August 13, 2001   Access Anywhere? By Lee Dembart

Logging Into Your Home PC From Afar Is Getting Simpler   For the last few weeks, I have been trying out several of the programs that let you work at your own computer while you're somewhere else. They are all clever, and they all have pluses and minuses, but my favorite is GoToMyPC, which is by far the simplest and easiest to use.

To perform the remote-control trick, many readers probably either use or know of pcAnywhere (www.symantec.com/pcanywhere/Consumer). I have been testing others as well, including LapLink (www.laplink.com) and Timbuktu (www.netopia.com), which also works for the Apple Macintosh. But GoToMyPC (www.gotomypc.com) brings a different approach to the problem - it is a Web-based service, not a software product - which gives it an important and, for my purposes, decisive edge.

With GoToMyPC, which costs $20 (USD) a month - and which, for the time being, is available only for Windows - you can go to your home computer directly over the Web from any Internet connection in the world. The only place you need to install software is on your home computer, which, incidentally, needs to be turned on and connected to the Internet when you are trying to reach it from afar.

By contrast, pcAnywhere and the others require one-time purchases of software (pcAnywhere costs $180 and LapLink is $125). But you need to install software on the remote computer. This makes those programs less than convenient in, say, an Internet caf�.

Unlike the other programs, setting up GoToMyPC couldn't be simpler. There is nothing about IP addresses or port settings or any of the other technical details that confront users of the others.

With GoToMyPC, all you need do is log on to the company's Web site, type in a couple of passwords, and in about 30 seconds, your home desktop appears on your remote screen.

On the CD-ROM drive of my home computer lives a CD of the Oxford English Dictionary, and there is an icon that points to it on my desktop. Using GoToMyPC, while seated in an Internet caf�, I easily looked up a word in the OED.

A couple of cautions: Though it will work with any Internet connection, GoToMyPC really requires high-speed connections at both ends. If you are using a dial-up connection at either end, the time lag is too long to use the remote computer comfortably. You could still use it in a pinch, though, such as to retrieve a file you had forgotten at home. Speaking of which, GoToMyPC is not as good as pcAnywhere in transferring files from your home to your remote computer. The GoToMyPC folks need to add a drag-and-drop feature.

As I mentioned, your home computer has to be on and connected. If there is no one at home to turn the machine on for you, you have to leave it on. Are you comfortable doing that for extended periods? Obviously, this requires a broadband connection, as you can leave your computer connected to the phone line for a limited time only.

If you have an always-on broadband connection, by cable or digital subscriber line, always recall that an Internet connection is a two-way street. Leaving your computer turned on and connected is an invitation to hackers and others to come in and snoop - or worse. So if you don't already have one, you need a firewall to block unauthorized access to your machine. No problem. There are many firewalls available, and at least one good one is available free: ZoneAlarm (www.zonelabs.com).

A firewall isn't a problem for GoToMyPC, as you can instruct the firewall to let it through. In the event, ZoneAlarm proved to be a vigilant watchman, as it blocked GoToMyPC several times before I persuaded them to be friends.

Interestingly, while the blocking was going on, the message I got on the remote computer said only that GoToMyPC couldn't find my home computer. But when I got home, my screen was full of messages saying that there had been attempted entries from GoToMyPC.

In any case, I have apparently now given enough authorizations to get through the ZoneAlarm firewall because GoToMyPC works without a hitch.

Does that raise security questions in your mind? Ease of use is in constant tension with security. They pull in opposite directions. The easier any system is to use, the more vulnerable it is. You can make a bank vault very secure by putting up more and more steel doors, but each door requires a key, and then you need a system for handling the keys and accounting for the keys and so on. And when somebody needs to get into that vault, it's a big production.

GoToMyPC uses sophisticated encryption techniques, including secure socket layers and 128-bit encryption, which, at the current state of knowledge, make it secure.

By contrast, pcAnywhere and the others require one-time purchases of software (pcAnywhere costs $180 and LapLink is $125). But you need to install software on the remote computer. This makes those programs less than convenient in, say, an Internet caf�.

But pcAnywhere 10.0 has additional security, including tougher password authentication, and Symantec's Web page proclaims, "With powerful encryption and authentication, it gives you peace of mind that your remote sessions will be secure." For the security-minded, pcAnywhere has another feature that GoToMyPC should adopt: It lets you limit the number of login attempts.

All that said, GoToMyPC is breathtaking. You can even use it to work cooperatively with other people. The computers that are connected to each other can be controlled from either of them, or from any of them if there are more than two. So several people in different locations can work on the same document at the same time.

Armed with GoToMyPC, I am almost ready to travel without my laptop. Almost.   Close