accessing desktop via laptop

thebull

Help me please tech guys n gals .I need to be able to access my home based desktop from my laptop several miles away.
My desktop pc is wired but my laptop is wireless and i know little about dongles and bt fon type things .
can anyone tell me what I to get my laptop on-line when away from home and a decent software so I can work my desktop via my laptop .Hope some one can help .Regards N

macman

You can do this using wireless broadband via a dongle on your laptop, and connecting to your desktop PC using remote access software such as Log Me In.

littleboo

Somthing like this will do it for a monthly fee. I use VNC over an OpenVPN connection which has the advantage of being free & secure but you need to set up and configure your own OpenVPN server

bod1467

Windows Remote Desktop is another option. But all such options require you to have an internet connection at your laptop as well as at your desktop. And the laptop internet connection won't just magically appear over the ether.

If your broadband (at the desktop) is with BT then you'll have access to BT's FON and/or HomeHub networks. Your laptop would normally have a wifi adapter built into it, so you shouldn't need to buy a dongle. If these last 2 sentences are correct, then the remote desktop/VNC/LogMeIn options are open to you.

macman

i was assuming that no landline or wi-fi conection was available for the laptop as it's 'away from home' and presumably not static-hence a dongle suggested. OP needs to clarify.

Owain_Moneysaver

I use TeamViewer for remote access; it's free for personal use.

boxst

You have to get your laptop online first. If you have BT as your broadband provider you should be able to log into a wireless hotspot for free if there is one around or you will need to buy a mobile dongle for your laptop (like one of these http://threestore.three.co.uk/broadband/).

To access your desktop from another computer I would suggest logmein.com . It is simple to set up, free and very easy to use. The other suggestions above about VNC etc.. are great but require a reasonable amount of knowledge to set up and has some complexity if you wish to access to your desktop from any computer (with logmein.com it doesn't have to be your laptop it can be any computer).

Steve

kwikbreaks

Another vote for LogMeIn free. I find it to be superior to every VNC client I've tried and there is no setup needed other than registering an account and the PC install. I even use it sometimes from downstairs to an upstairs machine and have in the past run a machine that had no real monitor attached at all.