Best way to access computers at home
 

Ok as some of you maybe aware I work overseas on ships and that means internet is routed via satellite to Norway.

This creates trouble for me in a few ways with things like can't check lottery tickets online, can't buy coins via Bittylicious, are a few recent ones.

Also I have ip cams at home that i can view remotely but if for whatever reason my ip address at home changes then i can no longer via the cams.

So is there a solution to my problems that is easy to administer remotely?

I ask this also because once my Antminers arrive I will probably need to configure and monitor them remotely too.

Look forward to hearing what the IT savvy have to say.

A router with VPN 'server' capabilities is your best all-round solution, if you want to be able to access anything and everything on your LAN (as if you were right there). Once you have LAN access (via VPN), TightVNC is a good simple and free way to access individual computers.

I usually recommend DrayTek routers for my smaller business customers. They're a good reliable business-grade router (that can serve as a good high-end residential router too) with lots of VPN features.

In the meantime, for simple remote access to a single PC, you could just use something like TeamViewer.

I use TeamViewer to access my PC and access anything else from there.

If you are on a mac you can also remote access your computer back at home via their bundled services.

Personally I have a synology NAS box (DS211J) hooked up and run my ip cameras into that, it has a surveillance station facility and all my files that I need remotely are on that too, with two drives in mirror mode its a good backup solution as well.

Synology have a pile of tools available to help remote access, quick connect, etc... regardless of IP.

If you want specific IP access at home to your PC you may want to go down the fixed IP route from your ISP.

with regards to VPNs make sure you get one that legally means they dont hold records on what you do when you use their services and can hand them over to authorities or whatever if requested, not for anything nefarious, but if you want to be anonymous and protect your web experience, why would you want it logged. A lot of UK and US companies log VPN use, personally I use AirVPN which doesn't and considering I do a lot of work in China and the Middle East where the web is censored heavily I prefer to protect myself and still have access to the services I need for business.

I tend to use either Salt or SSH clients to access my equipment (sometimes x11vnc) but then I'm a Unix/Linux bod. When connecting to remote Windows boxes, I'd go for TeamViewer as it's the easiest option.

With regard to your possibly dynamic IP address for your home equipment, you'd need a client to be able to update that IP on DNS when it changes - this means that you will then be able to connect from wherever, whenever. I use the service at https://freedns.afraid.org for two of my domains.

Windows client: http://www.nesociety.org/community-s...ter-service-4/

You can sign up for free, and I chose one from uk.to - mine is as advised on my PM to you earlier today. Your Windows PC app/client should recognise a change in IP address, upload it to the DNS service website and your new IP should resolve rather quickly in practice - say for example delboy.uk.to

Some routers can support Dynamic DNS too, although usually only specific services which the manufacturer put in the firmware. So, simpler but less choice.

If you run a Windows Server OS then you can run Remote Desktop Services with Remote Desktop Gateway enabled to allow access via https. Being Microsoft, I couldn't say how secure it is, but none of my installations (work and personal) have been hacked so it seems to hold up fairly well.

I do the same - I have a synology box (I used to have a PC running XPenology - it's a version of the synology software that can be installed onto non-synology equipment - before upgrading to the real thing) and use the VPN server built into give me access to my LAN, it supports dynamic DNS services so I access via a URL instead of IP address and then use RDP for my PC, though I would proably go for VNC in your case as I've always felt that it's less bandwidth intensive if you need access to a GUI. You'll need to set up some port re-direction on your router for the VPN to connect the external address to the internal synology server.

I prefer this as it allows me to expose some services to the internet so they can be browsed directly via https, but also store backups, photos, VCDS logs etc which I can access once I'm in on the VPN. The VPN puts you directly connected to your home network, so can access anything on it, so you can access http pages of your router for config, VNC any machines running the server, or even use SSH via a serial server for console access.

The synology boxes have varying capability and power so so some can run semi-virtualised systems (using docker containers) and support USB-TV so streaming live (or recorded) UK TV abroad is a possibility.

If you have a spare PC kicking around, have a look at XPEnology. In full tin-foil hat mode, I ran two of these so that the VPN connected to a physically different machine to where my data was stored before investing in a real one.

Jeez, thanks for all the replies.

Not entirely familiar with many of the things ssid.

What i have at home is

Time capsule router connected directly to phone line and using bt log in

Then I have a Netgear 48 port Lan switch.

TS 412 max drive

IP cams that write to the naz by ftp because it would play nice with the proper app

A iMac that's on Lan connection and lots of other crap like Amazon fire TV etc

It would be nice to have access to naz drive and iMac and the antminers when they come.

I've been using team viewer for a while and it's been great.