Symantec PcANYWHERE Host & Remote 11.0 Full Version (10055294)

Pros: A great way to control your computer
Cons: Only one type of connection at any one time.

well, thanks to pcanywhere, you can now Control your computer from literally anywhere! yep, one of the best remote controlling pieces of software on the market is a product called pcanywhere. it allows people to take control of a computer remotely and ...

Pros: Strong security features
Cons: PcAnwhere still requires you to reconfigure firewalls, cost

PC Anywhere is one viable option for those interested in remote access. It has strong security features and is fairly easy to use. However, if you are not comfortable reconfiguring firewalls or port forwarding, you may want to try something simpler. The webbased remote access software might be easier, but pricier. For isntance, I had gotomypc and that was $20 a month. I've heard of cheaper--logmein is one that has a free version and is pretty good. All of these programs have similar features, but it depends on how much you are willing to spend.

Pros: A 'ok' remote access tool
Cons: Difficult to setup, firewall issues, slow

pcAnywhere is a product that has begun to fall behind the times. While it is backed by Symantec, it lacks several critical capabilities.

The first of which would be ease of setup: it takes time to configure the software for your various system(s). Second, it cannot traverse firewalls which prohibits it's use from locations other than your LAN. Third, fast deployment is a serious issue as this product takes time to install; being an IT admin, this was a major pain. Fourth, it does not have the performance monitoring features that are built into it's competitors products. Fifth, it costs money. I paid almost a hundred dollars for pcAnywhere only to find out that there were better services, such as LogMeIn (free) and LogMeIn Rescue which I could have gotten for substantially less money. The latter solution is cheaper, and has all the capibilities I critiqued above. As a rule of thumb, I generally try out the free stuff before I dish out a hundred dollars.

Pros: Very powerful 256-bit Encryption
Cons: Hard to use fro Newbies $199

I was impressed I could connect to my Linux box with this, though it took a long time to set up. Afer the beta trial ran out (you can get info. on where to get free trials from at http://www.groovyweb.uklinux.net/RemoteAccess/index.php?page_name=pcAnywhere-%20Download)
I decided to give it a miss and go for a mix of the free RealVNC and an ftp server.