Mobility Hack That Feels Illegal #FutureWare
You Don’t Need a Powerful Laptop Anymore
Yes, you read that right. You don’t need to drop $4,000 on a laptop — heck, you might not even want a laptop anymore!
It’s not that they are weak, lag-prone, or buggy machines that will overheat your “kids making parts” to uncomfortable levels. Nowadays, you really don’t need them either.
But wait, you might say, “Michael, I need and love my laptop! I howl it from meeting to meeting, from coffee shop to coffee shop… sure you need it to write your code!”
Allow me to introduce you to the future of computing, my friends.
This has been the future for a long time. I’ve been seeing it since 2009, getting closer each day, but no one seemed to listen back then.
My prediction in 2009 was this: “Humanity will become more connected, not less. And internet speed and reliability of connections will get up, not down. All we need is displaying tech. Actual work can be done on powerful servers in a server farm.”
But, of course, no one listened.
Well, some shared this vision, and now it’s time to show you how I’ve been computing for the past few months.
And it’s glorious! With 0 lag and problems so far!
The setup
Here’s what you’ll need: the best workstation with a GTX or RTX graphics card (if you have AMD or Intel GPU, or you are looking for a simple-out-of-the-box pay-to-win solution, you should look into Parsec) and the fastest internet you can afford. A basic, throwaway laptop — perhaps even a glorious ThinkPad X1 Carbon with 4th Gen specs. And a reliable mobile data link.
We’ll connect your powerhouse workstation to this shitty laptop through the internet, using it merely to display and stream encrypted images, sound, and commands back and forth.
If you truly want to embrace the future, equip yourself with a sharp 4K screen, a keyboard, a mouse, one of those USB-C docks with HDMI and LAN ports from marketplaces like Aliexpress or Temu, a robust 65W charger at each location and just use your phone.
USBC to RJ45 HDMI-compatible USB 3.0 Type C Port Hub — $ 8
You might be more of a road warrior or a café hopper. In that case, a Samsung Galaxy Tab or an Apple iPad with a keyboard/trackpad folio case will do just fine.
Either way, you’ll be rocking your workstation everywhere, carrying minimal weight.
Setting it up
Let’s breeze through the setup process.
Host
Choose your workstation — that powerhouse of yours. Opt for Microsoft Windows if you need the Adobe suite, or Linux if you’re focused on squeezing every bit of performance from your station for coding. Configure your BIOS to power on the device as soon as AC power is available to avoid downtime due to power glitches.
Install the latest Nvidia drivers, Sunshine, and get MultiMonitorTool.
Configure your Sunshine
Make sure Sunshine starts up with your machine. Use the Windows Run command (WIN + R), type
shell:startupand drag the Sunshine program into the Startup folder that appears.
Set a secure username and password under the “Change Password” tab in the Sunshine configuration menu.
MultiMonitorTool
You will want Sunshine to adjust your resolution based on whichever client you connect from. MultiMonitorTool is how we achieve this.
- Place its executable in the C: drive.
- Open it, and from the menu, select: File > Save Monitors Configuration.
- Also, save directly to the C: drive. You should now have the executable and a configuration file within your C: drive.”
More Sunshine configuration
Open Sunshine — Configuration tab this time.
Under Do Command enter:
cmd /C C:\MultiMonitorTool.exe /SetMonitors "Name=\\.\DISPLAY1 Width=%SUNSHINE_CLIENT_WIDTH% Height=%SUNSHINE_CLIENT_HEIGHT% DisplayFrequency=%SUNSHINE_CLIENT_FPS%"Change Name= to whatever you get in MultiMonitorTool, right click to your monitor and under “Name:”.
Under Undo Command enter this:
cmd /C C:\MultiMonitorTool.exe /LoadConfig C:\MonitorsDefault.cfgYou are all set for now.
Connect clients
We’ll connect the clients later after setting up port forwarding. But keep in mind, you’ll need to authorize each client individually.
Linux machine
Follow the instructions from level1forums.
Internet
You’ll need to forward several ports on your router (list of ports below). But be cautious about forwarding your Web UI port.
- 47984 (TCP)
- 47989 (TCP)
- 48010 (TCP)
- 47998–48000 (UDP)
Clients
Install Moonlight apps (Android, iOS) or programs on your client devices. After you’ve done that, retrieve your external IP address by visiting What Is My IP Address. Connect your device through your mobile internet and add a client with that IP to your app or program.
Next, enter your device name and PIN into the Sunshine configuration panel under the “Pin” tab (https://localhost:47990/pin).
And you are connected!
Additional tips
Set your bandwidth to the optimal level for stability (start with a minimum to a what looks ok to you). Enable V-Sync and experiment with different hardware encoding settings for the best performance. HVAC is good AVI1 is best. Optimize your mouse settings for remote desktop use.
Welcome to the new era of computing!
And don’t forget your favorite Snowmonkey flask, that you can get -15% with a code SuperShort15!
If you found this helpful, leave a comment or a clap. And if you liked this guide, you might also enjoy my other articles.
Take care ❤️!
Q&A
So it’s just a Remote Desktop/VNC?
No. It’s made for gaming, so it can handle 120FPS streaming and more. When Remote Desktop or VNC feels like you are working on Pentium 1 — this feels like you are at the machine. I have even put it to the test with my gamer GF and she could play her fast-pace arena FPS games with no problems at all.
Is there a simpler way? That looks like a lot of work.
Yes. You can use Parsec. Their software is great! They also have a free tier, that you can try (so no, it’s not free or open-source).
But theoretically, this should work faster and use less CPU, since it’s hardware based.
But what about security?
Last that I’ve checked all of the traffic is strong-encrypted. If you require additional piece of mind, use a VPN to your home network. Something like WireGuard should work great!
So it’s bandwidth game?
Yes. Faster than your connection is, nicer picture you can set. But a normal mobile 4G should work.
You haven’t invented anything?
I am just reporting on it, because the technology is at the point where we are not looking at slideshows with random delay intervals.
I use SSH, tmux and vim!
That’s great! I have been there too. Please comment on how do you handle seeing the results, mobile development and Image editing on a mobile phone or a Chromebook.
