How to control interface

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Logmein Controls

Ah the joys of living in the Digital Age. Have you ever found yourself stuck at the office only to realize that you forgot to download last nights episode of Heroes? What a mediorcre evening you’ve got ahead of you if you forgot. Never fear! You, my friend, live in the digital age where we’ve got electric cars, flat screen tvs and touchscreen computers. You’ve also got the internet in your pocket if you’ve got an iPhone. And now you’ve got the power to control other computers over the internet with your iPhone. You know I could write a tutorial on how to use your Dell laptop and login to your home pc via ssh, vpn and vnc but hey where’s the fun in that?

How to control your home pc with an iPhone

What you’ll need:

iPhone/iPod Touch (w/internet connection)
Anchorfree’s Hot Spot Shield link 
logmein account <—- signup for the free account before you start.
Logmein Ignition software  

Once you’ve laid out the foundation for this process it becomes mind-numbingly simple to gain access to your home pc from your phone. Access to your pc is just a few swipes and touches away.

So let’s get started.

Set up pc/mac to accept Logmein connections. Logmein is a widely popular and secure platform for accessing remote computers that you make available once you’ve signed up for an account. They’ve recently released a native app on the iTunes App store called Logmein Ignition. It’s kinda pricey so wait for a sale otherwise its highly recommended. (It’s available here too. But that’s a whole ‘nother tutorial.) The mac/pc desktop clients are free. So you can install the software on any computer that you need to have access to. I think the free account only gives you access to about 5 computers. Also, make sure the computer you want to control has a mac or windows login/password setup and that you’ve made a note of it somewhere safe. This adds an extra layer of security.

Once you’ve signed up for an account go ahead and log-in on their website. In your account you’ll have the ability to add new computers you want to control. Adding a new computer also installs the software on the computer you’re using. Save the installers to a usb stick if you want to install the client on other computers.

So at this point you’ve got the iPhone Ignition app and the client desktop software installed and you’re almost ready to go.

Secure the connection. Assuming everything is gravy at this point you’re probably on your way to connecting to your pc. What you might want to do is head over to Anchorfree’s website and punch in these settings. Since the iPhone will connect over Wifi or 3G you’ll probably want to secure the connection depending on where you are in world. Whether you’re at the office, a local hotspot, or on the road. Chances are the information you’re shuffling through the air can be picked up by hackers or people looking to compromise your network. It could be that your IT admin has blocked off access to Logmein so that you don’t go controlling their computers at work. Hot Spot Sheild will create a secure VPN tunnel so that you can connect to any network securely without worrying about your data being accessed without your knowing. Logmein does a good job of encrypting data but you can never be too careful. When you’re entering your VPN info into the iPhone click on “Get Account ID” and the website generates a login/password for you. Follow the rest of the instructions and you’re almost done!

 

Check to see if you can connect without enabling VPN. On the iPhone, launch Logmein Ignition and enter your credentials. After doing that you’ll be presented with another login screen. This is the login/pass to logon to your computer. Upon successful login you’ll be presented with a screen that explains how to control the remote pc. Think of the interface as a laptop touchpad. Double-clicking anywhere will register a response wherever the mouse is sitting on the screen. This becomes clear once you use it. There are tools lined up along the bottom so that, you can for example, bring up the keyboard or send a [control+alt+delete] for those awkward moments when your pc does not respond. Clicking the X ends the remote session. When you’re done testing you’ll probably want to stick with sessions with VPN enabled. On the iPhone, simply go to Settings / VPN and move the switch from OFF to ON. Assuming all your VPN settings were entered correctly, you should be as good as gravy. Mmm…gravy.

Now go watch Heroes!