Home Forums Remote Access Program that is Better than LogMeIn

After hours and hours of trying different remote access setups to my "server", I have finally concluded that TSPlus 2011 (Terminal Service Plus)is absolutely the best program for me and wanted to share this info with other AC users who might be struggling with this problem. It is very simple to setup and get the program running but if you are having trouble getting it to work, John Davies is good to reply to your emails fairly quickly (he is in Paris so remember that).

Anyway, I'm running AC version 5.0.29 and my "server" is a Quad core Intel i7 PC with 12 GB of Ram running Windows 7 Pro. My DSL speed is 2G down/750M up (the upload speed is more important of a factor than the download speed we have found out).

However, I was also successfully running the TSPlus program on an old single core Intel Dell PC that only had 4 GB Ram up until a few weeks ago (my new server runs AC remotely a bit smoother I will say but not sure it was worth the $1500 for it).

The best part of this setup is that the TSPlus program only cost me $125 for the license to allow 5 simultaneous remote users (and someone can also still use LogMeIn even at the same time so it's really 6 simultaneous users).

Here are the following programs that I have tried but had absolutely no success or only minimal success at running AC remotely: LogMeInHamachi, ANY/ALL programs using a VPN setup, TeamViewer, GoToMyPC, any program associated with VNC, Radmin, RDM, and a few others that I can't even remember now lol.

You absolutely do not need to pay thousands of dollars for any Windows server software and you do not need a "real" server setup to access AC remotely.

However, with that being said, I am always nervous when upgrading to a new version of AC. Hopefully, when Version 7 comes out later this year (I hope), I will still be able to quickly and easily connect to my server remotely (I connect in less than 5 seconds and I can log in in about 7 seconds).

If anyone has a similar setup as mine, please save yourself hours and hours of trial and error and try TSPlus 2011. They give a 14 day free full version trial period which I actually tried for a full month and that convinced me to buy it because it worked so well. I can now go home at 5 and be home in time for dinner and work quickly and easily from home now while others in the office do the same. We are all much happier now with AC. NO MORE SYNCHing!!! Thank God! We had so many problems with that aspect of AC. It was almost always a nightmare!

I hope this info helps more than just me. I have had absolutely no problems with AC using TSPlus which I can't say about any other program I tried.

I hope to use Dragon later this year through TSPlus and will give an update on how that goes when it happens.

Happy documenting to all!

Wayne

Wayne, Can you explain in what way TSPlus works better than logmein? Thanks.

Byron

I have used Windows Remote Desktop Connection with absolutely no probelm.

Grenville

Can you tell me why Gotomypc didnt work?

I use a VPN with a CISCO router for remote connection. My main issue was the BitDefender antivirus program blocking the access.

Win7 version of remote desktop is faster and much more visually attractive than LogMeIn, but a little trickier to set up for over internet use. However, since AC only runs on Windows, we already have the software.

Logmein runs on Linux, so can be useful (I can control my AC program with a Linux box). In addition, the LogMeIn non-free program has a useful file transfer feature that seems faster than Windows RD. But handwriting recognition, at least on my Lenovo tablet, won't fill in the text boxes by remote through Logmein.

I tried TeamViewer, and it is really fast and in some ways slicker than either Logmein or RD -- but in order to use the "free" version, you have to cheat and say that you are not "commercial" -- and I imagine a medical practice is considered "commercial". That one is very expensive.

I bought a CISCO router with VPN, but have never been able to get the VPN to work -- nor could my "tech advisor" who is a computer science student. I haven't pursued that, since RD works just fine, and in addition, I can use Dragon on the remote machine and fill in the AC text boxes directly on the server (without buying the "medical" version. (there are some funny glitches when Dragon is used that way, but it works pretty well). I can also use handwriting recognition on a tablet, either on remote control or when connected directly to the server.

I use logmein and logmein ignition (for my droid phone) and it works very well.

We use Windows RDP for the MAC to connect me from home and it does require that we have a secure VPN router betweenour network and the RDP. I have had some experience configuring that if you would like some help but bet Bert is better at it.

VPN is not that hard to setup but it's just incredibly slow. RDP is the way to go. I originally set up VPN for Exchange, but then I figured out how to use it over HTTP.

By the way, the people who have Windows 7 Pro "Servers", you can change it into a Terminal Server allowing concurrent connections.

Here is the download link for the patch: http://www.mediafire.com/?ubttrlqavne9f3a

Tomastoria and other guys - have a look at this www.remoteutilities.com. I'm not trying to sell anything - I'm just interested to hear what you think of Remote Utilities as compared to other tools you mentioned here.

Have used free and paid versions of logmein, and gotomypc, and all work well except for our docs w/ macs at home. Also had recently discovered, as you noted and to my great pleasure, that I can directly dictate into AC when using my client computer Dragon non-medical V.10 in logmein free, but to turn mike on/off need to click on the client screen, then click on the host (AC) to dictate. Only downside I note is you can't use the auto correction features of Dragon this way-need to manually correct) but since there are so few errors w/ V10, even using a non-USB mike on a laptop, it's not a problem. Also discovered that while you can transfer files to host from client and vv only in the paid version of these programs, in the free version you can copy the whole file after opening and selecting it, and paste into any program on the other computer. Someone had asked about vocab in the non-medical versions of Dragon; Opening a file w/ all your medical terms (specifically w/ just terms likely to be misspelled in non-med. Dragon, not a routine consult) and training the 100 or so words, gives it a head start. I suggest also adding a list of all referring MD names to train at the start also)

Robert Wilson Neurologist CA

So far, for me, nothing beats Windows own Remote Desktop. It's fast, it is much more visually appealing than LogMeIn and it's free.

I think you need a static IP address to use it effectively over the internet (for Dynamic IP the Logmein, etc. programs work fine). You do have to open your router and twiddle the port forwarding -- not difficult.

Dragon V.11 running on the remote computer will type directly into the image of AC running on the office computer. Correction usually works, but there are funny things like inconsistent capitalization, and starting new lines with a space, and occasionally dumping reams of partially digested dictation unexpectedly into a text box.

When I dictate into the medication box for e-prescribing I have to say either "new line" or "backspace" or else the cursor starts after a space, and the database doesn't recognize the medication.

For long or complex dictations I always use the "Dictation Box" because it is a lot more reliable.

A static IP is not necessary. You can use a Dynamic DNS service like NO-IP or DynDNS (my favorite). It's easier to remember than an IP Address.

Remote Desktop is the fastest, that's true. No one can beat Microsoft when it comes to developing software for Windows.

However, as with other "built-in" Microsoft tools it provides just a bare minimum of what can be needed from a remote control program. Otherwise, we would never hear about third-party tools.

In other words, Remote Desktop to major proprietary remote control utilities is like MS Paint to Adobe Photoshop or Corel Draw.



You no longer need an IP address to connect over the Internet. At least not since 2005 or so. TeamViewer revolutionized this industry and now any remote control software that claims to be good must have such an option. This is how the remote connection over the internet works.

Of course, a direct connection (by IP/DNS) is always preferable. However, given that broadband is everywhere nowadays the difference between a direct and indirect connection is barely noticeable.

By indirect connection I mean using an intermediary (mediation) server to hook/connect two PCs located behind firewalls/routers (see my link in the previous comment).

I love these discussions. I think most of these are the same. It is just up to each person to decide what works for them. RWW on Small Business Server was and still is fast and extremely secure and allows quick connectivity to all computers. Before SBS 2008, you were not using an SSL connection and needed port 3389 unless you changed it so it was not very secure. Plus, you had to use port forwarding, not always simple with a Cisco router. Now all that has changed.

Again, though, LogMeIn is fine and so are VPNs and VNC. A lot of it is what you know how to set up. What is simple to Sandeep is very complicated to others. This is why LMI is so popular. I would have to bet that wwpp has McAfee on his computer if LMI didn't work.

Anyway, RDP is still the cheapest and fastest way to go, although who knows how fast. The cool thing is if you have a 2008 server with a public certificate, you can set up RDP to easily and safely connect to your computer. But, the cool thing is if you have 20 clients, you can just use the drop down box, pick or add a computer by NAME on your network and you will be connected to that computer. You don't need any software on that computer like LMI or GTMP. So, if your computer were named Billing, you just put Billing in there, and it will go to that computer. *

* Technically, you have to use the Fully Qualified Domain Name such as Computer_name.domain_name.local.

http://www.remoteutilities.com/support/forums/

Conrad,

There is an entire thread devoted to vendors where you can promote your products as long as it is done professionally and appropriately. I already find it difficult to trust you when you state that you aren't trying to sell something when you clearly work for the company above and have your company name and website in your signature.

You may post in the regular forums as I must admit you have a lot to offer in this arena that is popular on the forum. You cannot, however, list your business name or company website in your signature.

This is a unique forum in that it consists of AC users for the benefit of AC users. While that may sound like a cliche, it remains true, because the forum doesn't tolerate sales people posting in threads with a clear bias and agenda.

Thanks for your understanding.

Oops. Busted!
Bert, he says he isn't trying to sell us something. I guess that means he will give it to us for free!

If he really wants to make a ton of money, he'll get his hands on version 6.

As a side note, for SBS Users, you do not need port 80 open for SBS to function. Hackers use this port even more than 3389. If major sites are not even able to defend against code injection on this port, you probably can't either. This means after you close it when you type the site name: remote.SBSserver.com, it won't work. You would have to write it out completely: https://remote.SBSserver.com. Not really a big deal. You can also use an URL shortner to save time. I.e. bit.ly/sbsserver

Bert,



Thanks for the advice.


That's really a life's problem to find someone you can trust. I understand. This world is full of liars trying to sell you something.


I posted into this thread because there was a discussion about remote control software including shareware. If posting relevant information into forum discussions is prohibited by your forum rules, I apologize and beg you to remove my useless posts.


Removed.



No problem. I will post without a clear bias and agenda.

P.S. When editing my profile after I click 'Submit' I get an error:
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Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '<' in /home/amazingc/public_html/ub/cache_builders/custom/portal_box_2.php on line 3
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But it seems that the changes made are saved.

Wrong guess With a good volume discount maybe, yes.

If you want to set up your own server, and avoid the high upfront cost or having a PC dedicated to it, appliance-based solution is a better choice for you. For example, the solution from RHUB http://www.rhubcom.com/

Sounds like an ad ^^... Not a good first post.

I agree. I will have to monitor that one.

@Wayne,

I am glad that is working for you. I am sure it is a good product.

I am very happy with Remote Desktop from Microsoft (which personally I feel is the best), but LogMeIn is a close second and probably first when you consider how easy it is.

I don't know what is different about your network that GoToMyPC or LogMeIn won't work. LMI is bulletproof.

No, good guess.

RDC or RDP depending on your preference coupled with Servers 2008 is now the quickest and most secure of connection. You no longer need to open port 3389 AND you do not need to do any port forwarding to get to other computers.

You open it and all your computers are listed. You can remote to any of them instantly whether you are local or remote. It is really quite remarkable.

Other than that, LMI is a great choice.

Since it is free, I wonder if programs such as AC could work something out with them so it is integrated with the program making it very easy to use.

Bert & The Greater Gang of Wonderful Techies....

I just stumbled upon this a day or two ago and wanted to run it up the flag pole, run it past the bunch of you so as to see what your thoughts were about this kind of thing, usefulness, security, value, and so on...


http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_...=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20


My wife used to hit up B&N or Panara Bread on the weekends to login back to the office and get some extra work done while having to kill time in town while our Daughter attends her acting classes on the weekend.... In the past she has simply used their "Open" unsecure wireless connection with our Kaspersky sort of half monitoring things combined with the relatively secure half of LMI as her connection back to our Main P2P server machine in our office...

Anyway, with school and classes starting to kick in again, once again this topic is all too "Meaningful" and in the forefront for me..... So.....

The idea of a sort of secure and easy to use, perhaps even speeds up the connections, kind of program watching the front door for us on these worrisome open access networks seems like a great idea to me.... and at $.50 cents per use or a few bucks a month, it seemed like a No-Brainer to me for the added piece of mind, especially if it was simple and easy to use like LMI.... I don't want anything too complicated or she will reject it and not use it... so good security combined with ease of use are my two top concerns, priorities....

Thanks much and I await your replies with baited and coffee breath....

Paul

We use RDP or RDC as it's called now "Remote Desktop Connection" Depending on your environment you may need to upgrade your AC server and open the ports on your router. One other thing is if you have a dynamic IP account with your ISP you will have to use something like No-IP.com to give access to you office name instead of a number that changes all the time. I know that it may sound confusing but once it is set up it will always work and it no monthly cost other than your current ISP fee.

As for Dragon Medical 10... We spent quite a bit of time getting this to work and after many hours of trial and error we now have it working. It is loaded and runs on the server only and from the remote workstation it works great though RDC with just a cheap mic.

-Dog

Gotta go with RDC. Super secure, super fast. And very cheap.

We are using RDC as well on SBS 2008 R2. I would submit that if you haven't already, take a look at the remote app features built in to your session host configuration. It allows me to host AC, and effectively "push" it to clients through a web portal. To the user, it looks like it's running locally, and allows me to install updates to AC on 1 machine (our server) as opposed to installing locally on every box we have. I think 2x has a similar alternative, but I haven't really seen it in action - (though our billing software is based on 2x, and it seems like pretty decent software).

TeamViewer is really good.

I love TeamViewer, but I'll admit that's geared more towards support technicians than Remote Access. It's also very pricy. $500 for the basic license. I use it personally almost everyday. For work, I use LMI and RDC.

For technical assistance, GoToAssist is great, because you can pay as you go. One payment of $6.95 is good for 24 hours. I don't need to go in anymore than that.

The biggest issue our office faces is the concurrent connections. We have remote clinics, and need to access our database with similar speed to what we would be getting in our main office.

wwpp: Im assuming you mean 2MB down and 750K up speed for DSL

Using LogMeIn Hamachi, the database access is SLOW. We have about the same DSL speed at our home office, and the upload speed bottlenecks us. (The patient search and other searches in AC become painfully slow).

LogMeIn Free is fine for now (but what happens when we expand and we need to run remote connections at the same time as local use)? One solution: buy a bunch of other computer to sit and use as hosts (not $ effective), Upgrade to Server 2008 R2 and use 'terminal services'. (We are in an SBS2011 esssentials envrionment currently, so that would take a load of work).

If these concurrent connections work well, this could be a solution! Has anyone had success with this/or shares my concerns?

I still think a Terminal Server is the way to go. Buy the SBS 2011 Add-On and use the Windows Server 2008 R2 as your TS. You can then buy licenses for as many users as you want, and it will be very fast using RDC.

I see X thousand dollars in your post

For you SBS Essentials users, check out Multipoint Server 2011. Microsoft is advertising it as a school software solution even though it has great applicability to the business world. Many people agree. Mutlipoint Server 2011 is like Terminal Server except much easier to setup. It was designed to integrate with SBS Essentials so you'll see all the users and computers and whatnot. (Domain Join on the Premium Version). Interestingly, it also works as a local Terminal Services type setup. You can plug several monitors and keyboards into it and they all act as work stations. If you got one very powerful server, you could outfit an entire office with just peripherals/thin clients. Furthermore, it's compatible with thin clients (thin pcs) so you save on the client comps there too.

If you were to buy Windows Server 2008 R2 for less than $1,000 and then $75.00 per CAL, I hardly think you would spend $10,000. We don't know though, because you haven' specified how many users you have.

MultiPoint Server is a great solution if you already own SBS 2011 Essentials and has 1 + 1 licensing. You still need user CALS.

I don't know why you say, "Upgrade to Server 2008 R2." I wouldn't consider purchasing 2008 an upgrade. It would be completely separate if used as a TS. And, I don't understand how it would take a load of work. You just set it up as a Terminal Server.

SBS Premium Addon = Server 2008 R2+SQL Server Wrkgroup Edtn 2008 R2

It's just a bargain way to get both. Individually, Server 2008 R2($710)+SQL Server Wrkgroup Edtn 2008 R2 ($730) = $1,440.

SBS Premium Addon = $1150. Savings = ~$300. If you're not going to use SQL Workgroup edition and don't anticipate needing it, go ahead with just Server 2008 R2. If you think Server 2008 R2 is too difficult to setup, consider Multipoint Server (Lots of Wizards to make it easy).

Btw, in terms of bargains, there is no comparison to SBS Standard (Server 2008R2 and Exchange and Sharepoint) (The latter two are in the 1000s separately.)