Remote Monitoring with Windows Remote Access

[controlled]

Hello.
I am setting up an excel spreadsheet to monitor some data from a slc 5/04. I have dh+ wired back to a desktop pc with the pktxd card. The pc is part of a LAN which is always online to the internet. I want to be able to access this spreadsheet in realtime from my office in a different town. I was planning on using Windows Remote Access software, or PC Anywhere. Does anyone have their own preferences, or any other low cost idea that would work better?

 

[504bloke]

I havent used windows remote access, i have used pcanywhere, version 10 from memory, it was slow, not nice and i didnt get on with it!

I now use LogMeIn go to www.logmein.com, for your purposes they offer a free service which is excellent, you can also restrict ips with it for security.

As for low cost, you cant really do better than free !

Its real easy to set up and works like a dream.

I use this all the time for any remote access i have to do.

 

[LadderLogic]

One can get VNC (http://www.realvnc.com/) for free.

 

[Bob O]

I use remote desktop with my XP Pro at home to connect to the Windows server 2003 at work without any problems. I like the speed compared to VNC, but the default settings needed to be change so that I could get on the consol instead of starting a new session.

When starting a new session you cannot or at least I could not see the programs that were already running like RSView32 for example.

Another thing I have noticed is that I cannot start RSLogix over a remote connection but this is not an issue now but I do plan to look into it.

 

[CharlesM]

I just used remote desktop for the first time this past week. I tell my customers that I will use any type of remote software they want to use. This customer wanted to use remote desktop. I did a quick search on google and found a good link to Microsoft website on setup. The customer game me an IP address and a port address. They told me that the IP was for their server and the port would put me though to my machine. We were never able to get it to work so my customer connected to my machine on the plant floor from his desktop then I connected to his desktop. Has anyone used the IP address and a port to connect?

I have also used Net meeting, and VNC. The problem with remote connections to the plant floor is getting though the security of the customers network. Its always a problem.

 

[504bloke]

i havent tried RealVnc but did have a go with TightVnc and found it not as easy as logmein....

 

[504bloke]

The problem with remote connections to the plant floor is getting though the security of the customers network. Its always a problem.

So true...........

used TightVNC and it was a minefield to get the ports and security right, took forever to get routed to the correct computer and my customers IT were lets say LITTLE HELP, nothing had anything to do with them and did i know what i was doing !

 

[Bob O]

CharlesM,

I did not need to adjust a port setting, just getting the correct IP form IT was enough.
I will agree with 504Bloke that IT can be of LITTLE HELP and the problem is always on your end.

 

[stupidav]

I am not 100% sure why you want to use remote desktop? The Excel links could also include the "Host PC", meaning that the if DDE Sharing is turned you don't have to do remote desktop, you just open the Excel Sheet.

If I remember right I think that the Excel formula should look somthing like

=\\hostpcrunninglinx\ndde$ ddesharename|topicname!'N7:0'

It has been a long time, I think that it is correct. You would only be able to run that sheet on one computer at a time unless your running RSLinx Gateway.