Comments on: Fog Creek Copilot

By: Barrie

Barrie — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:03:35 +0000

seems an ideal solution when providing support to home users – cheaper and quicker than driving there!!

By: Self Made Minds » Blog Archive » First bit of traffic to the $100K Site

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 20:47:25 +0000

[...] October we were averaging about 700 visitors a day, from a variety of sources we did a post on Fog Creek Software which got picked up and linked to by Joel on Software, sending us 785 visitors, thanks [...]

By: Sumana from Fog Creek

Sumana from Fog Creek — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 19:15:46 +0000

You can get the Fog Creek Copilot modified VNC code here:

https://www.copilot.com/faq/#28

And there’s a new version of Fog Creek Copilot out that works on Macs too.

By: Steve Bostedor

Steve Bostedor — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 03:57:19 +0000

If they modified the VNC source code to make it through firewalls, they are required to release the source code under the GPL license. Where can it be found?

On a related note, take a look at http://www.vncscan.com if you manage lots of nodes on your network. It is a VNC manager that doesn’t charge per-computer and there are no subscription fees. You run everything in-house.

By: Marc

Marc — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 18:21:15 +0000

I’m all for advertising but at least be honest about it

Copilot does work through firewalls (or at least it went through the ones I tried it with), as it routes traffic via their servers so it’s peer to peer but both sides are making outbound connections. I suspect you’re doing something similar, because I can’t see another way around the inherent problem of remote control through NAT routers and firewalls.

I don’t think either WebEx or CoPilot are going to be treading on each other’s toes as from what I can tell they’re designed for different markets.

By: Al

Al — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 13:05:05 +0000

I think you may be a bit biased here Jack, as you posted your comment from the IP address of webex.com

By: Jack

Jack — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 01:02:08 +0000

Co-Pilot is still peer to peer and most probably won’t work through firewall. I use WebEx Support Center and it rocks! I pay about $150 a month and it is totally worth it if you do more then 3-4 support session a month. Try out Support Center free for 14 days at http://www.webex.com/ft/index.php

By: Marc

Marc — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 22:07:21 +0000

I’ve not used either of them but from what I can tell GoToMyPC is aimed at a different use, in that it needs client software installed on each PC you want to remote control and it’s designed for unattended use of a PC whereas copilot is designed to be used ad-hoc for support of a remote user.

I’ve just had a look at WebEx – it looks quite cool and does far, far more than copilot with a price tag to match!

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 18:14:49 +0000

How does this differ from a product like GoToMyPC or WebEx? Are they any clicks to transferring control to another user? What is the cost?

By: Marc

Marc — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 20:13:53 +0000

From their FAQ : Is it a security risk to have the connection running through your server? No. All the information sent is encrypted on both ends of the connection. Even if someone on our servers were "listening" to the information sent, the data would not be decipherable.

By: Derek

Derek — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 14:48:39 +0000

Are there any dangers, things to look out for, when using a 3rd party’s website as a method of making a connection? I can see it being useful, but do you have to implicitly trust the 3rd party?

By: Derek

Derek — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 11:41:27 +0000

Access by using a website as an intermediary sounds interesting. What risks are there in using a 3rd partie’s website for making the connection? Should I be worried about them listening in or tracking the connections?

By: Marc

Marc — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 22:51:55 +0000

Yep, it did for me. Because both sides make an outgoing connection to the copilot.com servers the routers deal with it quite happily.

Best thing is to give it a try, they offer a 2 minute free trial which is enough to see if it works in your scenario.

By: Keith

Keith — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 22:02:56 +0000

Primarily, it sounds much better than Remote Desktop Connection. The use of this service seems to dispell any tedious configuration. However, does it work behind NAT routers?

By: Marc

Marc — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 20:47:42 +0000

It’s about the same speed as regular VNC, so no it’s not that quick. The bonus is zero client side installation – you just tell the other person to go to a website and tap in a number, and you’re connected. It also goes right through firewalls – no messing around with installing software, drivers, configuring ports on the router or anything else.

By: Al

Al — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 20:17:53 +0000

I’ve always found VNC to be really slow compared to Terminal Services or Radmin, is this any better?

I have helped my mum a few time using remote desktop, need to find a way of screening those calls.