how do I connect to my mac remotely?

Question

Level 1

13 points

how do I connect to my mac remotely?

Hello,

I’d like to connect to my iMac 7 remotely from my MacBook Air. I search the internet for answers and found some, but most of the options required a new app and were more intended for IT support, like “Apple remote Desktop”. I wonder if there is a way to set it up using what is already available in Yosemite.

Configuration.

Computer I want to access remotely: - iMac 7 running OS X 10.10 (Yosemite), 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7, 16GB 1333 MHz DDR3

Computer I will use to access the iMac 7: - Macbook Air running OS X 10.10 (Yosemite), 1.7 GHz Intel Core i5, 16GB 1333 MHz DDR3

I welcome any guidance,

Thanks,

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9), 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 - 16 GB 13333

Posted on Nov 4, 2014 5:02 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Nov 4, 2014 5:26 AM in response to Julio M

"Back to my Mac" is intended to do this - it doesn't always work but you could give it a go:

Set up and use Back to My Mac - Apple Support

Matt

Reply

Answer 2

BobHarris

Level 9

57,173 points

Nov 4, 2014 5:49 AM in response to Julio M

As Matt Clifton says, Back-to-My-Mac is the ideal option.

With respect to Apple Remote Desktop, this is a utility intended for managing a classroom full of Macs or a small office of Macs. That does not seem to be what you are interested in.

If Back-to-My-Mac does not work, then I strongly suggest you look at TeamViewer.com, which is very good at getting through home routers to make a connection. It does screen sharing and can transfer files. There is a preference option to allow unattended connections. TeamViewer.com is free for personal use. There are other 3rd party programs, but I generally stop with TeamViewer.com

The next level of connection using built-in software is manually opening ports in your home router, <http://portforward.com/> provides instructions for most routers. This approach requires a lot of hands on and getting details right. You open port 5900 for screen sharing and port 548 for file sharing. You get a dynamic DNS name from a service such as No-IP.com or DynDNS.org so that you can use a name instead of an IP address when connecting. You use Finder -> Go -> Connect to server -> vnc://home.router.address (screen sharing) or afp://home.router.address (file sharing). This is messy, but it can be made to work. Since you would be exposing known ports to the internet, make sure you have good strong passwords on all your Mac accounts.

Reply