R
Richard Steven Hack
I'm a long-time vnc user, and recent logmein convert, so I'll tell
you. The main advantage is that it doesn't need lots of fiddling with
firewalls and setting up port forwarding on any routers (which you may
not know how to do or have access to). It also doesn't require any
software installed on the viewing pc (well, it might require a plug-in
for your browser). It also doesn't require finding out/remembering
the IP address of the pc you're trying to view.
One word: Hamachi. Which, incidentally, is owned by Logmein.
Has all the advantages of Logmein plus file transfer (from Windows shares,
anyway) in the free version.
Not as easy to set up as they have you believe, but it's not hard.
http://www.hamachi.cc/
There's a few downsides, which may or may not affect you. First, it
requires Internet access. I use vnc to view various PCs in my house,
which doesn't require any connection to the Internet. Logmein does.
Also, the fancier features, like file transfer and remote printing,
don't work in the free version of Logmein, but are available in free
vnc programs, like UltraVNC.
Do UltraVNC over Hamachi. You get all the benefits of Logmein without the
price tag, no need to forward ports since the VNC runs over the Hamachi
interface, and full desktop control. You do have to install Hamachi on
both machines, although there is a "UltraVNC OneClick" version that
doesn't require installing that on the client.
Also you can use the UltraVNC mirror program to control several PCs
(one at a time) while using only one Hamachi connection. That does require
forwarding one port, but it provides almost the same access to a network as
a full VPN.