Frequently Asked Questions

What are the Slink system requirements?

You will need the following to run Slink:

  • A Mac on your home network running the Slink Preference Pane.
    This is your home computer.
  • A Mac that you access your home network with running Slink. (Typically a MacBook.)
    This is your remote computer.

Both your home computer and remote computer must be Intel Macs running Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard or later.

Slink works as follows:

  • The Slink Preference Pane is installed on a Mac on your home network. This is your home computer.
  • Slink is installed on a Mac that you want to access your home network with. This is your remote computer.
  • The Slink Preference Pane publishes a Slink ID to the Slink name service. This allows Slink to determine the IP address and port of your home computer without the need for domain names.
  • The Slink Preference Pane uses NAT-PMP or UPnP to map a port on your broadband gateway. This means that you do not need to configure your broadband gateway manually in order for Slink to work.
  • Slink establishes an ssh encrypted tunnel between your remote computer and your home computer.
  • All Bonjour services on your home network are discovered by Slink.
  • The discovered Bonjour services are automatically published on your remote computer. (But only on your remote computer. They cannot be seen and used by anyone else on the network that the remote computer is connected to.)
  • The discovered Bonjour services appear in the Finder, iTunes, iPhoto and other Bonjour aware applications, just like they do at home.
  • When a discovered service is used on the remote computer, the network traffic is automatically routed down the tunnel to the home computer.

Do I need a static IP address for Slink to work?

No, Slink works both with static and dynamic IP addresses for your home broadband connection. All the geeky network stuff is handled automatically by the Slink Preference Pane.

Do I need a domain name for Slink to work?

No, Slink does not require a domain name for your home broadband connection. All the geeky network stuff is handled automatically by the Slink Preference Pane.

Slink fails to connect. What am I doing wrong?

Slink connection failures are normally due to the following issues:

  • Slink Preference Pane could not establish inbound internet connectivity
    Check that the Slink Preference Pane shows “green” (OK) for both Internet Connectivity and Remote Login.
  • Slink application could not establish outbound internet connectivtity
    This is typically due to firewall issues. Check out the Slink connections through corporate firewalls tutorial.

When the Slink Preference Pane is installed on your home computer, it automatically creates a random 8 character Slink ID. (Example: HR5MV8TP.) You use this Slink ID when connecting from Slink on a remote computer. The Slink ID allows Slink to automatically determine the IP address and port of your home computer without the need for domain names.

Is Slink secure?

Slink is based on Apple’s own Remote Login functionality, that is in turn based on the standard UNIX Secure Shell (ssh) utility. Hence the communication between your remote computer and your home computer is securely encrypted. In other words, Slink is very secure.

Why is Slink not a Universal Binary?

We do not currently have the resources to test Slink on PowerPC Macs. If we find that there is a demand for a Slink Universal Binary, we may reconsider this.

Is Slink free?

Slink 1.0 is available for free as a fully functional demo where each connection is time limited to 10 minutes. You can purchase Slink 1.0 for $25 and you will get unlimited usage. In addition, you will ensure that you will have access to all the cool features that we will add to Slink 1.x going forward!

Is Slink available for the iPhone or iPod Touch?

No. As the iPhone and iPod Touch cannot run apps in the background, Slink cannot work. If Apple removes this limitation in future releases of iPhoneOS, we are likely to release an iPhone/iPod/iPad version.

Will Slink be available for the iPad?

See Is Slink available for the iPhone or iPod Touch?