How do I remote into my mac, or get someone to access my machine and help me out.
This question has been around for a number of years. There are lots of remote programs out there here are the top few I find work very nice with your mac.
Top one I would always use if you don’t have access to the network you need to connect to (i.e VPN) would be Teamviewer. Free to the end user, paid service for commercial user.
For the commercial user you have the advantage of created a unique url for your end users who just want to installed the quick support app instead of the full installed software. For simplicity just download the full package and install it. Later on you can set up an account and link each machine if you want to your account. The great thing about team viewer it just bypass’s firewalls etc to allow you access to the machine. All you need is the id of the machine (9 digit number) and the password (4 digit number which changes every time you fire up the program) to access the machine. The end user can control the access to the machine and terminal the remote call whenever they want.
Next for Mac is Apple Remote Desktop Support (ARD). This program is brilliant! The machines in question needs to have remote support enabled to allow access via user account in system preferences. ARD scans the network picks up the mac and when you access the machine it prom’s you for the username and password to allow ARD to work. I have set up loads of Mac’s and one thing I always have is a ARD admin account on the machine. This then spares you the pain of attempting to access the mac via the end users account details. By having an admin account it then removes the problem of continually asking the end user with a admin account to type in their password for you to install or remove software during the remote call. It also means when you remote the machine you can remote back into the machine without asking the end user to fire up a program to allow you access( Team viewer has this issue). Disadvantage is you do have to be on their network and unless you have VPN setup that is going to be painful.
Log me in is next on the list. Have worked on a number client machines which have this program. I have found it clumber son to run and when someone is trying to access the machine via this method they always seem to point you to the download file from log me in website. Team viewer you just install the program once (even the quick support option) and its down. Logmein seems to have a different method on how you allow access to your machine. I have one server I look after and the amount of log me in installers in the download folder was staggering. All fairness this was a PC and not a Mac so the software does work differently. However Teamviewer you just click the program and you give out the 2 codes and your off. The other disadvantage I have found is to use log me in you have to pay there did not seem to be a free version unlike its competition down at team viewer. There is a unattended version much like team viewer and ARD which both have the same feature which works nice like their competitors. In short I am sure th program works just as good as team viewer its down to what you know and are confident to use. The program has to be simple easy for the end user to install and then allow you access to the machine.
There are lots of other programs out there like webex (using the web browser to access you machine) to that of VNC and third party programs like Chicken VNC which work off VNC being enabled on the client machine and VPN access to get you onto the network to then access the machine. They all have strengths and weakness to allow you the engineer access to the machine in question. The one thing I would always ask yourself. Can I access the machine using VPN if so its ARD if there is no VPN method to get onto the network it needs to be either teamviewer or logmein.