access point will assign you a new ip.

 

[72930]

Well essentially on a home broadband connection, every time you reconnect your provider assigns you a new ip address dynamically. For extra money, you can buy a fixed ip address from your provider that won't change when you restart.

I'm not sure how you can get a fixed ip when you're out and about and using other wifi sources, because every access point will assign you a new ip.

Really, I want to be able to control my sister's macbook when I'm at my home and she is at hers. Is DynDNS not a possibility?

 

[thewhitehart]

Really, I want to be able to control my sister's macbook when I'm at my home and she is at hers. Is DynDNS not a possibility?

Yes, absolutely. The client for OS X allows your mac to update DynDNS every time its IP address changes. The IP address is matched to any one of several free domain names you can choose from.

As long as you forward a particular port on your mac's private IP address to your broadband modem's IP address, you can access that service from anywhere in the world. By not letting the computer's drives go to sleep, you can use the terminal to establish an SSH connection to your sister's macbook.

Your sister's mac (the server, in this case), will enable SSH in the 'Sharing' pane, thus opening the firewall for that particular port on her mac's IP address. DynDNS on her mac will give her mac a static domain name for you to use by updating DynDNS with her changing IP address. If she is behind a router herself, she must set the router to forward requests on your broadband modem's SSH port to the mac's private IP address.

When her mac has a static IP address, or DynDNS running, you can access her mac 24/7, from anywhere. It's important not to let the computer sleep if is to be used as a server.

 

[Gee]

Interesting. It all depends what you want to be able to do with your sister's computer and how complex you want to get. I use the VNC solution with my parents for occassional troubleshooting, which works fine. I just ring them up and ask them what their current IP address is, then connect that way with Chicken of the VNC.