I've had discussions with LMI CS about the problems using Safari and LMI/free. I get the impression that Safari on the iPad is the problem. But I don't know enough about the Ipad/apple to know if it's strictly a Safari issue or what. If so, I could just try another browser and see if my LMI/free works.
What I ran into with LMI/free on Safari is that screen refreshes are glacial. Almost unusable, at least remotely. On my LAN, it's not bad at all. But if I go outside my LAN to a remote host, a screen refresh takes about 70 seconds. But once it's up, it's great. Pinch zoom works and screen navigation and single finger scrolling are much more natural to me. ST is closest with the 3 finger scroll. TV is last due to issues related below.
On LMI, if I touch the screen and slide left to right, my screen slides left to right. The same goes for Splashtop with the 3 finger touch. However on Teamviewer, the same finger action is reversed with the image sliding opposite to my finger movement, as if I'm dragging a slider bar at the bottom of the screen. That's backwards to me, but I suppose I could get used to it. Still, I really don't like that residual screen TV leaves on exit. TV is coming up last in my list of preferences with the exception of the fact I can easily get it to work remotely.
Thinking that Safari might be the issue with LMI, I bought iCabMobile but found similar remote screen refresh slowness too. Locally, I'd get a screen refresh in 5 seconds or so... remotely, I typically see 60 seconds or more... pretty much the same as Safari. Ugh.
Here's my quick and dirty summary as of this writing. I had no intention of including LMI due to cost, but I have to say that I really like the way LMI works.
LMI/free works on the iPad (and I'm most comfy with it) but not very well remotely. I suspect LMI Ignition will overcome my remote screen refresh issues, but for a hefty price. And that's the big negative to me about LMI/Ignition.. the cost. Note: I have only used email support from LMI, but they have been very responsive... even for the free version.
To use LMI/free, install the free version to the host computer and follow the prompts. I found that if a computer has a log in ID and password, I use that for the log in info. If it doesn't, I just make up a password (common to all my remote hosts for ease of remembering) and it just works. I log into my LMI/free account on any computer with internet access and have access to any computer I have setup (if it's turned on).
I either have to make a personal visit to a remote computer to set it up or talk a user through the process while giving them my account sign on and password. That in itself could be a negative, but if they are needing my help with computer issues, I doubt they are likely to want to use it maliciously. So I don't worry about that.
Teamviewer works well locally and remotely, but screen navigation and scrolling are more difficult imo. A big negative is the residual host window TV leaves on exit. On the plus side, they have great CS (I called them late last night) and I have no problems getting a remote host installation working.
To use TV, just install TV for iPad on the iPad, install the host version on any computer you wish to have unattended access to 24/7 and set it up per the wizard. Alternatively, install the full version to any computer you wish to use in either mode (controlled or controlling). Another alternative for the host is to set it up with a user there and you can make it a one time deal.. or a 24/7 install.
Splashtop also works well locally. But I have yet to be able to get it to work remotely, so I have nothing to add here. Screen navigation and scrolling are 2nd only to LMI. I could not find a way to call their CS for support. The big negative is the difficulty in setting up port forwarding and getting remote hosts working.
Splashtop installation was straightforward for both the iPad and the PC, just needing to get the appropriate d/l for the device. As with any other RDP software I've tried, you'll either have to make a personal visit to a remote site or talk a user through the installation process. And then there's that sneaky port forwarding issue to deal with. I'm sure it will be no big deal once I figure it out, but for now it's a mystery so I don't know how to tell a user how to fix it... yet.
Since using my iPad for remote maintenance will be secondary to using my main PC, I hate to spend the money for LMI Ignition. So if I can figure out Splashtop, I will likely use that for my occasional iPad remote desktop needs.
Update: I figured out the port forwarding issue with Splashtop. And as others have stated, it is an easy fix. However, Splashtop turns out to be unacceptable for my purposes of maintaining remote PCs due to the fact that a user has to be on the other end to log back in once a reboot has occurred. Sadly, I have to cross off Splashtop from my list. I require 24/7 unattended access.