I am doing some free-lance computer support work for a lawyers office and they recently asked me about the possibility of remote access to their small Windows 98 based peer-to-peer network.

As I understand it, two of their employees want to have remote access to their machines to do simple office work using the MS Office Suite and even some Word Perfect work.

The only software that I know of to accomplish this task is Symantec's PC Anywhere. Is this the best product available for the task at hand, and is it fairly easy to set-up and use?

Also, I am guessing that they will need a separate phone line for each remote session that they wish to have?

I would appreciate any advice or resources that would lead me to the right solution.

Thanks,

Dan Hershey

Hmm, I use pcanywhere but i use another kind, not symantic... the one i have lets you log on through TCP/IP, like if you type an IP number and enter a password you would be able to log on to a persons computer which has pcanywhere installed. the only drawback is that person has to be online all the time and the person that wants to log on has to be online too. i never tried the symantic version but im guessing its the same as my version, i guess.. i hope i helped you

Hey Dan,

Yes, they will definately need 1 telephone line per concerrent connection. PC Anywhere should work just fine. Do they have a system with a modem? I assume they do as most law offices need a connection to the net to get case information. I would do this in steps:

1) Setup 1 Win98 system (the one with the modem) with an Eval version of PC Anywhere, bring the client end of the eval version home and test communication or have it pre-installed at home and have someone at home try to log in while your at the office, so you can troubleshoot any problems. Once its working get the two users to install the client at home (if they aren't computer savvy you may have to create some documentation). Let them test it with the Eval till it runs out, they can both log into the same system and save their documents in their respective areas on the network.

Step 2: If they decide they want to use this product, and it isn't too slow for them, then you can go about setting up the second phone line and registering two copies of PcAnywhere. Remind them that they can either share 1 PCAnywhere connection or have 2, this is important as the cost is twice as much for 2, or even higher from their perspective if they already use the other line for internet access during the day (with 1 they have to arrange hours in the evenings when each of them gets access.. or days of the week for that matter.)

Step 3: Bill'em and drink a beer on my behalf.

Adam2K,

Can't we just start with step 3??

Seriously, thanks for your response. It concurrs with my thoughts about the matter, and I really like the idea of using the "Try before you buy" option, and I'm sure they will too.

Just to give you further info. about their setup, as far as I know, each of the 3 machines has a 56k modem, and a cable modem (they just switched to broadband via AT&T).

Previously, they all shared one dial-up connection on their fax line (they couldn't receive faxes if the boss was on the net!), but now they have broadband with a router etc. and the fax line is for faxes only. My guess is that the fax line will not be condusive to also supporting remote access and that they will have to get a separate line.

Finally, I was just wondering, is there any way to use the cable connection for remote access?

Also, when one is engaged in a remote session, and one saves a file, is that file saved to the host or the remote computer, or can you choose which machine you want to save to??

Thanks again,

Dan

PCanywhere is symantec which means bloat. Try VNC (http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/) which is free or PC DUO which is real fast but costs. Get the demo from http://www.vector-networks.com/pcduo/index.htm

Yes you can use the cable for remote access just map a port through the firewall (you use NAT to share?)

Hi.

I am trying to have remote access to a corporate network.

basically we are bonding two modems together
at each end to get faster speeds.

Now can we :

1) have the modems bonded
2) have remoete access to the network ( just
like browsing the network locally ).

i know that there is software to do this but not when you are bonding two modems together.

pls email me or respond if you have any ideas

thanks in advance.

NAT/Firewall.

I'm using both pcanywhere 10 , VNC and even GoToMY PC to try to remote access to a Host pc through a NAT/Firewall setup but can't find any instructions on how to access NAT or the Firewall software/settings to modify it so I can use these applications. I understand the (port)stuff, but where do I access the computers settings in order to make the changes to do remote connections? For OS(Win98-WinME) Thanks in advance for any help.