Hi again all,

I am wondering how the remote connections work with Jaws 18.

I am not talking about the tandem help but actually being at home and using a VPN connection back to the office.

I believe that I have the professional copy of Jaws 18 and I should be able to do it but I don’t know how it works.

Anyone here done it and how well does it work?

We are doing some updates to the computer infrastructure and I want to make sure that we have all things necessary to do all the things we may want to do.

I have had to use such a feature in the past with WE and Windows 7.

I am now running Win 10 and Jaws 18 on my work unit.

Can I pull this off?

If I can’t do it with a VPN connection through the firewall will it work with a Remote Desktop License?

Thanks for any advice

Shannon

You need to call FS and ask them to enable Remote Desktop, there is an extra charge for that, but I’ve had it for so long that I can’t remember how much it is.

If you do have it enabled, the router at your workplace has to be enabled for remote desktop and your particular computer needs to be assigned a port.

It is also best if your workplace has a fixed IP address because you need to know the IP address as well as the port in order to connect using Remote Desktop on your computer at home.

You would have to check with your employer if they are willing to set this up for you, I’m self-employed so I can do what I want with my router and computers.

It’s a bit of work to set it all up, but once you have it up and running it works well as long as you have a fast internet connection at home as well as at work.

I have my credentials saved and I just reboot my PC at my store when I go home, if I want to connect I just press enter on the Remote Desktop connection shortcut I saved to my desktop and it connects without me having to do anything, after about 10 seconds Jaws on my Windows 7 PC at work starts talking and I can use the computer the same way as if I sat in front of it.

I do by the way use a Windows 10 laptop at home, but that is not a problem.

Regards,

Sieghard

Sorry, one more thing.

You mentioned a VPN. Remote Desktop is not actually a VPN. A VPN has to be set up between two VPN capable routers, one at home and one at your work or you can use a VPN client on your computer at home as long as your work router supports a VPN.

Then once the connection is established you have access to files on your work network, but you would need to have all applications you use on your home computer.

With Remote Desktop you connect and once the connection is established it is like you are sitting at your work computer, you can use all applications and all files on that network as well as print to printers at your office.

Regards,

Sieghard

Hi there!  Some companies use a VPn in addition to a Virtual Desktop infrastructure.  You should not have problems accessing a VPN.  If you need to access a computer remotely, you will need the Remote access license, which is sold separately from the traditional JAWS home or professional license.  Once you have that, you should be able to connect to your work computer utilizing JAWS.

Sieghard

Thank you for the help!

I am a bit confused. I know this is going to sound redundant but… There are so many things that sound the same but are different.

In windows itself there is a thing built into every unit called RemoteApp and Desktop Connections in the , Control panel

Is this what is used to access the VPN that the firewall at work would allow the connection through or is this a totally different kind of connection?

Jaws has the “Remote Desktop “ that has to be purchased. Is this different again from the Windows Remote connection in the control panel? Is it a standalone program special to Jaws that allows Jaws  units to connect to each other, or is it an additional piece that Jaws uses to send speech from one unit to the other while using the Windows Remote connection?

One of the vendors that we are considering purchasing a new server from and using them to be IT support is quoting separate Windows Remote Desk top Licenses to access the server. Is this again a different thing? I don’t want to log into the server I only need to get back into my unit at my physical desk at work.  My unit at work can touch all the things I need that are on the server, as well as what I have stored on my unit.

Another vendor is telling me that VPN would allow me in through the fire wall and back into the Named unit on the network, as if I were physically sitting in front of that unit, with access to all the programs and places and information that unit has access to. This is not true?

Correct me if I misunderstood, did you mean the unit at home has to have the same programs on it as the work unit to use the VPN connection? That won’t work in my case and it didn’t apply when I did it a few years ago.  So did I then not use a VPN to get back to work? If I am understanding this it is a very useless connection because you have to purchase or install the programs all over again for the home unit that are particular to work and you can’t send a report to the office printer?

All of these things keep using the same words and sound as if they will do the same but I am not at all sure that they are the same.

I don’t only want to understand the difference between VPN and Remote Connection for myself and as it relates to Jaws. The other people here at work want the same thing too, so they can access units that have programs on them that are particular to work and are also particular  to those particular units.

When it is all said and done the unit I would be using from home or away from the office to get back into the office would be a laptop with Windows 10 and would be connecting to a desktop windows 10 machine. Will that be any different?

I really appreciate the help. If I can get this accomplished it would be so very cool. I could arrange for more time away from here while still getting my work done. I am kind of handcuffed to this desk right now. It would be nice to say, “Ok I am not finished but I can do it when I get home, in the morning, or on the weekend”.

Shannon

Sorry, one more thing.

You mentioned a VPN. Remote Desktop is not actually a VPN. A VPN has to be set up between two VPN capable routers, one at home and one at your work or you can use a VPN client on your computer at home as long as your work router supports a VPN.

Then once the connection is established you have access to files on your work network, but you would need to have all applications you use on your home computer.

With Remote Desktop you connect and once the connection is established it is like you are sitting at your work computer, you can use all applications and all files on that network as well as print to printers at your office.

Regards,

Sieghard