Free Alternatives to TeamViewer?

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Quattro Pete

Quattro Pete

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I've been using a free version of TeamViewer for years to help with family computers and to control my headless media server PC. For some reason as of late, TeamViewer thinks I am using it for commercial purposes and is therefore restricting my use of it, asking me to buy a licensed version. Reaching out to them to clear this up has been unsuccessful so far.

What is my best free alternative? AnyDesk?

It needs to work on Windows, Ubuntu, and Android.

Thanks.
 
tightvnc?
or just enable remote desktop on all... ubuntu has the software packages for a windows remotedesktop, android has the app, and it's built into windows. ....
mstsc in windows will open it....
or yes tightvnc works.
 
I have the same issue with them and went through the trouble of TV reviewing my account only to have them say I am using it for commercial purposes. I only use TV to control a laptop that's connected to my ham radio equipment and operate digital modes with ham radio. This all started after the last update and after being a noncommercial user for several years since LogMeIn started charging.
 
Skype works well. MS integrated Lync into Skype (and now is turning Skype into Microsoft Teams) and it works pretty dang well.
 
Any VNC server/ client will work; but unlike TeamViewer you'll likely have to forward the appropriate ports through their router. The advantage of TeamViewer is that the connection is brokered through their servers so each party is essentially using outbound bandwidth to establish the connection to the other party. Using VNC doesn't offer the same luxury; and on top of that you'll likely also have to set up DDNS (Dynamic Domain Name System) accounts for those you wish to connect to because their ISP-assigned IP address may well change over time. I use no-ip.

I thought the Chrome browser had a screen sharing add-on, too. I never really looked into it much but it seemed to work kinda sorta like TeamViewer on a basic level: the person wanting to share their screen shares a code with the person to whom they'd like to grant access.
 
TeamViewer is a security risk for corp. You just can't trust who else may have access to your corp network using that.

I think for small businesses (i.e. less than 25) VNC or Windows remote desktop is the way to go, setting up the VPN is the hard thing though.
 
I've used Splashtop streamer in the past with decent results - but only for pc's on the same LAN. IMO it's not as polished as Team Viewer, but it would be an alternative.
 
Originally Posted by madRiver
VNC for your personal network.
How easy is it to install VNC by an elderly person that is not computer savvy?

I am not anywhere near my parents' machines, so it needs to be something super simple, like downloading and running an executable, without any need for any kind of configuration, like TeamViewer. They can't configure dynamic DNS and the like.
 
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by madRiver
VNC for your personal network.
How easy is it to install VNC by an elderly person that is not computer savvy?

I am not anywhere near my parents' machines, so it needs to be something super simple, like downloading and running an executable, without any need for any kind of configuration, like TeamViewer. They can't configure dynamic DNS and the like.




Then it isn't going to work and you DEFINITELY don't want to port-forward VNC to the outside world.

Typically, in a scenario like this you'd just setup a VPN, with DDNS on the unit, assuming they lack a static IP, which you seem to have confirmed, and then you'd use RDP to connect to their computer. There's no compelling case to use VNC over RDP in this scenario, and performance will be worse.
 
Originally Posted by OVERKILL
Typically, in a scenario like this you'd just setup a VPN, with DDNS on the unit,

How would I set up VPN without physically being there?
They have an older TP Link router which does not have built-in VPN capabilities.
 
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by OVERKILL
Typically, in a scenario like this you'd just setup a VPN, with DDNS on the unit,

How would I set up VPN without physically being there?
They have an older TP Link router which does not have built-in VPN capabilities.


If that's the case, you aren't in a great spot with this. How far away, physically, are they from you?
 
Honestly, after reading this thread and seeing the words "not anywhere near my parents' machine" and "super simple" I think anything requiring a setup or port forwarding or VPN or anything might be a bit much for you extremely limited circumstances.

How about just setting up another TeamViewer account with another email address?
 
Originally Posted by OVERKILL
How far away, physically, are they from you?
About 4,500 miles, on the other side of the Atlantic.
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted by uc50ic4more
How about just setting up another TeamViewer account with another email address?

I'm trying out AnyDesk right now between my home PCs. So far, it's fairly simple, similar to TeamViewer. When I get a chance, I'll have my parents install it on their machines and see how it goes.

Thanks.
 
Originally Posted by JustinH
so I went to chrome RDP that has been good.

More recent versions of Chrome no longer support Win XP, which is what I have to deal with on some of the machines. Don't ask.

Besides, with Chrome RDP, can you set up unattended access so that you don't need a one-time access code every single time? I need that for my headless media server.
 
I have been using the free version of Remote Utilities for a couple of years with no problems.
 
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