Connecting remotely to my SL Macs

If its over the same network, Id recommend using VLC - its how I connect to all my G4 Servers over my home network. Otherwise, MobileMe or one of the countless commercial tools is probably your only option.

 

MobileMe or any other commercial tool is not required.

chrismacguy, how you are using VLC to connect to G4? Do you mean VNC? The operative word in the OP's post is "remotely."

Here is the basic way to do this:

1. Decide what you want to remotely access. Your Mac Pros screen, file share, ssh, etc etc.

2. Forward the necessary ports on your router to your Mac Pro. For example, for AFP you want to forward 548. For Screen Sharing (VNC) you want to forward 5900. 22, for SSH. You can view a list of common ports here: http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1629

For details on forwarding ports on your router, look it up here: http://portforward.com

3. Determine your external IP address: http://whatismyip.com

4. You likely have a dynamic IP, so you can either take a look everyday to make sure it is the same, or use a service like DynDNS. If you do this, DynDNS will give you a resolvable hostname which will be tied to your external IP via a dashboard widget which will update your IP periodically.

5. Once you have this setup, you can connect to your Mac Pro remotely.

This can be done without buying anything. And is easy to setup and maintain.

 

One of the easiest ways is to use LogMeIn. (Just use LogMeIn Free and create an account.)

With it you can access your comp from anywhere else through a web browser, and control it as if you were sitting in front of it.

I use it all the time with my home/work machines to do tasks remotely. For sending files to myself, I simply use FTP. I'm pretty sure even the free account allows unlimited machines, plus you can add other users and access prefs.

Personally I find it takes a lot of hassle out of things- it's secure, and there's no IP or router twiddling required.