When you are on the go and need quick access to a computer, just plug in the Key to Freedom or insert the PassKey CD into a CD-ROM drive. You'll be able to run System Access right away; there's no need to install anything on the host computer first. You can find more information about these products in the section called "Using the Key to Freedom and/or the PassKey". However, these products also have a few features specific to System Access.
Remote Control My Home Computer
When running System Access from a Key to Freedom, PassKey, or secondary machine, you can have complete remote control of your home computer. With this feature, you can run any applications that you want on your home computer while you're away from home. You don't even have to be running System Access on the home computer; you can run a compatible third-party screen reader if you prefer.
By default, remote control of your home computer is turned off. To turn it on, you'll need to go to the FreedomBox Preferences section on your home computer. From there, go to "Manage My HomeServer", and follow the "Remote Control Preferences" link. You'll find the option to enable remote control, as well as other remote control preferences.
You won't need to open any ports in your firewall or router, if any, to access your home computer over the Internet. However, if you're running a firewall on your home computer and wish to access your home computer from another computer on the same network, you'll need to open port 4663 in your home computer's firewall. The FreedomBox HomeServer is designed with security in mind, so there's no need to worry about someone breaking into your home computer through this feature. Also note that all communication between remote machines and the home computer is strongly encrypted using SSL, the same technology used by leading online stores and banks, so your activities stay private.
To access your home computer remotely, open the System Access Menu with Modifier+F and choose "Remote Control My Home Computer". If you're not running FreedomBox at this time, you'll need to log into the FreedomBox Network, though this won't involve starting the FreedomBox browser. Then you'll be presented with options for this remote session, such as audio quality and whether visual output is enabled. Note that the audio quality option has no effect on text-to-speech when running System Access on the home machine; in that case, the speech is synthesized by the machine you're sitting at, so you'll always get the best possible speech quality. After setting these options, activate the "Start Session" button, and after a short delay, you should be connected to your home computer.
At this point, you can use your home computer as if you were sitting in front of it. One special hot key is active at this time: Shift+Modifier+Escape opens System Access's remote control menu. This menu currently has two options: you can toggle visual output or end the remote session.
Using System Access Offline from the PassKey
Because the PassKey is a read-only medium, using System Access through this product when not connected to the Internet takes a little more work. Once you've logged into the FreedomBox Network with your PassKey, you will find an offline PIN in the FreedomBox Account Self-Service Center, available from the Assistant. This offline PIN is used along with your account number to run FreedomBox System Access from the PassKey when you're not connected to the Internet. So when you're offline and running FreedomBox from the PassKey, enter your account number and offline PIN into the Log In page, then System Access will start and FreedomBox will exit. This offline mode is only available to you if FreedomBox does not detect an Internet connection.