Remote Connection / VPN ?

[#1]

Hi all,
I'm hoping to setup a remote connection to my fathers PC. The reason for this is so I can remotely help out with any technical probs. The 30 mile round trips and lots of phone calls could be eliminated if I could use RDC. (or something similar)
We are both on separate plus-net accounts. Does anyone have any good links or advice on how to set this kind of thing up?
Also, how do I find our IP address information from the plusnet support pages? It says IP is server allocated but I'm sure our IP's are fixed.
Many thanks and have a good X-Mas

[#2]

Have a look at teamviewer, I use this and it's free and you don't need to worry about IP addresses.
http://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx

[#3]

Many thanks for your quick reply, that looks a great tool!
I'm familiar with RDC, VNC but will give that a try.
I'm still trying to find his IP address as at the moment he cannot connect to the internet. Wondering if I can remotely check his settings.
Cheers

[#4]

If he is on a fixed IP and he hasn't asked for a change of rDNS setting username.plus.com may point to him.

[#5]

Thanks jelv
I think I just hit a wall on this. Having logged into his member section and looking at the settings he is not fixed.
Cheers

[#6]

All is not lost if you can log in to his members section.
Raise a ticket on his account asking for the current IP address and then post the ticket number back here. One of the digital care team should then be able to answer it for you.

[#7]

Quote from: Gilbie72

.... at the moment he cannot connect to the internet. Wondering if I can remotely check his settings.....

If he can not connect to the net then the chances of you being able to connect to him are remote even if you know the IP address.
Plus to get the likes of VNC or RDC to work you would have had to setup port forwarding on his router already. Also Remote access to the routers settings is normal disabled by default so you wont be able to change or check anything.
Sounds to me like a phone call or a visit is going to be required 

[#8]

Have a read of http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,91803.0.html which discusses how to deal with the dynamic IP address issue.

[#9]

Many thanks for all your informative replies. Trying to get a non technical user to explain the problem is always tricky.
All is now sorted, that team view application worked really well. I was under the impression that he had a router / connection issue but he had played with the settings in the mail client and was faced with errors when retrieving mail... An hours journey saved today thanks again!  
I would like to setup remote administration of the router at some point so will have a look next time I'm visiting.
Cheers

[#10]

I have another vote for TeamViewer - it works without the person at the other end needing any technical knowledge, or doing any arcane things with Microsoft, MSN, or Router.
It is one of those things that "just works". Brilliant. And a good price for non-commercial use (ie free).
And because you can re-connect after a failure quickly, it works fairly well in the face of a remote DSL Sync issues... where Microsoft's remote access is much more of a pain .

[#11]

Quote

Plus to get the likes of VNC or RDC to work you would have had to setup port forwarding on his router already

There is a way around that, VNC 'single click', it makes the connection the other way i.e from the remote system back to you. Hence there is no port forwarding at the remote end , but its needed at your end, but then you ought to be capable of that since you're providing remote support!.
The downside is that you need someone at the other end to run VNC to make the connection so you can't do it unattended.
I'm a little bit distrustful ( probably unreasonably ) of methods like Teamviewer since your connection is routed through their servers and therefore use the VNC single click method to support family and friends. http://www.uvnc.com/addons/singleclick.html