Thomas Inman's community posts

Since I don't need any additional software to make direct RDP connections to local machines, my main interest is in connecting to remote machines not on my LAN.  I have read those documents multiple times thinking I must have missed some detail, but I don't think that is the case.  Choosing Direct connection over Internet-ID does not work because some machines cannot be found by their name, and their IP addresses can change from time to time.  Using Internet-ID seemed like the most desirable method, but again, the connection status in the Viewer seems to change every time I look at it.  It just keeps changing status, machines going offline and online again - unresponsive to launching a windows RDP session.  Some machines display notification that the host software needs to be updated, in spite of already updating them both via the console and the Viewer.  Viewer and Host installations are all beta2 version.  Server is installed on an AWS VM, which appears to work.

While I work on making Remote Utilities work properly, the best alternative I've found and am using with remarkable success, is L0gmein Hamachi VPN (not installed on same machine as Viewer) to machines on a trusted remote LAN, and simply connecting to them via RDP.  No tools, like screen recording and session notes, but it's super fast, spans multiple monitors, handles remote printing without need to install drivers or any additional configuration, and it rarely fails to connect.  The only thing I really want from RDP is shadowing so I can see the console with full control, together with the user, to troubleshoot issues.  So far, all of the information I've found after extensive searching appears to be obsolete for the most recent versions of windows 10 pro in 2020.  I have used various command line flags, group policies, registry edits, and none of them worked across the Hamachi VPN to another remote LAN.  RDP sessions with switches or without, the connection is a tcp session, not the console. So that was a lot of reading and testing to donate.  I've also put in a lot of time trying to make RU work as designed.

I have been struggling to make RU work reliably, even after installing the beta2 version recommended elsewhere.  Machines go offline/online periodically, and most of the time do not respond when I try to initiate a remote session using Full Control or RDP.  It appears as if connections can only be made if the wind is blowing a certain direction.  I'm at a loss to explain how this could be so unreliable.  RU has been around for years, so I'm shocked, frankly, that maintaining contact with remote machines is so sketchy.  If RU isn't reliable, then how am I supposed to use it to manage my customer systems?  Other services I have used were all exactly the opposite, meaning they have always been ultra-reliable, rarely leaving me unable to access a remote machine.

I've read all of the documentation, countless messages in the community forums, youtube videos, google searches for answers, etc, etc.  Other than the release of the beta2 version, I have not found any viable answers as to why connections to any machine work 20% of the time, if at all, whether it be on my own LAN or the LAN of any of my customers.  Something is seriously wrong here, and I wonder if you can shed some light on this on-going issue.

Thank you

After reading this thread, I'm still confused about licensing a Self Hosted server.  Searched the Community and Knowledge Base and did not find any clear answers about limitations of self hosted server on a VM licensing, limitations, or anything else.

Could you explain in concise terms if this configuration is free and unlimited?  Or, if it is limited in some way, how exactly?

Thank you

Same behavior as previous posters have noted.  I am using the trial version to connect to other machines on my LAN, as well as machines on a separate remote LAN (no VPN).  Using the latest version on all machines.

I can RDP into other machines on my LAN without using Remote Utilities, including one that is shown as 'offline' or 'logged on'.  To clarify, I am most interested in connecting to other machines via RDP using Remote Utilities, not the Full Control Option which is too laggy and has the same behavior of "connection lost".  I have tried using Direct Connect as well as Internet-ID Connection.  The results appear to be the same - cannot access remote machine.  From the Viewer, I am able to access 'Remote Settings', but still no remote access via Full Control or RDP, yet, I can access the machine in question using RDP without using Remote Utilities.

So, I'm at a loss to figure out what in the heck is going on.  Each day I open Remote Utilities and never know whether it is going to work or fail as it is now.  If this issue has a known solution, please post it somewhere.  I've searched the entire site and documentation and only found this one thread.  I hate to call Remote Utilities 'unreliable', but I can't think of any other way to describe it at this point during the trial period.  

I've read previous posts recommending users submit their log.  Is that what you need to figure out why this isn't working?

Thanks

PS. I should add that over the last few years, I have used  [censored] , Splashtop, Zoho Assist, and rarely if ever had any such problems connecting, which makes this issue with Remote Utilities that much more puzzling.