I’ve been using HelpWire for occasional customer support over the past six months, and I can honestly say it’s a great solution. Not only is it free, but it’s also much more user-friendly than Chrome Remote. The data transfer is fast, the chat feature is really convenient, and the contact book is a nice touch.
Open System Preferences to turn on “Screen Sharing” which will allow a remote user to connect. This would need to be done on both Macs. Connect them both too VPN. Take note of the IP addresses of each over the VPN connection or at least the IP of the one that’s not on the work network.
Then use the Screen Sharing app (built in VNC software, just do a spotlight search for it) to remote connect to whatever IP address you wish.
Other remote options work too but this one wouldn’t necessarily require a user on both ends to allow the connection. Good luck.
I have it running on 20 systems for 20 remote users and it’s been bullet proof for almost 18 months. I have all the local systems set to “auto log in” so that they on a boot they log themselves in and automatically get Chrome Remote running. In all 18 moths the only issues I have run into (outside of the occasional physical failure) have been maybe twice when google suddenly decided that everyone needed to re-inter the passwords on the local systems, so that was a bit of a pain especially as it Google randomly logged people out over a period of a week - I assume it’s because I have “auto-update chrome” turned on. I should probably not have left it set this way. Also turn off “auto update” of course on all the systems as sometimes Apple requires the iCloud passwords to be entered on reboot. Easy to do if you have local access, but can’t be done or skipped remotely.
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I have a separate single google account set up on all the IT / server / whatever, systems. That way I can easily log into those systems as well from one account.
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And I have my own local system running Chrome Remote, and from there I run Apple Remote Desktop and do more detailed maintenance on all the local systems that way as well.
Aside from the 1 time a month that something weird mechanical fails, I could honestly maintain these systems from anywhere in the world.
BTW - one bonus but of advice. If the users are always remote, strip all external devices from the local systems. Remove all mice, keyboards, external monitors, usb hubs, printers, everything. 50% of my issues came from these things. I also had some systems booting off external SSD’s for speed, but I put them back on internal drives because internal stability was better than external speed.
IF you are on Big Sur then there are new screen sharing hurdles.
Essentially the End User who wants to remote into the Mac, must have already logged in and checked the Screen Share box on that Mac physically. You can go around Admin rights but it’s a new thing.
Here’s something from Splashtop, one of the better remote services out there.
Screen Sharing is built-in, based on VNC, and there are mobile clients available like Jump. Depending on your network you may need to tunnel it through SSH.
If your company already has it there is TeamViewer. Where I work we use it for both Mac and Windows (my daily machine for work is an M1 Air in a predominantly Windows environment). It works well after being granted the requisite permissions on the client(s).
We also trialled Bomgar with success on both platforms.
(I also have an Apple Remote Desktop license which works very well)
Obviously both come with a cost, but are not necessarily tied to being on VPN.
I agree with homeup. Give the desktops a static IP, turn on screen sharing (and allow the users access to the remote computer), and finally give remote users VPN access. Have them connect to their desktop using that new static IP (via Screen Sharing app.) They can save the connection as a file, giving them 1-click access to their workstations.
I use Zoho Assist that can be used for remote access even when users are not active on the destination machines. Browser based on the support end, and the app is easily installed on the user end.
Remote Desktop Manager (free edition) supports the Apple Remote Desktop protocol. So you can connect the same way you would using the paid Apple Remote Desktop app or Screen Sharing, even from Windows or Linux. As long as you VPN to the same network, it handles sharing the same screen or fast user switching seamlessly. Great for having a list of machines you connect to, you can have saved user credentials and apply them to all computers on a list as well, making it so you don’t need to re-enter them for each computer you add.
While VNC is convenient, it is totally unencrypted. Using it over VPN does add some degree of security, but not a best practice. I really like Jump, they do support VNC but have their own protocol (Fluid) that is secure and much better latency. They have paid clients and a Team feature for uses like you outline.
Lightweight, functional, always connected, free and for Mac? I think you’re looking for Supremo Control. I have been able to make my remote connections, even with VPN, with no problems.
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