macOS VNC for an idiot

[swartzfeger]

Howdy all,

I'm trying to do ongoing/long term macOS support for both my elderly dad and mother-in-law. Unfortunately I'm out of state and can't help either directly so I need to do remote screen sharing for helping them with their typical tasks.

It's been 20+ years since I've done any rudimentary networking so I'm trying to get up to speed. I did a test today with my two MBPs here using VNC w/ remote management turned on. So far, so good -- screen sharing worked brilliantly. But here's my question:

My girlfriend's Mac gives me a local address like vnc://192.*.*.* which is fine because that's a local address and we're on the same router.

When I have my dad enable/setup remote management on his Mac (2000+ miles away), he's going to give me a local address which does me no good.

How do I have him enable/setup remote management so I can easily screen share his mac? Apple Remote Desktop is $80 and was hoping to do it easily thru built-in vnc and without my dad having to setup any 3rd party software on his end.

Thanks for any advice/recommendations!

 

[MacUser2525]

My girlfriend's Mac gives me a local address like vnc://192.*.*.* which is fine because that's a local address and we're on the same router.

When I have my dad enable/setup remote management on his Mac (2000+ miles away), he's going to give me a local address which does me no good.

Have your dad install something like iStat menus which will allow him to tell you the public IP of his computer. Then of course he will need to go into the router and forward the port to allow you to connect.

 

[Erehy Dobon]

No installation of iStat Menus is necessary. Visiting any network discovery website should reveal his public IP address.

Just search for "findmyip" on your favorite search engine and try one of those results.

However, MacUser2525 is correct in the second part: your elderly father will need to configure his router to forward the necessary ports to his device.

It might be worthwhile to do a dry run with someone outside of your household whom you trust and write each step down very assiduously.

Skilled corporate IT types are familiar with this type of activity as well as many of the possible pitfalls that might be encountered. Regular consumers will not have the same wisdom so documenting as much as possible and doing a few tests beforehand will make the process so much smoother.

 

[Runs For Fun]

I know you want to avoid third party software but I think that’s actually the easier way to go. Something like TeamViewer or Anydesk are free for personal use and will be much more secure than VNC. Exposing VNC to the internet is asking for trouble unless you’re tunneling it over SSH or a VPN. VNC by itself isn’t a secure protocol and is regularly exploited in the wild.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Consider using JumpDesktop. It will make the setup and overall process easy for both sides.

TeamViewer works as well but, I found the UI application very clunky compared to JumpDesktop (re: having to point and tap with finger etc.) Maybe I missed the Trackpad support option or Apple Pencil option with TV.

 

[velocityg4]

Use spiceworks for a free Zoho session. It's really easy to setup. It's only good for a one time session. So no worries about it sticking around.

Then once you have control. You can configure whatever permanent solution you want at both ends. Although I use the paid version of Zoho for permanent installations afterward. Teamviewer updates are a pain. But you can setup some VNC once you have control.

Remote Support - Unlimited Usage & Free for Businesses

Connect and control other computers across the Internet, by sending users a quick URL. Unlimited sessions, technicians, and workstations, all for free!

community.spiceworks.com

 

[mmomega]

www.ipchicken.com will show your external IP address from any browser.
Getting the external IP is only part 1 of the plan without using another remote desktop software.

Without making things too complicated, in my opinion, if you want a relatively simple process you can use Google Chrome Remote Desktop.
If Chrome is installed on both computers.

Go to https://remotedesktop.google.com/access from Google Chrome.

The access tab allows you to set up remote desktop to that computer and your google account as often as you want to log in to it.

The remote support tab gives 2 choices, for single time use connections.
- The first is Get Support, so your dad chooses this and it will generate a code.
- Give Support, you enter the code dad gives you and you now have access to his computer.


There are many, many ways to remotely connect but a lot of folks already have Chrome installed so this one gets things going without having to get in to the router.

 

[swartzfeger]

Thanks all -- great stuff and very appreciated!