VPN vs Cloud Computers for connecting to home from Thailand

[digbeth]

51 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

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?

It will work for now, but don't count on it working in the future, as the method to access online banking from another computer looks like you're being scammed, it's in the bank's interest to guard against that 

[WaveHunter]

11 minutes ago, digbeth said:

It will work for now, but don't count on it working in the future, as the method to access online banking from another computer looks like you're being scammed, it's in the bank's interest to guard against that 

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. 

[gamb00ler]

1 hour ago, fdsa said:

It doesn't have enough horsepower for the modern Web such as Facebook or Instagram.

For simple websites such as online banking it should be Ok though.

The Raspberry Pi would not be rendering any web pages.  It would simply be serving as a non-filtering proxy to disguise the IP address of the original requestor.

[tgw]

2 hours ago, WaveHunter said:

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?

1- no sharing of a computer involved if using the router's VPN server.

2- VPN on the router should not cause your sister any technical issues

3- your sister's connection bandwidth will be impacted regardless of what solution you will use, because both will share your sister's connection. the impact should not be noticeable though, if you don't stream HD video or down/up load a lot of content

4- I have mentioned the drawbacks/advantages before

 

[WaveHunter]

16 hours ago, tgw said:

1- no sharing of a computer involved if using the router's VPN server.

2- VPN on the router should not cause your sister any technical issues

3- your sister's connection bandwidth will be impacted regardless of what solution you will use, because both will share your sister's connection. the impact should not be noticeable though, if you don't stream HD video or down/up load a lot of content

4- I have mentioned the drawbacks/advantages before

 

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.

[tgw]

2 hours ago, WaveHunter said:

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 think you don't understand what a VPN is.

What gets you flagged, is the commercial VPN's IP address.

There is no way the use of a private VPN can be detected by the visited website.

[WaveHunter]

3 hours ago, tgw said:

I think you don't understand what a VPN is.

What gets you flagged, is the commercial VPN's IP address.

There is no way the use of a private VPN can be detected by the visited website.

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.

[tgw]

34 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

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.

- no need to have another computer

- no need to update

- no danger of data leak / intrusion on the remote computer

- much less danger of the remote computer having a technical issue (Bios CMOS bad, select boot device/ windows blue screen loop, boot into safe mode, windows update fails....)

- you can use all your programs/files of your own computer

... I guess there are some advantages I don't even think about, but I'm sure there is not a single advantage in using a remote computer and teamviewer compared to VPN on the router.

 

and ah, hum, I have been a user of teamviewer for years until they decided my connection to my dad's computer and my son's computer were of "commercial" nature and cut every connection after 1 minute. It took some time to convince them otherwise.

 

the less you depend on third party vendors and other devices, the more reliable your solution is.

[WaveHunter]

2 hours ago, tgw said:

- no need to have another computer

- no need to update

- no danger of data leak / intrusion on the remote computer

- much less danger of the remote computer having a technical issue (Bios CMOS bad, select boot device/ windows blue screen loop, boot into safe mode, windows update fails....)

- you can use all your programs/files of your own computer

... I guess there are some advantages I don't even think about, but I'm sure there is not a single advantage in using a remote computer and teamviewer compared to VPN on the router.

 

and ah, hum, I have been a user of teamviewer for years until they decided my connection to my dad's computer and my son's computer were of "commercial" nature and cut every connection after 1 minute. It took some time to convince them otherwise.

 

the less you depend on third party vendors and other devices, the more reliable your solution is.

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!!!

[tgw]

9 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

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!!!

sawatdee peemai !

 

please see this post of mine:

https://aseannow.com/topic/1280637-vpn-vs-cloud-computers-for-connecting-to-home-from-thailand/?do=findComment&comment=17797422

 

[KhunHeineken]

You may be interested in this product.  I own a set and the system works great, but you do need to plug the Home Proxy Dongle into a router at a friend's or relative's place, in your home country. 

 

https://www.homingsystems.com

 

You can set up something similar with two Raspberry Pi's,  but I bought a pair of these and they work well, especially for some streaming websites that have very strict geo blocking.  The WiFi signal that the Companion Dongle emits, including the IP address and many other details, s as good as sitting in your lounge room back in your home country.  Speeds a slower, but still fine to stream HD content.    

 

You only need to pay a subscription if you only buy the Home Proxy Dongle and then access it going through their servers.  If you buy a set, you don't need a subscription.

 

As another member said, you could have a friend or family member set up a VPN on their router for you, or you could buy something like this, plug it in to their router, and VPN back to it.  They are cheap.

 

https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-mt300n-v2/

 

If you buy two of these, you can make pretty much what the AlwaysHome system is also. 

 

 

[fdsa]

21 hours ago, tgw said:

- no need to have another computer

- no need to update

- no danger of data leak / intrusion on the remote computer

- much less danger of the remote computer having a technical issue (Bios CMOS bad, select boot device/ windows blue screen loop, boot into safe mode, windows update fails....)

- you can use all your programs/files of your own computer

... I guess there are some advantages I don't even think about, but I'm sure there is not a single advantage in using a remote computer and teamviewer compared to VPN on the router.

 

and ah, hum, I have been a user of teamviewer for years until they decided my connection to my dad's computer and my son's computer were of "commercial" nature and cut every connection after 1 minute. It took some time to convince them otherwise.

 

the less you depend on third party vendors and other devices, the more reliable your solution is.

setting up a local computer in Thailand to make it look like it's residing in USA might be much more difficult than buying a separate computer and using a Teamviewer.

If I was OP I would choose the Teamviewer route.

[tgw]

12 hours ago, fdsa said:

setting up a local computer in Thailand to make it look like it's residing in USA

 

which is completely not what I'm talking about

[Lorenzo Valla]

Good morning...your dilemma is something I tried to tackle a few years ago here in Thailand and now I'm on year 5 of successfully being able to completely mask my location.  First step is what you've already thought about and that's a dedicated, static IP address.  There are only a few VPN providers that actually offer this.  Some claim it's dedicated because the IP address you connect to doesn't change, but the IP is still in a range of 'detectable' VPN IP addresses.  The next step is to set up a separate VPN router, which will be connected to your Thai ISP-supplied one.  This VPN router will need to be able to use OpenVPN protocol, or Wireguard (much preferred).  There are a limited number of routers that will come preconfigured to use OpenVPN and/or Wireguard, or you can buy a regular router that's capable of being flashed to DDWRT...most aren't and you need to do the research to make sure it will.

 

Torguard has worked well for me continuously.  I can access any website I need to in the US at any time with zero verification issues, beyond those from expired cookies requiring it.

 

It's not easy to set this up initially, but there is quite a bit of documentation online and at Torguard's website to guide you along.  I'm not an IT professional, just a semi-advanced user...on good days.

 

If you use OpenVPN protocol on your second VPN router, expect your bandwidth to be roughly 10% of your ISP's rated bandwidth, which can cause problems.  With Wireguard you will get an encrypted tunnel for information protection, but you'll maintain about 50% of your bandwidth.

 

Hope that helps a little.

[dentman]

3 hours ago, Lorenzo Valla said:

The next step is to set up a separate VPN router, which will be connected to your Thai ISP-supplied one.  This VPN router will need to be able to use OpenVPN protocol, or Wireguard

Why is a router required when the Torguard desktop app and/or the VPN browser app (Chrome, FireFox) can be used?

Router wth OpenVPN client connection is not necessary to circumvent VPN and geo-blocking.

[WaveHunter]

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?

[KhunHeineken]

2 hours ago, WaveHunter said:

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?

I used to use TeamViewer.  I now use AnyDesk.  Check it out. 

 

https://anydesk.com/en

 

The method you are considering is very energy and labor intensive.  

 

Your sister has to leave her computer on for you, 24/7, or you have to contact her and ask her to turn on her computer, and she may not be home, and there are time zones to consider.  You could set up a WiFi switch so you can turn the computer on from anywhere in the world. 

 

Your system would work, but I think it's just not very efficient, and wouldn't really work for streaming, which would be a bonus with other methods. 

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, KhunHeineken said:

I used to use TeamViewer.  I now use AnyDesk.  Check it out. 

 

https://anydesk.com/en

 

The method you are considering is very energy and labor intensive.  

 

Your sister has to leave her computer on for you, 24/7, or you have to contact her and ask her to turn on her computer, and she may not be home, and there are time zones to consider.  You could set up a WiFi switch so you can turn the computer on from anywhere in the world. 

 

Your system would work, but I think it's just not very efficient, and wouldn't really work for streaming, which would be a bonus with other methods. 

I have been doing the TeamViewer scheme for years.

I turn the host computer on and off myself by logging into the router there. Actually it's just a box with Linux but used laptop before and the box has been much smoother.

But in a sense you're correct, periodically there are difficult technical issues with this scheme and I'm lucky that the person handling this for me is very technical. I wouldn't be optimistic about computer dummies types.

It's a good system indeed on paper, but the reality is sometimes a PITA.

The reality is human factors. 

If the host person isn't technical, do you really want to burden them with this task that is so critical to your well being?

 

[KhunHeineken]

8 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I have been doing the TeamViewer scheme for years.

I turn the host computer on and off myself by logging into the router there. Actually it's just a box with Linux but used laptop before and the box has been much smoother.

But in a sense you're correct, periodically there are difficult technical issues with this scheme and I'm lucky that the person handling this for me is very technical. I wouldn't be optimistic about people using computer dummies types.

It's a good system indeed on paper, but the reality is sometimes a PITA.

 

Others have suggested a VPN back to his sister's router. 

 

I have suggested some plug an play devices, but that's extra cost in hardware.

 

If the OP and his sister do not or can not set up a VPN to the router, I'm not quite sure they would be interested in setting up Wake on Lan through the router, either. 

 

Easier to go into the BIOS of the computer and check the box "Restart after power outage" or whatever it is.   A WiFi switch can then be used by the OP to turn his sister's computer on and off, but once again, how would the OP know if or when his sister is using the computer?  He would have to message her, before turning it off remotely, or risk cutting her off.

 

I suggested it's a lot more energy efficient and less labor intensive, and less problems for his sister, if he just bought his own small device and asked his sister to power it up and connect it to her router.   

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

Others have suggested a VPN back to his sister's router. 

 

I have suggested some plug an play devices, but that's extra cost in hardware.

 

If the OP and his sister do not or can not set up a VPN to the router, I'm not quite sure they would be interested in setting up Wake on Lan through the router, either. 

 

Easier to go into the BIOS of the computer and check the box "Restart after power outage" or whatever it is.   A WiFi switch can then be used by the OP to turn his sister's computer on and off, but once again, how would the OP know if or when his sister is using the computer?  He would have to message her, before turning it off remotely, or risk cutting her off.

 

I suggested it's a lot more energy efficient and less labor intensive, and less problems for his sister, if he just bought his own small device and asked his sister to power it up and connect it to her router.   

Absolutely have a dedicated device! I thought that was assumed.

[KhunHeineken]

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

Absolutely have a dedicated device! I thought that was assumed.

Unless I am mistaken, he wants to do TeamViewer sessions with his sister's computer, and then open websites that are geo blocked. 

 

His method would work, but it's not an efficient way of doing it, and I haven't even touched on the privacy issue. 

[Lorenzo Valla]

19 hours ago, dentman said:

Why is a router required when the Torguard desktop app and/or the VPN browser app (Chrome, FireFox) can be used?

Router wth OpenVPN client connection is not necessary to circumvent VPN and geo-blocking.

That's all correct.  A router isn't required and the desktop app would work as suggested, and OpenVPN client isn't necessary to circumvent VPN or geo-blocking.  I was just giving an example of something I have been using that accomplishes what the OP is looking for, isn't overly expensive and gives a great deal of flexibility.  With the set up I have I can use the static, dedicated IP address in the US on my desktop, laptop, phone and media streaming devices by pointing that device to the VPN router, or I can use my local Thai IP address by switching to the Thai ISP router.

 

I'm sure there's literally dozens of other ways to get this job done and some may be cheaper and some more expensive.  This method has worked great for me and I can continue to access any and all government/commercial/banking/video streaming sites I need in my home country (US), as well as access any local websites.  I value the flexibility and I definitely enjoy being able to watch the video steaming channels in a seamless way.

[MRToMRT]

I have amazon, banking etc etc in the States and theres no need for me to use a VPN to access and use them.

 

Only sites I have issues with are the streaming TV sites in general. Amazon, HBO and nearly everything from the UK. Amazon gives you an alternative (as in the individual package "Amazon Prime TV subscription").

 

Its the way of the world.

[WaveHunter]

On 1/2/2023 at 7:45 PM, Jingthing said:

I have been doing the TeamViewer scheme for years.

I turn the host computer on and off myself by logging into the router there. Actually it's just a box with Linux but used laptop before and the box has been much smoother.

But in a sense you're correct, periodically there are difficult technical issues with this scheme and I'm lucky that the person handling this for me is very technical. I wouldn't be optimistic about computer dummies types.

It's a good system indeed on paper, but the reality is sometimes a PITA.

The reality is human factors. 

If the host person isn't technical, do you really want to burden them with this task that is so critical to your well being?

 

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?

[WaveHunter]

On 1/2/2023 at 6:27 PM, KhunHeineken said:

I used to use TeamViewer.  I now use AnyDesk.  Check it out. 

 

https://anydesk.com/en

 

The method you are considering is very energy and labor intensive.  

 

Your sister has to leave her computer on for you, 24/7, or you have to contact her and ask her to turn on her computer, and she may not be home, and there are time zones to consider.  You could set up a WiFi switch so you can turn the computer on from anywhere in the world. 

 

Your system would work, but I think it's just not very efficient, and wouldn't really work for streaming, which would be a bonus with other methods. 

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.

[Jingthing]

28 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

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?

Yes to the sites seeing you as if you are in the US 100 percent.

 

No to there being no maintenance issues for your sister.

[WaveHunter]

On 1/2/2023 at 6:27 PM, KhunHeineken said:

I used to use TeamViewer.  I now use AnyDesk.  Check it out. 

 

https://anydesk.com/en

 

The method you are considering is very energy and labor intensive.  

 

Your sister has to leave her computer on for you, 24/7, or you have to contact her and ask her to turn on her computer, and she may not be home, and there are time zones to consider.  You could set up a WiFi switch so you can turn the computer on from anywhere in the world. 

 

Your system would work, but I think it's just not very efficient, and wouldn't really work for streaming, which would be a bonus with other methods. 

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.

[WaveHunter]

17 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Yes to the sites seeing you as if you are in the US 100 percent.

 

No to there being no maintenance issues for your sister.

What maintenance issues other than rebooting the computer if there is a power outage?  If the computer is in sleep mode, I can maintain it remotely.  If there were to be a hardware issue, she has an IT guy that can handle that.

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, WaveHunter said:

What maintenance issues other than rebooting the computer if there is a power outage?  If the computer is in sleep mode, I can maintain it remotely.  If there were to be a hardware issue, she has an IT guy that can handle that.

I am not a psychic.

Try it and see.

One tip though.

Do your bidness well before due dates because when there is a problem you won't want to be under time pressure to fix it.

A few times I have had to ask my host to actually logon for me to pay some bills. 

[Jingthing]

2 hours ago, WaveHunter said:

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.

If the connection of your device is wireless rather than by cable I believe you will need to logon to your sister's network to wake it up as I do.

When you do that if you set that up you will get security issues on your browser used to login to her network which you will need to override.

 

https://www.teamviewer.com/en/info/wake-on-lan/

 

The only requirement for operating Wake-on-LAN over the internet is that the remote device is connected to a power source and is connected to the internet via a network cable. 

 

You could I suppose just message your sister when you want a session and she could turn on your device manually.