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Miguel Cunha

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 14, 2012
389
102
Braga, Portugal
Hello!

I need to fully access and control a Mac from another Mac in a different network.
What is the best solution for that?

Thank you!
 
I use TeamViewer (personal edition) for doing that very thing.

Different network, location, state, etc.
 
I can't for the life of me understand why Apple doesn't have this feature built-in anymore.

I've used TeamViewer in the past. It worked well enough, but required some effort from the user running the Mac you wish to connect to. Things may have changed since then (it's been several years).
 
I can't for the life of me understand why Apple doesn't have this feature built-in anymore.
It is.

 
It is.

It isn't. Apple's Screen Sharing and Remote Desktop offer no provisions for connecting to Macs on other networks. In order to connect to Macs using these tools, one either needs to manually open ports on their router or establish a VPN connection into the network where the remote Mac is located. Additionally the user needs to know the IP address or domain name of the remote Mac. Tools like TeamViewer, Jump Desktop, and Screens can all automatically configure this and don't require the user to reconfigure their networks to use them.
 
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It is.

Hold it!
I thought Apple Remote Desktop only worked in the same network.
 
It isn't. Apple's Screen Sharing and Remote Desktop offer no provisions for connecting to Macs on other networks. In order to connect to Macs using these tools, one either needs to manually open ports on their router or establish a VPN connection into the network where the remote Mac is located. Additionally the user needs to know the IP address or domain name of the remote Mac. Tools like TeamViewer, Jump Desktop, and Screens can all automatically configure this and don't require the user to reconfigure their networks to use them.
I do video editing, so I need something with low latency. Which one would be the best?
 
I do video editing, so I need something with low latency. Which one would be the best?
None of these are good enough for video editing. I wouldn't even attempt to edit video over a direct Ethernet connection with two computers sitting right next to each other on the same network.
 
The goal is to make rough cuts, to save time.
I suspect you’re gonna need to modify your goals ;) Precision mouse movements over any sort of remote connection, are going to have latency. That’s going to REALLY slow down editing, even “rough cuts”. Try a couple of the free solutions, if they seem even AT ALL close to what you need then you can look at the paid options to smooth it out a “little bit.” But if the free solutions slow you down as much as I expect they will - paid ain’t gonna change that enough to matter.
 
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