can I see an iPad on my network?

To confirm: you want to see what the iPad is doing, while sitting at another computer? The simple answer is no. You can go "the other way" in that you can remote control a Mac or PC from the iPad. But the computer can't view or control the iPad, at least not in the way you're describing.

FYI: There is a service from LogMeIn called LogMeIn Rescue. It is designed for a customer support department to be able to remote access a user's iPad. However it is quite expensive and normally for enterprise customers, not consumers. I mention only because what you ask is technically possible, but this is the only one that I know of and like I said, it's too expensive for an individual.

newmountain wrote:

Thanks - I fear you're right - which seems a huge oversight - treating the iPad on the network like it is independent and not viewable like any other computer is a bit odd.

If I may offer an opinion, the iPad is not a "normal computer". Initially I was frustrated with a lot of what the iPad didn't do. My epiphany moment was realizing that the iPad was a large screen version of my HP iPaq Windows Mobile PDA. (Similar to an iPod Touch.) I stopped trying to do what I did on my computer "exactly" the same way on the iPad. Instead I started "doing it the iPad way", meaning I followed the ad, "there's an app for that." I analyzed what my overal goal was and then tried to find out how the iPad did it. I won't bore you with examples but sufice to say that you may have to rethink what you want and determine other procedures, possibly non-technological, to do what you want.

Do you suppose common sense will finally hold sway and an admin will be able to have some control over the devices on their network, without requiring a 3rd party app like Logmein, clunky at best?

While Apple implies iPad is "ready for business", IMHO it's not really an "enterprise" device. If you think like me, that Apple is focusing more on consumer than enterprise, then what the iPad is and does makes (more or less) perfect sense. Apple is allowing other vendors to provide enterprise managment for iOS devices, but again, it's going to cost you. And from what I can tell, it's not necessary the "remote control of the screen" like LogMeIn Rescue.

If you change your usage of the iPad to say have most or all of the data in the cloud, then there is much less to manage on the physical device. So then perhaps direct remote control may not be necessary anymore. I know I said I wouldn't bore you with examples, but this is one where a slight change in the setup reduced the management headache. For our remote workers, they used to have apps installed locally on their PCs, which then used a VPN connect to talk to our servers at the main office. That was slow. We changed them to RDP into a Windows machine at the main office. Although we had to deploy a few more Windows machines, the speed improvement was significant. And because it's just an RDP connection, they can use almost any machine they want. One of the managers now uses their Macbook as well as an iPad to connect in. And since it's just RDP, there's very little to have to manage on the iPad. So no need for direct control of the iPad for us. While I'm not saying there is no need for direct remote control ever, perhaps an analysis of your overall needs may help you work out how to fit the iPad into your enterprise.

As I mentioned to someone else on the forum, don't make your iPad work like a PC. Make your work fit the iPad. (Yeah, that's a bunch of "synergy jargon", but that was my epiphany moment. 🙂 )

@ Asatoran I loooove your long answer. No seriously. "You do it the iPad way", and learn that it's a different, but good way of doing hings (95% of my productivity on the tablet now).

Regularly, I find myself connected to a WiFi network with other people, for say, a week on end. I'd been wondering forever if they could see my iPad. I couldn't on my laptop. On my laptop, I was explained (no expert here) how to protect it by not sharing in the preferences. However, I've toyed around with the iPad to find the same kind of setup. So I've always been a bit apprehensive that other people on the same network could access it. Basically, I wanted the opposite of the thread starter.

So you're telling us that, in the situation mentioned above, other network users can't see or access my iPad - and I can feel 'as safe as possible'? That would be awesome!

Thks

...Regularly, I find myself connected to a WiFi network with other people, for say, a week on end. I'd been wondering forever if they could see my iPad...So you're telling us that, in the situation mentioned above, other network users can't see or access my iPad - and I can feel 'as safe as possible'?...

The short answer: the iPad is safe.

Reasonably safe anway. Although the iPad doesn't have built-in sharing services like OSX and Windows, so it's harder for other people to "see" your iPad (and iPhone and iPod Touch) on the network, it's possible to get such apps. But let's assume you will not install such apps. It still is harder to directly attack the iPad in the same way as a desktop or laptop, but other indirect exploits are possible for any computing device. For example, if the Wi-Fi network you're sharing with other people is say a public hotspot at a local coffee shop, then the Wi-Fi signals are probably unencrypted. So anyone can "war drive" and see all the data traffic at that hotspot. In many cases, the bad guys are looking for email addresses (to send spam) or if they get lucky, usernames and passwords. Not all websites that require logins are on https, so while that particular website is probably not a banking website, it's possible that the user is lazy and uses the same username and password at for their bank, email, Facebook, etc.

But you can see that is expoit has nothing to do with directly "seeing" the iPad. It is "attacking" the user and doesn't care what device they're using. This is more true as data moves to the cloud.

Other methods could use an email with a link, sending you to a website that has Flash content that would try to infect a computer. But since the iPad can't run Flash... 😀 While many complain about the lack of Flash on the iPad, being a network administrator, I see the lack of Flash as a good thing. 😎

I'm not trying to scare you or anything. Rather, I am saying that yes, the iPad is as safe, and arguably safer, than sufing the net on a desktop or laptop. But the target is less likely to the be the iPad itself...except maybe by physically stealing it. 😉 Since your passwords are stored on the iPad for accessing your email, etc, this is why the recommendation for securing your iPad involves having a power on-password and installing Find My iPhone so that you can do a remote wipe in case the device is stolen.

Thks again for the answer. Greatly appreciated, especially from a network admin - some of them I've talked to with a very limited knowledge of the iPad.

I wasn't referring to public hotspots, but when I do use those. I never enter username/pw unless absolutely necessary for less than 2 minutes usually. Even https web sites. And I never click on a link from an email sender I don't know. They go irectly to Junk anyway. That's a little issue with mobile Mail. I can't delete a file w/o opening it first.

Great point about cloud computing. People who work in gvt certainly believe they will never use this. Humble Me thinks this is where we're headed. All of our school material is in the cloud already, but I have access to it locally. No need to connect.

The Flash thing. That is my 5% of dissatisfaction with Mr. iPad, but I understand the reasons now - slow me took 14 months to do so. Great to spend 8-10 hours a day in a classroom, and still have some battery life. But I still miss Flash. Maybe just a perception, but it seems there are more and more videos available in html5 now. I'd say 60% vs maybe 20% when I got the iPad. And they look faster and better quality. Plus, in-app videos runs great too.

No you didn't scare, quite the opposite. The best thing is you confirmed there was no built-in sharing services, and people couldn't see the iPad. Brilliant!

Again, thks a ton. Feel safer.

(I saw those credit points below the members' username; I woulda given you the max, but I figure this is only for the thread starter)