XP home Remote Assistance

[#1]

Folks,
Both my dad and I use Plusnet. About 18 months ago we were able to use remote assistance, for me to help him. Just recently we weren't able to because we couldn't get a connection...
We had disabled our own firewalls, but it's just occurred to me that perhaps the Plusnet firewall is where the obstruction is. I don't remember ever setting it, (though I may have done!), but mine is set to "High". The advice is that this setting may prevent "VPN" software from working. Is the XP Remote Assistance "VPN", and therefore not expected to work if the setting is on "High"?
Thanks in advance, (with apologies if this is in the wrong place!)
Regards,
Simsy

[#2]

Hi Simsy,
I would expect the high firewall setting to be the cause of your problem.  Can you try setting it to low and see if this resolves the problem?

[#3]

Thanks,
I'll try changing it. The "probem" is that getting my dad to do something like that, assuming his is set to ""High" as well is difficult!
Talking him through something over the phone is a bit of a nightmare!

I'm sorry... but what do you mean by "What method are you using for invoking the session"??? If you mean, "How are you trying to do it?"... it's by my dad sending me an email via the Remote Assitance wizzard.
Regards,
Simsy

[#4]

Try using Real VNC...  it is much better than remote assistance in the sense of it is more reliable..
I have the same issue with my father and we used to spend hours trying to get remote assistance working..  now it is pretty much instant with real vnc.
regards

[#5]

Quote from: James_H

Microsoft don't actually recommend using remote assistance outside of a LAN FWIW - it does work, its just well recognised as a pain to get consistency.

If they don't, why do they push it as a feature that can be invoked from MSN / WLM?

[#6]

Try using logmein.com - www.logmein.com - it works regardless of firewalls and is very easy to set up.  The basic service is free, too.