[starman]

Hi all,
Sorry if this is a popular thread, but Search has been down for almost 24 hours now (keeps giving me a database error message) so I decided to just make a new topic.

I'm debating on getting ARD 2.2. I'm using VNC to support my mom who's about 20 or so miles away and it's great, but I'm wondering what ARD would give me above VNC's simple control system. I can't find a comparison anywhere. She's a teacher so she can get it for $149 which makes it rather attractive, but it's still $149 I could save or use elsewhere so I want to be sure I'm making the right decision. Thanks.

Mike

[turtle777]

ARD is supperior to VNC in many ways. Most importantly, in Desktop sharing and control, ARD is more robust and much faster.

-t

[CatOne]

If all you want to do is get remote screen sharing, then VNC will be sufficient. ARD has a ton of additional functionality, not much of which you'll need if all you wanna do is click mouse for mom.

That said, I'm not sure plain old VNC encrypts data or login, which could be a security risk.

[PowerTower Fan]

If you've got a whole bunch of computers on a subnet, ARD is great because of all the extra features it has over VNC. For just one computer though, it may be overkill and to me it would be hard justifying paying $149 for it. I really doubt you'd need most of the features that come with ARD anyway.

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by CatOne

If all you want to do is get remote screen sharing, then VNC will be sufficient. ARD has a ton of additional functionality, not much of which you'll need if all you wanna do is click mouse for mom.

That said, I'm not sure plain old VNC encrypts data or login, which could be a security risk.

Actually, ARD works over VNC, so if you're just using it to control a single machine, you're really effectively doing the exact same thing you'd be doing with VNC.

And VNC can be encrypted via the magic of SSH tunnels. Just run this command in the Terminal:

ssh -L 15900:127.0.0.1:5900 user@host

and then you can VNC to 127.0.0.1 at port 15900 to connect to the remote computer securely.

[turtle777]

I think, it boils down to how much time you'll spent using it and if speed is a concern.

The not-so-legal suggestion would be to get ARD from somewhere and test it, and if it fits the bill, buy it. I have bought so much software (that I couldn't test drive before), and then it turned out useless. So I personally have no moral problems with that. But everyone has to decide for him-/herself...

-t

[tooki]

Neither. Use Netopia's Timbuktu.

ARD is really designed for lab management, not real remote use. Timbuktu is a LOT faster over slower links like the Internet. It's what I use to support my family members.

tooki