Maurice Turner, Review: GotToMyPC v. Windows Remote Desktop
TechnoLawyer member Edward F. Harney, Jr. asks:
"I am somewhat baffled at why folks would want to use GoToMyPC.com, especially in a small firm setting. We used PCAnywhere for years but switched to the Remote Desktop Connection application that comes free with Windows XP. It is incredibly quick and can be used on any machine that has XP. You just type in your static IP address and it is like you are sitting at your desk almost. Graphics take a bit of time to transmit but everything else is virtually seamless. With respect to GoToMyPC.com, is there something I am missing here? Is there a reason to use GoToMyPC.com instead of RDP with XP?"
The short answer: simplicity. Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) built into Windows XP requires a static IP address. If you are at all concerned about security or you work in an environment with more than one computer a static IP address exposed to the Internet is rare and considered a major security risk. Firewalls and routers need to be configured so that ports are unblocked and are allowed to forward requests and transmissions in order for RDP to function properly. Clients for other platforms, such as PocketPC and Mac OS X, are also available for free.
The GoToMyPC.com service acts as an intermediary by keeping track of the dynamic IP address of the computer that you are trying to connect to so that you don't have to. To do this it does require that you install the small GoToMyPC.com application on each computer that intends to remotely access.
Maurice Turner
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