WaveHunter

I did a little research on Team VIewer vs Any Desk and this is what I found out. The slight advantage of Any Desk (for my purposes) is: Low-Latency: AnyDesk is really fast and its remote access screen works almost as quickly as the local system. No Session Limit: Unlike many other free remote access solutions, which have a session limit, Any Desk has no time restrictions or pop-up timers. In addition, it requires no sign-up or personal details. Responsive Interface: It is quite responsive in terms of latency and has several features to support keyboard inputs. These findings are the result of a review by an independant tester (although I have no idea whether there is any bias in his findings (https://www.techjockey.com/blog/anydesk-vs-teamviewer-which-is-a-better-remote-desktop-software) As far as AnyDesk being totally free for personal use, the question (Just like with TeamVIewer) is how they determine whether you are using it for personal or professional use, so I kind of think they will have the same ambiguity in deciding whether you are using it in a personal or professional way, and thus, whether it will actually be free or not. With either provider though, the post of a paid subscription is reasonable. Bottom line, I'm inclined to try Any Desk over Team VIewer but I have a feeling that both are probably more or less the same....but thanks for giving me another option to consider.

Everyone is glossing over how I describe what I want to do or how I plan to do it. My needs are actually far simpler than everyone thinks, AND I will nto be using her computer at all but buying a cheap one for her to add to her wi-fi for only me to use. It will always be turned on and in sleep mode. My only need is simply to occasionally log into one of the websites that are giving me so much trouble over here in Thailand to manage my accounts like social media accounts, my amazon merchant account, etc. Won't be using it for streaming video or anything like that at all. I will only use for perhaps 30 minutes daily, and maybe just a dozen times a month. To my way of thinking, purchasing a cheap used laptop off of eBay and using TeamVIewer to connect to it is cheap and easy, and doesn't inconvenience my sister at all. Can anybody tell me why this is not the easiest and best solution? NOTE: Of course I will check out AnyDesktop and see how it compares to TeamViewer, but they sound like they are purposed to do more or less the same thing, and don't require all this stuff that everybody keeps mentioning in this thread like dedicated IP's and VPN's. I mean...I am not trying to mask my IP address from my own computer in her house, or mask her IP address to the sites I visit using that computer in her house. My goal is ONLY to remotely connect with my computer in her house and use my keyboard and mouse to control a web browser within it...and that's all.

I'm glad to hear from someone who actually uses TeamVIewer. I would really like someone to address my simple question though. Whenever I have been home visiting and use my sister's computer to connect to all the sites that give me so much trouble over here in Thailand, I have NO issues at all. No captchas, no request for all sorts of ID verification nonsense. I just type in my user name and password, and I'm in. So, my understanding is that teamviewer gives me the ability to do that remotely and very simply without the need for all sorts of extra hardware. Now, if I buy a cheap computer and have my sister connect it by wi-fi to her router and set that computer to sleep mode, anytime I want to use it to connect to US sites from over here in Thailand si simply a matter of connecting to it remotely through TeamViewer. If necessary I can even reboot my computer in her house if I need to. MY remote connection from here in Thailand to that computer in her house is entirely invisible to any websites I connect to through it, so why would I need any of this VPN stuff at all? My sister would not be involved at all and would have no technical involvement other than manually restarting the computer if the power went out or something like that. Yes or no?

You folks are really getting me confused LOL. Nobody has yet told me why my solution of using TeamViewer to remotely connect to my sister's computer would be an issue. I mean, my connection to her computer would not be detected by websites I try to connect to from HER computer that has a US-based residential IP. She can connect to ALL of the sites that I am having issues, without so much as having to deal with captcha codes, ID verifications, or any problems at all. For me to reach these websites by using her computer to do so would be. for all intents and purposes, no different than if I were sitting at her desk in the US, using her computer. Why would I even need a VPN, or dedicated IP, or anything other than Teamviewer?

You make a lot of good points, for sure! Can you point me in the direction of a good tutorial to understand how this all works, and what you would consider the best vendor for this type of gear? I really appreciate the time you;ve taken to discuss all of this! ...And with 1 hour and 11 minutes to go, let me say HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Well, you're right. I don't have technical expertise with all of this. I still see no reason why my idea of using Team Viewer is a bad idea, or how a private VPN is any better than just connecting remotely to my own computer which would be located in her house.

I don't think you understand my problem. Anything that involves a VPN is going to get me red-flagged, even if I am going through a US based laptop with a service like Nord or a VPN installed on a US based router. No matter where the VPN is interfaced, it can still be easily detectable and so the attempt to connect with certain sites will be red-flagged for that reason. Sites like Netflix, banks, and all the sites I'm getting red-flagged by here in Thailand will still red-flag a laptop located in the USA if a VPN is used in any way, and that includes being used on a router. TeamViewer seems like the best option: The fact that I am remotely connecting to my USA-based laptop at my sister's house will not be detectable to the website I am attempting to connect with. Even if it was (which I doubt) there would be nothing suspicious about that since it's common for people to connect with their home or office computer remotely all the time.) My sister's residential IP address is all that will be detected when I attempt to connect to a website in this manner, not a datacenter IP that VPN's use, which is a major red-flag to many sensitive websites that a VPN is probably in use. Basically it will be no different than if I were sitting in her study typing on US-based laptop that I will buying for her to set up for me at her home, and will be connected to her wi-fi. TeamViewer can easily be set up to not only wake up the remote laptop, but I can even reboot it, so if that's necessary because a system update requires that, it's no big deal. If it needs to be manually restarted, she can easily do that for me, Since I will only be using it when she will probably be asleep (due to the time difference between Thailand and the USA), it will not impact her use of her own computer at all. Even if we were both on at the same time, she has plenty of bandwidth, so that would not be an issue. So, I really do not see why some of you seem so dead-set against using TeamViewer. If I'm missing something, let me know. I really do not think VPN is a viable option at all, whether it is through a service like Nord, or one you set up on a router since the connection will still be detected as a VPN connection and be red-flagged for that reason. Again, I'm just asking if anyone sees any flaws in using TeamViewer as I've described? To me, it is the easiest, safest, cheapest, and most effective way to do this.

I agree, all of this online security gets harder to deal with every day, but I really do not see how there are any tell tale signs that I am accessing my own computer remotely, not should there be any red-flags raised for doing so. Lots of perfectly legitimate people remotely connect with their office computer from home or vise-versa. The technology to do this and at the same time to safeguard against those that are up to no good seems pretty secure. Besides, I only need it to work for the upcoming months before I return to the US, so unless somebody has some "present" reasons for this not working, I feel pretty confident it will work just fine.

I don't think you understand what I want to do. I am buying a laptop off of eBay and shipping to my sister. It is a brand new laptop with no apps other than Chrome which she will install. It will be connected to her wi-fi and in sleep mode except when I log on to it. I only intend to connect to it from here in Thailand ONLY to use the Chromes browser to connect to websites that are giving me red-flag issues from here in Thailand. For all intents and purposes, it will be no different than if I were sitting in her house using it when I remotely access it from here in Thailand. I mean, a website I am connecting to in this manner is not going to be able to detect any difference as a result of me connecting remotely to my own US based computer. Isn't that correct...or am I missing something?

I'm not sure I understand. Firstly, I want to use a separate laptop so my sister isn't burdened with sharing her computer when I need to connect. Also I don;t want to do anything unusual to her router that might compromise her speed of give her any technical issues to deal with. What would be the drawbacks of of doing it the way I described, orver the way you are talking about?

I am planning to set this up on a separate laptop that I will purchase for this purpose at the host location (my sister's house in the US). Can you elaborate on what you mean by "burden on host person"?

That's the whole reason I am abandoning the idea of VPN. Connecting remotely to a laptop that is physically based in the US using TeamViewer to do it, and then using THAT US-based laptop's browser to connect to websites, seems like a perfect solution, wouldn't you think?

I'm not sure what you mean. If I am accessing a laptop computer that I have set up at my sister's house in the states, and only using the Chromes browser on that laptop through a remote connection to it, how would that be detected by a website I would be logging into. I mean, there are no footprints back to me in Thailand if I use teamViewer to connect, are there?

Just a note for anyone following this thread, I decided my best bet was to use TeamVIewer, so I want to thank those that suggested that. I am buying an inexpensive laptop for my sister who lives back home in the USA and has internet services with a residential IP Address and she will connect it to her internet wi-fi. That way I can remotely connect to it from here in Thailand with TeamViewer software anytime I want, and when I use that laptop's browser to connect with different websites that have been red-flagging me due to a Thailand IP address or the VPN data center IP address, it will simply be as though I were sitting right at the USA laptop and I should have no more red-flag requests for ID verifications, and all of the other nonsense that's been happening. I mean unlike all the other options I explored, with this one BOTH the laptop itself as well as the IP address will both be located in the USA, and the IP address will be the standard "residential IP" like everyone else has for their home set up. No red flags should be raised ( I think). Can anyone tell me why this may not work? Keeping my fingers crossed that it works but it really sounds like it should.

It really sounds like you know what you're talking about (as so many others who've replied also sound) but friends and family back in the USA are not that tech-oriented, and I think they would sort of freak out if I asked them to do something like this. I think I'm placing my hopes in setting up a cloud computer and see if that works.

Yeah, Overall VPN seem to be a pretty ineffective solution, except it allows me to receive USA streaming on my TV, but that seems to be the only real benefit to VPN. I hope the "cloud computer" idea is a better solution.

The thing is, it just keeps getting worse every day. Last year it was just a minor nuisance, but today it is a real problem because sites like eBay and Amazon, and ALL of the major online social media platforms make it almost impossible to get live help. All you get are robot replies, if even that, and when you actually get your social media account locked with no way to get back in, THAT is a major issue for many people like me who rely on it for business reasons.

Actually all the major US websites like banks, online platforms, and social media are slowly starting to adopt authenticator apps which is a much better means of ID verification and it's the wave of the future but they are being very slow to adopt it, and until they do, ID verification, especially when you have a SE Asian IP address is just going to get more and more invasive, and more ridiculous. I mean getting locked out of my Instagram account and having it deleted without any way to appeal it was the final straw for me since that actually affects my business.

The problem however is that your computer and internet browser settings are not masked with VPN so a lot of sites in the US like banks, credit card companies, online platforms like Amazon and eBay, and most big social media sites like Instagram and Facebook can easily detect the mismatch between your computer time/location data and that of the VPN server, which creates a red-flag and then you're faced with numerous ID verification steps each time you try to log in. How bad is it getting? It wasn't a problem until this last year when sites like those started ramping up the ID verification crapola so that now it is getting completely ridiculous, and way over the top! Last week, for example, I got locked out of my Instagram account. After they put me through email verification, and then text verification, they then locked my account, and emailed me instructing me to click on a link in the email which sent me another 4 digit code, and told me to write that down on a piece of paper, hold it up to my face making sure that my hand was visible while holding the piece of paper and make a selfie of myself and then upload it to them. I mean is that really over the top or what !@#$% ? And the worst part of it is, they then said they could not verify my identity and that my account was being banned, and that I could take no further action to appeal their decision. And all of this just because I logged in from Thailand, using my VPN that was directed to a US VPN server.

Is there a way to do this without using VPN on either side? What I mean is that I often here about people being able to connect remotely to their home computers when travelling, or is that only for retrieving data? Just to be clear, I need to be able to actually manipulate the internet browser on their computer, and I just worry that most people, even friends are not going to like the idea of me doing that with their computer, or having to reconfigure their computer for that purpose. I mean, these are not IT type people.

LOL! I saw those scaled down miniature beach chairs too on Lazada! Things can sometimes be SO weird here in the Magic Kingdom! I wonder if there is some cultural thing here in Thailand about not sitting too low to the ground or something, because on US sites like Amazon, there are tons of different ones for sale ?

You and others have made a lot of interesting points and I explored them all over the weekend. I also talked to my ISP in the US where my account is on hold while I am overseas so I have plenty of bits and pieces of a solution, but still not sure what the best solution really is. One of the senior engineers at my US ISP is going to call me tonight about the "Teamviewer" thing that you mentioned. I still don't understand just how that would work exactly but he said that their tech support people use it among themselves and he thought there might be some way it could serve as a solution, but he wasn't sure so he said he'd look into it and let me know. So far though, the most promising idea seems to be setting up a virtual cloud machine with its' own Windows 10 operating system that I can access from here in Thailand using the desktop remote connection from my laptop. That way, not only is the Cloud computer;s IP address a US based one, but the virtual computer is also US-based. All I am doing is using my laptop's mouse and keyboard to communicate with the cloud computer. It's really far easier and less expensive than I first thought. One company that offers it is the one the YouTube guy is using for similar purposes to mine. It's called Paperspace and after checking them out it sounds like it should only take about 10 minutes to set it up and the cost can be as low as $10 per month. All I know for certain is that the VPN option is just not working. Presently when I use the Nord VPN here in Thailand to connect to one of their US-based servers, my Thailand IP address is certainly masked BUT my laptop is not, as evidenced by this IP CHeck I did while connected with the VPN: So, it seems to me that this mismatch between the time/location on my laptop's operating system located here in Thailand, and the time/location of the VPN server located in New York City is actually what is getting me red-flagged. Am I making a proper assumption with all of this? I mean, It just seems to be a far more likely "red-flag" than the fact that the VPN is using a data-center IP since there are a lot of US based users who connect with data-center IP and are not red-flagged.

Sometimes trying to buy the simplest items here in Thailand is so difficult! I'm trying to buy one of those low foldable beach chairs like this: I've searched Lazada and the brick and mortar store chains like Big-C online and can only find the full sized chairs. Can anybody point me to a link on Lazada or one of the local chain stores that has these?

Yeah I kind of agree. Of course there are major security issues with email these days. Leave it the damn hackers and scam artists to make life a living hell for everyone else. These new authenticator apps are really an amazing alternative! I use one called Last Pass that is absolutely amazing! It's easy to set up and super fast to use, and also provides the best protection you can possibly imagine! I think they are recognized as one of the premiere providers of these type of apps, and they certainly are when it comes to password manager programs. I've been using their password manager program for about 5 years and it is also super secure, fast and easy to use, and allows you to create unique and very secure passwords for every website you use. It even warns you if you accidentally create the same password for two different websites. Seriously it is just incredible and about the most secure system I've ever seen. The Authenticator app is completely free and the password manager app also has a free option or a premium paid option that is around $3 USD per month...and I am not being paid by them to say any of this LOL! I mean, I know people that still use a single password for every site they visit which is just plain insane if you value your online safety, ya know. Anyway, more and more websites are starting to change over to using authenticator apps rather than SMS short codes. Right now, all of my banks and credit cards are allowing you to use it as an ID verification option. So is eBay and Amazon, and some of the social media sites like Facebook and Instagram have also adopted it in part. Sadly some websites still cling to this antiquated and unreliable short-code SMS method which is just horrible IMO, so that's why I'm still searching for a way to deal with this BS. Nonetheless Authenticator apps are the wave of the future and whoever developed this authenticator app concept should receive the Nobel prize hahahaha!!!!!!

Yeah, I've experienced that too. I use Skype for sites that will give you the option of receiving ID verification code by voice code rather than short-code SMS text, or who do not use short-code, and it worked for a while BUT then all of the sudden one day it no longer worked. Luckily more and more websites are starting to using "authenticator apps" to replace the use of SMS text codes, and they are WONDERFULLY easy to set up and work like a charm! Whoever came up with that concept is an absolute genius! Unfortunately a lot of websites are still clinging to short-code SMS texts, which are just horrible IMO.