Screen Sharing: reducing network overhead?

After setting up screen sharing, are there some ways of keeping the overhead low in terms of CPU and hard drive load?
I noticed after getting screen sharing going, a fair amount of hard drive chatter on the computer who's screen was being shared; not sure about the computer using that screen...
I'll be operating a desktop mac via screen sharing from a mac book pro...doing a little 3D rendering and file management...maybe batch processing.
thanks for any info on this!
ray

QT is still on 1.5Mps, which I had set before trying the tips suggested here. iChat video still has the 500Kbps setting I gave it as advised.
Oddly, screen sharing is now available even though I am back on wireless not ethernet. This all seems a bit unpredictable and unreliable for something which is supposed to be 'easy' screen sharing!
Thanks again for the help people have given which has (hopefully) fixed this.

Similar Messages

Ichat screen sharing - "slow network"

Hi
I am trying to use screen sharing between an intel imac and a mac book pro over the internet. Both running latest versions of Leopard. The enable screen sharing menu item is greyed out. Connection doctor has a red cross next to "share my screen" with the message "(slow network)". Same for host multiperson video. Share remote screen has a green tick.
I have enable upnp on my router as recommended elsewhere. No change. Similarly, I have also set Quick Time streaming speed to 1.5 Mbps. No change.
I have tested by internet speeds at www.auditmypc.com:
download: 9782Kbps
upload: 526.4 Kbps
Is the upload speed causing the problem? Any tips on how to fix this pls (Virgin Media cable broadband)?
Thanks

QT is still on 1.5Mps, which I had set before trying the tips suggested here. iChat video still has the 500Kbps setting I gave it as advised.
Oddly, screen sharing is now available even though I am back on wireless not ethernet. This all seems a bit unpredictable and unreliable for something which is supposed to be 'easy' screen sharing!
Thanks again for the help people have given which has (hopefully) fixed this.

Screen Sharing Broken for Network Account Admins Mac OS X Server

Re: OS X 10.8.4, Server.app 2.2.1
After replacing a failed Airport Extreme -- and the resulting changes in server IP address -- Screen sharing is now broken for "Network" account administrators. "Local" adminstrators can screen share successfully.
When logging in as a Local Admin, the System Log contains a single entry:
Authentication: SUCCEEDED :: User Name: localadmin :: Viewer Address: 10.0.1.6 :: Type: DH
When logging as a Network Admin, a similar line appears:
Authentication: SUCCEEDED :: User Name: testnetwork :: Viewer Address: 10.0.1.6 :: Type: DH
followed by screen-fulls of other log messages, eventually ending -- a minute or two later -- with:
screensharingd[77693]: uid 1034 not found
screensharingd[77693]: unable to get width and height of display.
at which point the client sees a "Error: Network connection lost." alert. 1034 is the UID of "testnetwork", as seen in
dscl /LDAPv3/127.0.0.1 -list /Users UniqueID
So apparently, Network users are authenticated, but screensharingd cannot find the user.
changeip -checkhostname returns "success". Just to be sure, I "Updated the Host Name" as suggested by the "Network Configuration Has Changed" alert in Server.app -- problem remains.
How does one debug this? Are there more comprehensive debug logging options available for screensharingd or login window? Anyone else seen this problem?

Linc: thanks for your inquiry.
Here are more steps I've taken to solve this problem:
1) From a Time Machine backup to a test partition, I restored the server from before the failure of the base station and found that the login problems were present then.
2) On yet another test partition, I created from scratch a new OS X Server. Added a local administrator, and a network admistrator and discovered the same problem: network administrators cannot screen share, although in this case, they are simply unauthorized.
Using dscl, things look OK: there is a /Local/Default/Groups/com.apple.access_screensharing that lists only the admin group, and the admin group contains networkAdmin.
Furthermore, I can log in as the networkadmin from the login window, as "Other".
Furthermore, I can ssh into the server using the networkadmin credential.
I used odutil to boost the logging OpenDirectory log level. The logs are very verbose, but to my eyes, it looks like OD recognizes the networkUser, but screensharingd fails to authorize. See logs below.
Can someone confirm that screen sharing from network admin accounts works at all? Is there a way to elevate screensharingd logging to find out more about why it rejects network admins?
TIA
/var/log/opendirectoryd.log
4643.65273.65277, Module: search - ODQueryCreateWithNode request, NodeID: 3D4241C6-FAFF-4816-8F7C-B3E0ED6F56A6, RecordType(s): dsRecTypeStandard:Users, Attribute: dsAttrTypeStandard:RecordName, MatchType: EqualTo, Equality: CaseIgnore, Value(s): networkadmin, Requested Attributes: dsAttributesStandardAll, Max Results: 1
4643.65273.65277, Node: /LDAPv3/127.0.0.1, Module: search - queuing request to connection - '/LDAPv3/127.0.0.1:ldap:406935A6-9ADB-413A-A82B-7F30F4E9E5A1'
4643.65273.65277, Node: /LDAPv3/127.0.0.1, Module: ldap - adding 'dsAttrTypeStandard:RecordName' for ambiguous name query
4643.65273.65277, Node: /LDAPv3/127.0.0.1, Module: ldap - adding 'dsAttrTypeStandard:RealName' for ambiguous name query
4643.65273.65277, Node: /LDAPv3/127.0.0.1, Module: ldap - query with filter - '(&(&(objectClass=inetOrgPerson)(objectClass=posixAccount)(objectClass=shadowAc count)(objectClass=apple-user)(objectClass=extensibleObject))(|(uid=networkadmin )(cn=networkadmin)))', baseDN - 'cn=users, dc=testserver,dc=local'
4643.65273.65277, Node: /LDAPv3/127.0.0.1, Module: ldap - found result - 'uid=networkadmin,cn=users,dc=testserver,dc=local'
4643.65273.65277, Node: /LDAPv3/127.0.0.1, Module: ldap - ODQueryCreateWithNode completed, delivered 1 result
4643.65273, Node: /Search, Module: search - ODQueryCreateWithNode completed, delivered 1 result
4643.65278 - Client: screensharingd, UID: 0, EUID: 0, GID: 0, EGID: 0
4643.65278 - ODNodeRelease request, NodeID: 184CFA31-1EB8-4384-B9CA-D04A93736CB1
4643.65278, Node: /Search - ODNodeRelease completed
clearing all node authentication connections
/var/log/system.log:
screensharingd[4665]: Authentication: FAILED :: User Name: networkadmin :: Viewer Address: 10.0.1.6 :: Type: DH

Screen-Sharing and Internet-Sharing via same network connection

Hello out there,
I'm using a TiBook (G4 867MHz) and a MacBook Pro 17". They are connected via a WLAN-router. Additionally the MBP is connected to the internet via an UMTS-connection established with a Merlin 870XU type PC-card.
Network is working fine, including screen-sharing. Also the internet connection on MBP works without error. But if I activate Internet-Sharing via WLAN to get my TiBook connected to the internet, the MBP connection to the WLAN is cut off.
Can somebody tell me what's going wrong and how to solve it?
Greetings from good old Germany
Ansgar

Hello out there,
I'm using a TiBook (G4 867MHz) and a MacBook Pro 17". They are connected via a WLAN-router. Additionally the MBP is connected to the internet via an UMTS-connection established with a Merlin 870XU type PC-card.
Network is working fine, including screen-sharing. Also the internet connection on MBP works without error. But if I activate Internet-Sharing via WLAN to get my TiBook connected to the internet, the MBP connection to the WLAN is cut off.
Can somebody tell me what's going wrong and how to solve it?
Greetings from good old Germany
Ansgar

Screen Sharing/network problem seems confined to 1 volume. What's the fix?

I am having a networking problem on one of the volumes of my multi-volumed, three-Mac local area network, and I need a networking guru to identify the specific software file(s), application(s), or system configuration that is the cause of the problem. I have already spent several hours checking and re-checking the various hardware and system preference settings involved, and I have narrowed the problem down to a software corruption issue and/or system configuration issue on one volume.
I now need someone to identify specifically what the nature of the problem is, and how to eliminate it. I am not looking for a sledgehammer solution that says I should re-install all of the Mac OS X software on the problem volume. That may be held in reserve as a last resort. I'm looking for a more elegant approach, one that points out the specific corrupt files to remove without disturbing everything else.
Here's some background to set the context. I have a MacBook Pro laptop; a PowerMac iMac G5; and a PowerMac G4 hooked up in a network. All are running Leopard 10.5.8. All have file sharing and screen sharing enabled. Besides being able to connect to each other using registered users, my goal here is for each of the Macs to be able to share the screen of the others upon my demand. Since each of the 3 Macs can theoretically share the screens of the other 2, that makes a total of six possible connections. Five succeed; one does not. That's the problem. I am trying to determine why the iMac G5 cannot share the screen of the MacBook Pro.
The iMac G5 has no problem sharing the screen of the PowerMac G4. That connection is fast and immediate. But, every time that I hit the Share Screen button on the iMac G5 to try to connect to the MacBook Pro, I get a window with the blue barber pole spinning for two or three minutes as it is allegedly "Connecting to Mac Book Pro," followed by a window with a headline telling me that "Connection Failed to MacBook Pro." The text within that window goes on to say: "Please make sure that Screen Sharing (in the Sharing section of System Preferences) is enabled on the computer to which you are attempting to connect. Also make sure that your network connection is working properly."
Well, as I indicated, the PowerMac G4 has no problem sharing the screen of the MacBook Pro, so the Screen Sharing settings on the laptop are correct; and the iMac G5 can share the screen of the PowerMac G4, so its network connection is working properly in that regard. It is only in regards to sharing the screen of the MacBook Pro that the iMac G5 is not working properly.
The reason why I say that the issue must be unique to the one volume in question, let's call it "iMacG5 Music," is that another Leopard volume on the same computer has no problem whatsoever in sharing the screen of the MacBook Pro. Whenever I boot up in that volume, let's call it "iMacG5 JMB," it makes a network connection with a registered user name immediately, and it is able to share the screen of the MacBook Pro within a second of my issuing the command. In sharp contrast to the success of the iMacG5 JMB volume, the iMacG5 Music is unacceptably slow (several minutes slow!) in making a network connection with the MacBook Pro, and it always fails to share the screen of the MacBook Pro, preferring instead to take about three minutes to attempt the connection, before announcing its failure.
Since the iMacG5 Music volume makes an immediate network connection to the PowerMac G4, as well as sharing the screen of the PowerMac G4 the moment I ask it to, I have concluded that the hardware of the iMac G5 is just fine. The problem seems confined to the system software and/or associated networking files that are unique to the iMacG5 Music volume. I just don't know what those files could be, or where the problem lies, so I've issued this call for help.
Let me add one more little twist to this puzzle which baffles me even more. I use external LaCie Firewire drives as clone backups of my Macs. As part of my trouble-shooting process, I booted up from the cloned versions of the iMacG5 JMB volume and the iMacG5 Music volume. What I learned surprised me!
The iMacG5 JMB clone worked just fine in making a fast network connection to the MacBook Pro, as well as sharing the screen of the MacBook Pro. I expected that. What I did not expect was that the iMacG5 Music clone was also able to make a fast network to the MacBook Pro, as well as share its screen!
Yes, that's right. It's weird! Screen sharing works OK when I start-up from the clone of the iMacG5 Music volume, but it does not succeed when I boot up on the source itself! I was surprised to find that out, but I'm glad I did.
(Over the past few days since I executed the last clone, I did use Drive Genius to de-frag the source volume, and maybe that has contributed to the problem I am now encountering. But it's hard to say, since nothing else seems to be amiss.)
One solution, I suppose, would be to sync the clone back to the source. But, before I do that, I'm just wondering if anyone has a clue as to the nature of this problem on the source volume and what I might do to remedy it—short of re-installing the system software or restoring from the clone. Anyone have any insight to this problem?

CORRECTION #2:
Ignore the previous "CORRECTION" post.
Oops, excuse me, I wrote that sentence correctly the first time.
I was trying to point out that the ability of the iMac G5 computer to connect quickly and effectively to the PowerMac G4 when booted up into the iMacG5 Music volume was an indication (to me, anyway) that there is nothing wrong with the computer's hardware, nor its network connection ability, but that the problem lay somewhere in the files/settings used to connect to the MacBook Pro, which it cannot accomplish.
This is what happens when I get engrossed in one of these technical morasses and it ***** me into its vortex all through the night... time for bed.

Can you use screen sharing outside of your local network?

I've been poking around with the "screen sharing" in osx Lion. I have a few questions about it.
Firstly, is the built-in screen sharing only accessible through the finder?
Also, is it only available on local networks? I've gotten it to work on two computers on the same network. But, can I use in the built-in screen sharing to look at my work iMac while I'm at home on my Macbook? Or would I need a full VPN client to do this? (Although isn't there built-in VPN compatibility in Lion?)
Thanks!

Go here..
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16439571#16439571
... and read my post explaining the different ways to share your screen. Things should be a little clearer for you, I hope.
Bob

Screen sharing and home sharing makes network drop

Hi. I've upgraded to OS X Mavericks and I am having a weird network issue now. I use home sharing all the time to stream to my Apple TV and I use screensharing so I can connect from downstairs using my ipad or another computer. Every since the upgrade, If I am watching something on the Apple TV and then connect to my Macbook Pro, after a few seconds the Macbook Pro's network connection drops for a few seconds. The Apple TV loses connection to the Macbook Pro completely and my VNC app freezes for about 5-10 seconds. It eventually comes back, but this just happens over and over in a vicious cycle. Any ideas? I've tried running the Mavericks install again and fiddling with screensharing settings and VNC settings on the app, but it just seems like the two don't play well together on Mavericks. I never had any of these issues on Mountain Lion. My Macbook Pro is the late 2011 17 inch model with 16GB RAM. I also have a Belkin thunderbolt dock connected and a monitor connected to that via hdmi to mini display port. The disconnections happen whether I use the ethernet port on the Macbook or on the dock.

I've been having a similar issue since upgrading to Mavericks. I use screen sharing all the time to access my home computer from the road, but now it's hit or miss whether I can log in at all, and when I do, screen sharing eventually drops out after less than an hour.

I cant get screen sharing to work on my home network

I am trying to connect my macbook pro to screen sharing so i can access it at my school computers, which are all iMacs running 10.6.6. When i was at school, and connected to the wireless network at my school i could screen sharing through the finder>go>connect to server. Once screen sharing was enabled i just entered the vnc address and it connected flawlessly. When i got home, and i set my netgear router( wireless-n 150 model: wnr100v2) for port forwarding start port: 5900 end port:5900 server name vnc, and set the ip address to my computer, and when i tried to screen share from another macbook within my network through the finder>go>connect to server, i could not connect. Oddly when i connected my mobile me, i cold screen share over the network. I want to do a WAN screen sharing and i cannot figure out how do do it. I would appreciate any help because it is very important that i enable this feature.

I'm a little confused by your explanation (it's late), so I am going to say what I think I read:
You want to set up your home computer so you can access it via screen sharing from school.
The home computer needs sys prefs sharing screen sharing enabled, and sys prefs security firewall must allow it, too. You port forward port 5900 through your home router to that home computer, which may or may not require that you use a static "192.168.x.x" (or "10.x.x.x" -- whatever the router's LAN subnet is) LAN IP address on that computer -- some routers require that computers acting as servers have static IPAs -- some routers don't.
You need to find out what is the public (internet-facing) WAN IP address that your ISP has assigned to your router; it is not the 192.168.x.x (or 10.x.x.x) address given to your home computer by your home router. You can find that by going to http://checkip.dyndns.com on your home computer. Unless you pay extra for a static public IP address from your ISP, ISPs may (and do) change it periodically on you without warning. So vnc://123.45.67.89 may work one day but not the next.
Some routers have a built-in feature to work around this by allowing the router to advise dynamic DNS servers of any changes in the public-facing IP address of the router. Of course, you need to have established an account with a dynamic DNS provider so you have a host name (like lomberg.noip.com or lomberg.dyndns.com). These are generally free accounts unless you want a special name that doesn't have the dynamic DNS provider as part of your host name.
If your router does not have this capability, these dynamic DNS providers have a piece of software that you will need to install on your home computer (the "VNC server") that reports changes in your public-facing IP address to their DNS servers.
Once this is done, then from afar, you can ⌘k to vnc://lomberg.dyndns.com (or whatever you set up your host name to be with dyndns or equivalent outfit) and you don't need to worry about what your ISP has done to you with regards to your public-facing WAN IP address du jour.
Note that with some (most?) routers, when you are on your home network, you will not be able to vnc to the host name or numeric WAN IPA in this manner. I don't know why it doesn't work, it just doesn't. I've had modems both ways -- my current ISP rental modem doesn't while the previous one (which broke so I had to replace it with my current POS modem) did. So in such case, you have to vnc://192.168.x.x of the "vnc server" computer when you are on the same LAN.
You are aware that on the client (school) machine, screen sharing preferences can be set to encrypt all data on the connection, not just the username/password negotiation piece, right? I don't know whether that setting persists across sessions or only persists for the duration of the current session. I wouldn't want my client mouse/keyboard and "server" screen video to be transmitted in the clear; that's why I bring this up.
Does that answer your question? Or did I totally misunderstand what you were asking?

Screen sharing not on same network

I set up my grandmother's new computer at my house, and since we were on the same network, I was able to use Screen Sharing to access her computer.
But now that she's back in Chicago, and not on my network, Screen Sharing doesn't seem to allow me to access her computer. She's got some issues I could easily resolve if I could screen share. How can I do this now?

HI,
iChat or Messages will let you do this is both ends have Screens Names (AIM based) or Jabber IDs.
In Messages or iChat go to the App menu > Preferences > Accounst and use the plus button at the bottom of ther list to add an Account.
In the add Account Pane chose either AIM (Includes some Apple IDs) or Jabber (Includes a Google options in the list).
Google Mail IDs work in the Google choice if you enable "Talk" in the Products at your Google account page (not the web mail login)
Facebook IDs can also be Jabber IDs if you enable "Chat" at their settings.
Use the Preferences > General section to Unlink the gathered Buddy lists (By default they are in one list in Messages).
The window Menu should now display a list of Buddy List accounts that can be displayed.
(Bonjour if Enabled, Jabber, Google and/or AIM). There is a Yahoo account but this will not Video or Audio Only chats which in turn means no Screen Sharing.
Once you have the Buddy list on Show you can add the Buddy name
(Press the + icon and choose Add Buddy (Or use the Buddies menu > Add Buddy) )
Having the list separate means you can add the right name to the right Buddy List.
Check you can Video chat (Screen Sharing needs the same Internet Connection minimum speed.)
You need to activate Screen Sharing in the Video menu.
This version is really an Audio Chat with a VNC connection along side
For this UPnP needs to be the method employed in the router to open ports as the VNC connection is on a random port.
The System base Screen Sharing is also a VNC connection.
It follows more closely to the Apple Remote Desktop (ARD) ports as it too, like iChat/Messages uses the ARD engine.
However instead on a Finder > Go Menu > Go to Server and typing VNC:// and a local IP or Browsing for a local computer you need the Public IP address of your mother's Modem.
The modem or router at her end would then need to point that connection to the computer (Port Forwarding).
The same would need to be done in your router for the return stuff.
(most routers have the first 1024 ports (or 65535) open but in this case the Screen Sharing app uses ports above this as does iChat/Messages).
iChat just handles it better once UPnP is enabled.
10:33 pm Sunday; July 28, 2013
 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.4)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and an iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Screen sharing on local network - broken on snow leopard

I will try to be clear:
problem is: cannot get a screen sharing window on mac mini when accessing from macbook pro on local network. Problem began after clean install on snow leopard all computers.
setup: 1 mac mini, two macbook pros (1 is 1st gen, 1 2nd gen), all connected through Airport Wireless N basestations.
filesharing works fine. all computers recognised.
when i connect to screen sharing, blue bar comes for a minute, then goes off, then on again, then after a couple more minutes just disappears. screen sharing does not give me an error message, just stops trying. please help, getting fairly desparate.
best,
Charles

This is not normal. Although I have no experience with screen sharing SL-to-SL, I have no problems connecting from my MBP running SL to several other machines running older systems.
What might be different between my setup and yours I'm not sure. But here are a few things:
1) At home, I'm also using an 'n' AirPort Extreme base station, but I'm using 'g' mode, because my MBP is the only machine in the house capable of 'n' speeds. No problems with the PB G4 or iMac G5 running Leopard.
2) At my wife's office, we're using a LinkSys router (not an 'n' router), and no problems accessing the screen of a headless Intel Mac Mini running Tiger.
3) You mention base stations, emphasis on the "s". If you have multiple base stations, that could be the problem. Have you tried simplifying the network so there's only one base station in use?
4) What settings are you using for Screen Sharing in System Preferences -> Sharing? Look both in the main window and in the window that pops up if you push the Computer Settings button.

Lion and others Mac 10.6, I cannot see Screen Sharing on the network

Hello all,
Since I've install Lion on the Mac Mini I cannot acces (and see) on the network in Screen Sharing. I can access all other Mac on 10.5.8 and 10.6.x easily. In the prefs all is exactly like before I upgrade this OS...
Is someone can give me an issue.
Thank and have a great day!
Paul Dionne

I'm not sure what you are and are not seeing from which computers on the network.
Note that whatever your prefererences were before has no bearing on fixing your problem.
Which computers can you see, and from which computers.
What type of file sharing do you have enabled on the 10.5.8 and 10.6.x computers, AFP or SMB?

Screen sharing new iMac on Airport Network

I have a Macbook Pro and an iMac on an Airport network.
I don't see the option to share the desktop of the remote iMac, even though I have screen sharing on. I can do screen sharing if I manually connect via the Connect to Server option in Finder and use vnc://ipaddress. I just don't see the button like you are supposed to when I click on that computer in the finder.
Finally, another odd thing. On the macbook pro, the iMac is first displayed in the shared pane in the finder like a Windows PC. Then, once I use afp to connect to it and access the Shared folder, then it shows up in the Finder as an iMac. The Windows version is still there too.
Thanks!

Hi Palessi:
I had the same problem. The thing in my case was that I have a Tiger (10.4.11) G5 that I wanted to control with my Leopard (10.5.5) MacPro.
I have the Following settings:
Leopard MacPro:
System Preferences/Sharing-----Selected: Screen Sharing, File Sharing and Reomote Login.
System Preferences/Security/Firewall-----Set Access for specific services and applications.
Tiger G5:
System Preferences/Sharing/Services-----Selected: Personal File Sharing,, Window Sharing, FTP Access, Apple Remote Desktop.
System Preferences/Security/Firewall-----Selected: iChat Bonjour.
With this configuration I had to stop the firewall to get control over the Tiger G5 with the Leopard MacPro until I did the next thing:
1: Go to System Preferences/Security/Firewall
2: Click on the "NEW" button
3: In the pop screen in the "PORT NAME" section, scroll down untill you find "VNC" and leave settings as they are.
Thats it. I have to say that until I did that, I could have access to files through my network, I even had the share screen button in the finder.
I hope this helps

IMac screen sharing automatically in dock over network

I am running 10.10.2 in an iMac Late 2013.
My mail and safari seem to be automatically screen sharing with other iMacs in my office. They get a little secondary dock that lives on the left of the normal dock. I've attached a screen shot of the scenario. All the computers in the office are logged on to the same iCloud account and are all connected to the same network. How can I turn this function off?

Hi Versatile Studios,
Based on your post it seems you would like to turn of the Continuity feature called Handoff. This allows you to continue your work on another device. I have linked to an article which provides more information about the feature, and how to deactivate it:
Connect your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac using Continuity - Apple Support
Turn off Handoff
To turn off Handoff on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, go to Settings > General > Handoff & Suggested Apps, and turn off Handoff.
On your Mac, go to System Preferences > General and uncheck the Allow Handoff setting.
Thank you for contributing to Apple Support Communities.
Take care,
Bobby_D

Networking/screen sharing between Mac and PC

I have a standard home wired/wireless network using a DHCP router. My main computer is a Mac Pro running Snow Leopard (latest everything). My secondary computer is a Windows 7 PC, which has IP address 192.168.2.94.
On the Mac Pro, in the Finder sidebar, under shared, I do see the PC: it's called "rackpc". If I click on it, I see the option to Connect As, but if I click it, it says Connection Failed (the server "rackpc" may not exist or it is unavailable at this time). The screen sharing button doesn't appear (as it does for other Macs in my network).
However, if I manually use the Finder's command-K (connect to server) and type in vnc://192.168.2.94, I can easily connect to the PC and share its screen.
So my question is: how can I "save" this bookmark of vnc://192.168.2.94 (or better yet, make the Mac auto-sense the rackpc's existence, which it partially does) and allow it to appear properly in the Shared list of servers on my local network? Right now it appears there, but as I said above, Connect As doesn't work, and Screen Sharing doesn't appear.
The rackpc is not on a fixed IP because I can't figure out how to do that in Windows. So it's grabbing .94 from the router, which is fine by me for now.

See if this Apple Tech Note helps:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1812?viewlocale=en_US

Yosemite Messages Screen Sharing Router Type: Port Restricted

I want to do Screen Sharing via Messages as newly enabled in Yosemite (through Messages...not the Buddy List). Unfortunately, it fails. I run Connection Doctor under Video in Messages and see that I have an issue with the message "Router Type: Port Restricted". I would like to see "Full Cone".
What do I need to do?
I am on AT&T U-Verse running a Motorola NVG589 modem. I have the wireless disabled on the NVG589. The NVG589 is connected via ethernet to my Apple Airport Time Capsule (the tower model that is 802.11ac). The Airport Time Capsule is set up in Bridge Mode - so as not to create Double NAT but to offer 802.11ac wifi speeds and to provide Time Machine backups.
I have connected directly to the NVG589 modem and gotten the same "Router Type: Port Restricted" message. I assume I must open a port/ports on the NVG589. If so...what are those ports?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hi,
The Messages app in all versions up to Mavericks only Screen Shares with AIM to AIM and Jabber to Jabber contacts as well as Bonjour connections on your LAN.
It is based on those accounts that do Video and Audio Chats within the app.
The iMessages invokes FaceTime to do Video and will not do Screen Sharing.
However as you say there is this info:-
Share a conversation —
and your screen.
Now you can share your screen with the person you’re chatting with. Then you can go from iMessage conversation to screen sharing with just a click. You can easily do things like collaborate on a presentation with a colleague, browse the web with a friend, or select airplane seats with your spouse. And Messages automatically initiates an audio chat when you start a screen sharing session, so you can talk things through while you’re at it.
On checking the icon to Screen Share does appear in iMessages conversation Details option
Notice the slightly diminished ("greyed out") quality to the Screen Sharing icon.
It appears it only works to other Macs.
The Buddies menu also has the option greyed out.
Routers
My Network Status looks like this.
The Bandwidth Limit is set in Messages > Preferences > Video/Audio pane > Bandwidth Limit.
Setting it to 500kbps is over what it needs to do 4 Way Video chat as Host.
When it is a really fast connection to a much slower Buddy it can help and also with higher speeds come higher variances which and cause havoc.
There are four main type of Router type as this refers to them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_address_translation#Methods_of_port_transla tion
Port Restricted is just as effective as Full Cone.
I have had it show up this way on a Thompson-Alcatel 510v4 when I was first On line in iChat 2 and Netgear device I forget the number of, a Sagem Fast2504 from Sky my current internet provider when I had DLS and the current Fibre Hub that they supply.
I have UPnP set as the method to open the ports needed.
This allows the computer (apps) to tell the router which ports to open.
They will also close after periods on Non use.
Router that do UPnP advertise the fact.
You can reduce the number of devices that happens through (Hops). The default setting is normally 4. Router to computer counts as 1 Ethernet hubs don't count. But large LANs with more routers (Subnets to LANs) will count as more Hops.
Ports.
Most devices have the first 1024 port open (there are 65355 in total).
These lower numbered port handle things like Web Browsing on port 80.
FTP on port 21 and 22
Some Outgoing Mail servers on port 25
Secure web connection on port 443
and so on.
Messages and FaceTime Video chats use ports above this.
These are the one you tend to have to allow.
Video uses 5678 to send invites then moves to port 16402 (or one from a group of 10 ports below this)
10:02 PM Saturday; November 22, 2014
 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (Mavericks 10.9)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and an iPad

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