Q: Problems using 'Back to my Mac' with Yosemite

Well, I guess I did speak too soon. My early success with BTMM under 10.10.3 has now turned to "Connection Failed" to my remote Mac just two days after it was working nicely as I posted earlier.  Now at least it's showing up as a shared device in the Finder, but this isn't doing me any good since I can't connect.

One additional piece of information regarding this is that I've consistently been able to see, access, and update the Airport router at the remote location with 10.10.2 and still now with 10.10.3 using the Airport Utility. So if they can make this work with an Airport device, why not a Mac?        

vegeta777 wrote:

 

I have two MPB's connected to Airport Time Capsules, one via ethernet (both in Bridge Mode), both MB's on 10.10.3

 

UPnP is activated on both routers (Verizon DSL and FiOS)

Thanks for that. I did try at one stage (before 10.10.3) to replace my Time Capsule with non-Apple router with uPnP enabled but it made no difference. I took the Time Capsule out of the loop as I didn't want to lose it's configuration. I'll maybe give it another try.

David Bruce wrote:

 

So if they can make this work with an Airport device, why not a Mac?        

I raised this previously with my Apple Care contact and he said it's because the Airport device never goes to sleep whereas the Mac does. The one thing that I can see and connect with consistently is my Time Capsule.

vegeta777 wrote:

 

after 10.10.3, BTMM has been working consistently for me.  It now even finally wakes my MBP from sleep.

BTMM finally started working for me with the release version of 10.10.3, once I upgraded both my Mac Mini at home and my rMBP. I am now able to connect remotely and see the remote Mac listed in my Finder sidebar under "Shared."

I have found that since upgrading to 10.10.3 that as long as I do not allow my Mac Mini to sleep then I can connect to it via BTMM. Once it goes to sleep then after a period of time it drops off the Finder sidebar. Although this is workable Apple still need to do some more work on it to get it 100% right.

Very disappointed this morning to find the even with keeping my Mac Mini from sleeping that I could not make a connection for either file sharing or screen sharing no matter what I did at my end. It was only after toggling BTMM off and on on the Mac Mini that I got a connection. So it worked in excess of 48 hrs but then failed. I could see it in my Finder sidebar with the correct icon displayed, tried toggling BTMM off and on on my MacBook but repeated attempts to connect all failed.

It appears that after one of the supplemental updates, BTMM is now no longer working for me.

vegeta777 wrote:

 

It appears that after one of the supplemental updates, BTMM is now no longer working for me.

I applied the supplemental updates to both client and host, and BTMM still works for me today.

I have a dynamic IP address but have always assumed that this would not have any effect on BTMM but now I'm beginning to wonder.

I would be interested in knowing if people on this thread have dynamic or static IP addresses.

El Morche wrote:

 

I have a dynamic IP address but have always assumed that this would not have any effect on BTMM but now I'm beginning to wonder.

 

I would be interested in knowing if people on this thread have dynamic or static IP addresses.

I have a dynamic IP address, and BTMM started working again with the release of 10.10.3.

That's good to know. Thanks for that RaceTripper.

I spoke too soon also.

It has worked for a few days. But my MBpro (with which I was accessing my server at home) was on a 100Mbps dedicated link and negotiation took forever, but it finally got through.

When I tried it a few days before on a 20Mbps line, File Sharing would work but negotiation of BTMM screen sharing failed after a long time trying.

Today I'm on a 50Mbps internet link and nothing works.

The "new" Yosemite BTMM seems to be very picky in regards to the type of connection it needs to work correctly. In my case I'd say it works in about 1 out of 10 times (and I'm really generous here).

This is really a pain.

OK, I'm really confused now. 

After months of being frustrated with this, and having a day that I'm (finally) not travelling for work I decided to byte the bullet and call Apple support regarding this.  So, I got in touch with Apple support, I describe the situation to him.  I told him that this used to work in Mavericks, but hasn't worked since I upgraded to Yosemite.

What the Apple tech told me is that B2MM is no longer supported over the Internet.  It's only for use on a LAN now.  I told him I wasn't sure that was correct, can he please double check this.  He told me he checked with his supervisor and it was correct.  he closed out my support ticket and that was that.

So is this the case? 

Not supported over the Internet? Uh... What's the point in going "Back To My Mac" if my Mac is in the next room?

I asked that question, and he said "It's like Windows Remote Desktop".