SMALL BUSINESS COMPUTING By Amy Babinchak These past few weeks have been difficult on everyone, but they’re taking an additional toll on IT profession
[See the full post at: Managing remote workers]
![]() |
Patch reliability is unclear. Unless you have an immediate, pressing need to install a specific patch, don't do it. |
SIGN IN | Not a member? | REGISTER | PLUS MEMBERSHIP |
-
Managing remote workers
Home » Forums » Newsletter and Homepage topics » Managing remote workers
- This topic has 9 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 5 years ago.
AuthorTopicTracey Capen
AskWoody MVPApril 13, 2020 at 1:05 am #2240519Viewing 3 reply threadsAuthorReplies-
MHCLV941
AskWoody PlusApril 13, 2020 at 5:59 am #2240539Why are VPN and RDP almost always treated as separate solutions? RDP is pretty famous for being less than secure, so why not run RDP over a VPN? Particularly for a newly minted home-worker, this seems a lot better than trying to put a work computer in everyone’s home: All the apps are already installed and work just as the worker is used to them working. There is less chance (not no chance) of information leakage. This uses a comparatively small amount of bandwidth. With the whole family at home, there’s going to be a demand for bandwidth at home that has nothing to do with working from home.
“Define what constitutes an acceptable home office” needs to be presented as a goal, not a demand. Your newly homebound workers are not too likely to have an unused space to dedicate to a home office they did not sign up to furnish.
“Assess whether an individual has what it takes to work from home effectively” can be taken a couple of ways:
- Stuff (equipment, bandwidth, space, etc.) At least some of these can be addressed by the employer if it’s really committed to effective work from home. With the increasing reliance on cell phones, there’s a real possibility that some employees (particularly ones at the lower end of the salary table) simply don’t have internet service beyond their cell phone’s hot spot capability. Is that fast enough and does the employer reimburse the extra data costs, if any? Even “unlimited” plans may have fine print about slowing after so many GB of data each billing period and the like. (I have yet to figure how Verizon has four different “unlimited” data plans!)
- Mental. This is a lot more subjective. You cover very well the fact that some folks are just not cut out to work from home. Does the employer have the inclination and resources to coach a former cube dweller to become a free-range worker? What happens if the employee can’t make the transition, even with coaching, for whatever reason?
Thank you!
1 user thanked author for this post.
-
Amy Babinchak
ManagerApril 20, 2020 at 8:43 am #2252345I agree that RDP should only be used over VPN and further that the VPN should be locked to only RDP ports. But to your question, why are they talked about separately? Because unfortunately that is how people implement them most often. As you and I know, it can be done better.
Personally I wish that everyone would shift to using laptops that could move from work to home and be dedicated to the purpose.
As an aside your assumption that it’s lower wage workers that don’t have Internet at home would have been mine too. But our experience while getting our clients setup to work from home, is that it’s actually the top end of workers and business owners that don’t have Internet at home. I’m left to wonder if there’s an elitist thing I’m not aware of. Took my totally by surprise
-
NetDef
AskWoody_MVPApril 20, 2020 at 9:45 am #2252366One of the best things to happen to RDP in the last few years is the ability to connect via encrypted TLS 1.2/1.3 over HTTPS using public strong certificates + plus the addition of MFA for remote workers.
Forget VPN and the double step connection mess to continue with RDP. This also mitigates the VPN security nightmare that happens on small networks when an unmanaged remote machine connects to your server shares.
~ Group "Weekend" ~
1 user thanked author for this post.
-
-
-
MHCLV941
AskWoody PlusApril 13, 2020 at 6:22 am #2240550Addendum to the above: There are RDP clients for OS, IOS and Android, in addition to Windows. Likewise, there’s a good chance there are VPN clients for your firewall or other VPN connection point for all platforms as well.
I’ve used RDP over VPN on iPhones, Android phones and tablets and Apple laptops as well as Windows.
The only real differences are in the client OS interface in how you get connected and how you can interact with the host computer once you do. (IO doesn’t have a 3 button mouse; IOS and Android generally don’t have mice, etc.).
1 user thanked author for this post.
-
Amy Babinchak
ManagerApril 20, 2020 at 8:45 am #2252346
-
-
pfvincent
AskWoody PlusApril 13, 2020 at 7:56 am #2240567“Successful work-from-home staff need a dedicated workspace that’s quiet and free from distractions such as child care, pets, family interruptions, and various other background noise.”
That is all very well if you are recruiting someone to work-from-home on a regular basis, but the current situation is very different.
In the UK (and I assume the USA is much the same) schools and child-minders are shut except for the children of essential workers who cannot work from home.
Your pet will expect attention whilst you are at home, and will not realise that you are working from home because of a lockdown and cannot give it that attention.
Whilst most people would think twice before ringing their partner about something trivial during working hours, the situation is very different if the partner is in the next room, or even sitting alongside them at the same dining table!
Some people prefer absolute quiet as the best working environment whilst other prefer music (of various styles), and this is even more the case if there are children in the house.
This means that even people who normally work from home will have distractions such as child care, pets, family interruptions, and various other background noise in the current lockdown.
The boss cannot just say “You are going to work-from-home during the lockdown, and must have a dedicated workspace that’s quiet and free from distractions such as child care, pets, family interruptions, and various other background noise.” They need to say “You are going to work-from-home during the lockdown, and I realise you will have distractions such as child care, pets, family interruptions, and various other background noise. How can I enable you to be as productive as possible (hardware, software changes in your work), or is that impossible and I should put you on furlough during the lockdown?”2 users thanked author for this post.
-
Amy Babinchak
ManagerApril 20, 2020 at 8:48 am #2252347Deciding how much less productivity to absorb is going to be top of mind for businesses in the USA starting now. As I write this, it the the first Monday of a new month of work from home. I’m not disagreeing with you at all. This point in time, there are a lot of exceptions but in the long run, not everyone is going back to the office and businesses need 100% productivity from those home workers and to get there they have to decide what an acceptable home office looks like.
-
-
MrJimPhelps
AskWoody MVPApril 14, 2020 at 10:45 am #2240935Excellent and very thorough article.
In my opinion, Office 365 Business Premium (or whatever Microsoft is now calling it) is an excellent choice for remote work. It can be installed on up to five computers, which means that the user can install it on his home computer as well as it being on his office computer. Once installed, everything, including Outlook, works exactly like the programs installed on the office computer. For example, your email is immediately and completely available when you are working from home.
Of course, a fully-functional web version of the software is available via the internet.
Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server1 user thanked author for this post.
-
mn–
AskWoody LoungerApril 20, 2020 at 1:30 pm #2252438… you still need to transfer or sync the content though, so “immediately and completely” is only after the sync is finished, every time the content changes. Or alternatively transfer on demand only and accept that you’ll have to wait for the transfer at that point.
So, depends on connectivity and where your data is.
I have a fairly decent VDSL line here but all the kids being on video lessons and transferring assignments and such does cause some load… and yes, they’re on 365 Education A1 and whatever.
Also my work doesn’t trust my home PC, the work PC is separate and… well not on 365 anyway, after I changed jobs earlier this year.
(Distractions, yes… oh well, same for everyone, my boss has kids and dogs too.)
-
Viewing 3 reply threads -

Plus Membership
Donations from Plus members keep this site going. You can identify the people who support AskWoody by the Plus badge on their avatars.
AskWoody Plus members not only get access to all of the contents of this site -- including Susan Bradley's frequently updated Patch Watch listing -- they also receive weekly AskWoody Plus Newsletters (formerly Windows Secrets Newsletter) and AskWoody Plus Alerts, emails when there are important breaking developments.
Get Plus!
Welcome to our unique respite from the madness.
It's easy to post questions about Windows 11, Windows 10, Win8.1, Win7, Surface, Office, or browse through our Forums. Post anonymously or register for greater privileges. Keep it civil, please: Decorous Lounge rules strictly enforced. Questions? Contact Customer Support.
Search Newsletters
Search Forums
View the Forum
Search for Topics
Recent Topics
-
Where’s the cache today?
by
Up2you2
9 hours ago -
Ascension says recent data breach affects over 430,000 patients
by
Nibbled To Death By Ducks
1 hour, 46 minutes ago -
Nintendo Switch 2 has a remote killing switch
by
Alex5723
3 hours, 31 minutes ago -
Blocking Search (on task bar) from going to web
by
HenryW
9 hours, 41 minutes ago -
Windows 10: Microsoft 365 Apps will be supported up to Oct. 10 2028
by
Alex5723
1 day, 2 hours ago -
Add or Remove “Ask Copilot” Context Menu in Windows 11 and 10
by
Alex5723
1 day, 2 hours ago -
regarding april update and may update
by
heybengbeng
1 day, 3 hours ago -
MS Passkey
by
pmruzicka
5 hours, 46 minutes ago -
Can’t make Opera my default browser
by
bmeacham
1 day, 11 hours ago -
*Some settings are managed by your organization
by
rlowe44
22 hours, 13 minutes ago -
Formatting of “Forward”ed e-mails
by
Scott Mills
1 day, 10 hours ago -
SmartSwitch PC Updates will only be supported through the MS Store Going Forward
by
PL1
2 days, 6 hours ago -
CISA warns of hackers targeting critical oil infrastructure
by
Nibbled To Death By Ducks
2 days, 15 hours ago -
AI slop
by
Susan Bradley
9 hours, 2 minutes ago -
Chrome : Using AI with Enhanced Protection mode
by
Alex5723
2 days, 16 hours ago -
Two blank icons
by
CR2
34 minutes ago -
Documents, Pictures, Desktop on OneDrive in Windows 11
by
ThePhoenix
2 hours, 32 minutes ago -
End of 10
by
Alex5723
3 days, 3 hours ago -
Single account cannot access printer’s automatic duplex functionality
by
Bruce
2 days, 1 hour ago -
test post
by
gtd12345
3 days, 9 hours ago -
Privacy and the Real ID
by
Susan Bradley
3 days ago -
MS-DEFCON 2: Deferring that upgrade
by
Susan Bradley
1 day, 2 hours ago -
Cant log on to oldergeeks.Com
by
WSJonharnew
3 days, 14 hours ago -
Upgrading from Win 10
by
WSjcgc50
2 days, 2 hours ago -
USB webcam / microphone missing after KB5050009 update
by
WSlloydkuhnle
2 days, 5 hours ago -
TeleMessage, a modified Signal clone used by US government has been hacked
by
Alex5723
4 days, 5 hours ago -
The story of Windows Longhorn
by
Cybertooth
3 days, 17 hours ago -
Red x next to folder on OneDrive iPadOS
by
dmt_3904
4 days, 7 hours ago -
Are manuals extinct?
by
Susan Bradley
1 day, 8 hours ago -
Canonical ditching Sudo for Rust Sudo -rs starting with Ubuntu
by
Alex5723
4 days, 17 hours ago
Recent blog posts
Key Links
Want to Advertise in the free newsletter? How about a gift subscription in honor of a birthday? Send an email to sb@askwoody.com to ask how.
Mastodon profile for DefConPatch
Mastodon profile for AskWoody
Home • About • FAQ • Posts & Privacy • Forums • My Account
Register • Free Newsletter • Plus Membership • Gift Certificates • MS-DEFCON Alerts
Copyright ©2004-2025 by AskWoody Tech LLC. All Rights Reserved.