On Jan 20, 2011, at 7:04 PM, Jane, (Portland, OR) wrote: > My husband uses a G4 PowerBook running 10.4.11. I have a new iMac > (10.6.6) and a MacBook Pro (10.5.x). He is NOT computer literate and > needs help from time to time. Some of those times, I am not at home to > take care of the problems. I know there is software out there -- > preferably free--- that will enable me to fix his computer no matter > where I am.
Both new macs will let you use Screen Sharing to connect to his computer; he'll have to install a vnc server VINE server is free and easy. See: <http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10329842-263.html> The biggest issue is connecting to HIS computer on your home network, which presumably goes through some sort of wired or wireless router. You need to set up some stuff in advance: Use DynDNS to give your home network connection a 'permanent' IP address. <http://www.dyndns.com/> follow the 'free domain name' link. Set up NAT routing in your home router to his computer, whichinvolves giving his computer a fixed ip address in the router's range, and forwarding the VNC ports to that computer. Most home routers (including Airport) make this relatively easy, see your documentation. Simple home networking lesson: A 'router' is a device that connects local area networks (LAN's) together into a 'network of networks'. The 'Internet' is a very large such network of networks. Computers on the same LAN can talk directly to each other; computers on different LAN's need to talk through a router. This was really the key insight that made the internet possible. Virtually all home networks consist of an external router (cable/dsl modem, Fiber router for those lucky, lucky few to live in FiOS territory) that possesses the externally visible IP address of your internet connection. On the 'inside the house' side of the network you have a private, non-routing IP address range, your own LAN. Typically they're either 192.168.n.n or 10.n.n.n I've seen both in use by various brands of wired and wireless routers. You CANNOT access an address in these ranges from outside that address range; they're defined as 'non-routable' Routers reject any request to connect to those addresses. This poses a problem. If you have a large private network, and, say, a web server or a computer needing a VNC connection how do you bridge that unbridgeable gap between the single external IP address and the internal address given to that computer. This is what Network Address Translation (NAT) does. The router has the smarts to say "I have a request on my public IP address for Port 80 connection (which is the http default port). I need to know which ip addresson my internal LAN handles these requests." It looks though it's table of port and IP addresses and if one address is set as the pone that responds to port 80 requests, then the connection is forwarded to that internal IP address. The requestor on the outside has no idea that it's talking to a computer on the internal LAN, all it ever sees is the external IP address. This is managed by giving the internal computer a fixed address on the internal LAN, then listing that address for 'port 80' requests (for a web server. Foir VNC it's port 5900) See: <http://www.realvnc.com/support/portforward.html> -- Bruce Johnson University of Arizona College of Pharmacy Information Technology Group Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to g3-5-list@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
