Working via remote access to home pc

Doshwaster

Heedtheadvice said:

.....or have a problem if it has shut down owing to a power failure!

It too sounds to me that cloud storage/access from anywhere using uSoft free Office version is ideal. That is not too demanding on comms speed so should work over many Internet connections that would be used for browser general work.

Only query that springs to mind is security if you are not using your own laptop I.e. multi user cafe machines or if the cafe connection themselves are insecure.

It might not be an issue for you but perhaps others with better security understanding might comment?

I would wish to consider at least security from unwanted outside interference and data reliability should a problem occur mid session?

It's worth taking some sensible precautions but I wouldn't get too paranoid about security. All transactions with OneDrive (or other cloud service) will be end to end encrypted so no snooper could tell what you were doing. You can add in a VPN layer but, despite the adverts, it doesn't do much to improve security.

If you don't trust the free wifi then another option is to run a hotspot from your phone if you have a decent data allowance. 

Roger-D

Thanks everyone, some very useful comments and suggestions.
I wasn't aware that there was a free version of ms office 365, I've always seemed to have been being forced into signing-up when I've tried it in the past. I do have a licensed version of office at home but it is Office 2003. Yes I know, no longer supported etc but, more than adequate for my needs. It's a pest that newer laptops don't have an optical drive anymore.
I'm thinking that seurity-wise, the laptop and data connection would be fine, even presumably a hotel WiFi.
Thanks  all.

Exodi

Doshwaster said:

Yeah, I wouldn't bother setting up remote access to your home PC.  This is the sort of thing that cloud services such as OneDrive and Google Drive are for so you can access all of your documents from any device (phone, tablet, laptop) wherever you are without having multiple copies of everything. Also means that you don't have to keep your home PC turned on while you are away.

Second this, our external IT recently moved all of our business files from our physical servers to Sharepoint/OneDrive - one immediate convenience is you can access the files from outside the office without needing to connect through a slow RDP.

DullGreyGuy

Exodi said:

Doshwaster said:

Yeah, I wouldn't bother setting up remote access to your home PC.  This is the sort of thing that cloud services such as OneDrive and Google Drive are for so you can access all of your documents from any device (phone, tablet, laptop) wherever you are without having multiple copies of everything. Also means that you don't have to keep your home PC turned on while you are away.

Second this, our external IT recently moved all of our business files from our physical servers to Sharepoint/OneDrive - one immediate convenience is you can access the files from outside the office without needing to connect through a slow RDP.

Downside is that lots of companies haven't setup their Sharepoint very well so any (disgruntled) employee/contractor etc can download the full content of the Sharepoint sites they have access to any personal device.

A former client had an informal BYOD as the CISO believed OneDrive would stop the user from being able to save locally outside of OneDrive... he got very worried when I showed him I could easily drag the complete customer database from OneDrive onto my personal laptops "c drive".