Raspberry remote control

[DR]

I have used VNC which usually works pretty well, then someone said that
there is a program specifically designed for Raspberry to do control
from any browser.


I read a little about it and it seems while VNC will work locally
across  a LAN, the Rasp Pi one needs internet access for the Pi all the
time to be accessable, something I'm not a big fan of especially if I
don't have the need to see the RaspPi from lots of off-site places.


Does anyone know IF  you are trying to access a Pi on a LAN, if the
connection leaves to go to some server then loop back or is it 'smart'
enough to just work over the LAN if that is all that is needed?

[terry-...@glaver.org]

"Classic" VNC (still available on the Rasperry Pi) just sits and listens for incoming connections.

Since most people are behind a NAT and/or firewall, that means that you can't connect from the outside to the VNC server.

VNC Connect deals with this by acting as a sort of connection broker for various customers. VNC says it is very secure, with session keys expiring every 2 seconds, and so forth. I'm not sure how many remote viewers you get with the free version that comes with the Raspberry Pi. 

Personally, I don't want services making outbound connections if it can be avoided. I'm using VNC Classic on my Pi systems and if you need to access one from outside, you need to make a VPN connection to my Cisco ASA, and then you can treat it as an on-LAN connection.

I'm still running VNC V5.3.3 on Windows (client and server) as it does everything I need (and I don't need VNC Connect).

[DR]

Thank  you for this clear explanation.

I agree that the less I send stuff out on the internet the better.  I
have tons of bandwidth but still think of when I paid for the quantity
of activity in bytes.  Old habits die hard, and may have some use yet.

Dale

[Ken Hansen]

> On Aug 31, 2025, at 22:50, terry-...@glaver.org <terry-...@glaver.org> wrote:
>
> "Classic" VNC (still available on the Rasperry Pi) just sits and listens for incoming connections.
>
> Since most people are behind a NAT and/or firewall, that means that you can't connect from the outside to the VNC server.

Uh, what? Did you mean to add the word "easily" to that sentence?

It's not trivial, but I don't see why VNC wouldn't work with a "dynamic DNS" service and some port-forwarding on your router. These were once considered esoteric network settings, but they are quite common these days, and if you aren't certain how to do it I'm positive someone you know could help you set it up.

Ken, N2VI

[terry-...@glaver.org]

Yes. There should have been an "easily" in there (for most people - if you're behind a NAT that your ISP forces on you, things become more complex). And I don't know that a firewall admin would want to open a permanent port that anyone on the outside could connect to (if the goal is to access the Pi from anywhere and not just one outside location).

I have quite a few firewall rules that route connections from a single outside host to a variety of internal systems depending on what port the outside system is connecting to on the firewall.

The 'classic' VNC solution was to do a reverse connection, initiated by the host, called "Connect to listening VNC Viewer". As it required people at each end to coordinate, it was most useful for isolated tech support cases.

VNC Connect uses an outside "broker" service to avoid all of this. Of course, you have to trust (and maybe pay for) that convenience.

[Code Dragon]

Another option for vnc through a firewall is some flavor of VPN.   I like tailscale or head scale, but there are others of varying difficulty to configure 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PiDP-10" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pidp-10+u...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pidp-10/07ab9b37-de73-4667-bafa-133d403be63cn%40googlegroups.com.

[terry-...@glaver.org]

That's what I use. Since I have a Cisco router here that implements the host side for Cisco's AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client, that's what I use. It gives me access to my whole /24 while I'm traveling. There are Cisco clients for both my notebook PC and phone/tablet.

But any VPN server software should be able to do the same thing.

[Robert S]

Many ISPs today run their entire network on Carrier Grade NAT (CGNAT) and there is no way to get DDNS working behind CGNAT without some sort of outbound ping to open up a channel first (or a high dollar add-on service to get a routable external IP address or port).  Services like Cloudflare, Pingy, etc. will do this for you but it is not nearly as simple as setting up the DDNS service on your router.

RS

[Charley Jones]

I use the raspberry pi control.  It’s web based and allows vnc or ssh.  It’s also free.

Sent from my iPhone 15pm!

Charley Jones, PMP

On Sep 3, 2025, at 5:24 PM, Robert S <resi...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

Many ISPs today run their entire network on Carrier Grade NAT (CGNAT) and there is no way to get DDNS working behind CGNAT without some sort of outbound ping to open up a channel first (or a high dollar add-on service to get a routable external IP address or port).  Services like Cloudflare, Pingy, etc. will do this for you but it is not nearly as simple as setting up the DDNS service on your router.

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PiDP-10" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pidp-10+u...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pidp-10/7623d84a-ec57-44ba-97de-d51e6bf0ebd1n%40googlegroups.com.