Sending large files over the internet - how!? I feel incompetent.

aquaticaquatic
Posted:
in General Discussion edited March 2015
Please help. I want to send a 400 meg file from my Mac to a PC at URI which I can Remote Desktop to. First of all it's retarded I can't just drag it. Second of all, I tried FTP but I'm on Airport and when I tried my external IP I got from whatsmyip.org or whatever it didn't work. I tried KDX and couldn't get it to work, I can't install programs on it and AIM Express can't send files, I tried Gdisk/Gdrive and they aren't compatible with each other...It's so simple, yet I can't think of what to do. Thank you in advance! My last ditch effort if there is no other way will be to split it up in 50 meg chunks and shuttle it on iDisk but sending straight would be faster... I also tried plugging straight in to the router or whatever box that you plug in to the wall, the one from Comcast, and didn't get an IP. I can do that at home. I feel completey incompetent. Again if someone could help...thanks.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Aquatic

    Please help. I want to send a 400 meg file from my Mac to a PC at URI which I can Remote Desktop to. First of all it's retarded I can't just drag it. Second of all, I tried FTP but I'm on Airport and when I tried my external IP I got from whatsmyip.org or whatever it didn't work. I tried KDX and couldn't get it to work, I can't install programs on it and AIM Express can't send files, I tried Gdisk/Gdrive and they aren't compatible with each other...It's so simple, yet I can't think of what to do. Thank you in advance! My last ditch effort if there is no other way will be to split it up in 50 meg chunks and shuttle it on iDisk but sending straight would be faster... I also tried plugging straight in to the router or whatever box that you plug in to the wall, the one from Comcast, and didn't get an IP. I can do that at home. I feel completey incompetent. Again if someone could help...thanks.



    Shouldn't this be in the Genius Bar?



    Where is the PC? Where is the Mac?



    I think that FTP was probably the best bet. You can turn on FTP server on the Mac in system preferences, then Remote Desktop to the PC, log in to the Mac from the PC side, then pull the file over.



    You will need to make sure that you are forwarding port 21 to the private IP address of your Mac. You may also find that it helps to allocate your Mac a fixed Airport IP address. Refer to your Airport documentation on how to do both these things.
  • Reply 2 of 12
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    Oh yeah, I forgot:



    You may want to use an FTP client on the PC that can resume downloads. Getting 99% through a 400 MB transfer and then stopping would be painful!



    Also, have you given P2P a whirl? You may need to forward ports for that too, but I'm not sure.
  • Reply 3 of 12
    notaclonenotaclone Posts: 82member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Aquatic

    Please help. I want to send a 400 meg file



    There are also a few services to allow you to upload a file, and email a link to that file to any recipient. here is one: Send This File I find this handy for sending print jobs overseas. I suppose iChat File Sending won't work.
  • Reply 4 of 12
    electric monkelectric monk Posts: 485member
    There's also YouSendIt which is decent, although for a file over 100 MB they want you to buy a $4.99/month package.
  • Reply 5 of 12
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    1) email it to yourself. 400MB may cause many mail servers to choke though.



    2) set up Apache on the Mac, download from the PC. Works great if the Mac is accessible from outside via an IP or FQDN. System Preferences -> Sharing -> check the Web Server box. Drop the file in your Sites folder in your Home directory. From the PC, the URL will be http://yourmac.yourisp.foo/~yourusername/thefilename



    I use these two approaches regularly.
  • Reply 6 of 12
    archstudentarchstudent Posts: 262member
    FTP
  • Reply 7 of 12
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kickaha

    1) email it to yourself. 400MB may cause many mail servers to choke though.



    2) set up Apache on the Mac, download from the PC. Works great if the Mac is accessible from outside via an IP or FQDN. System Preferences -> Sharing -> check the Web Server box. Drop the file in your Sites folder in your Home directory. From the PC, the URL will be http://yourmac.yourisp.foo/~yourusername/thefilename



    I use these two approaches regularly.



    number 2) will require forwarding of port 80 to the private Airport IP address.
  • Reply 8 of 12
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Yes, that's why I specified "if accessible from outside". Don't look at me, I'm just the Idea Man, the rest is engineering.
  • Reply 9 of 12
    curiousuburbcuriousuburb Posts: 3,325member
    Does the PC have FW? If so, start the Mac in Target mode (boot with the 'T' key held down.)



    Presto... 400Mbit/sec transfer. see comments at the bottom of this (otherwise missing the easy solution) article



    If not, throw an ethernet cable between them (modern Macs auto-crossover the cables as req'd) and go at 100Mbit/sec



    Both are superior to 48-54Mbit/sec via 802.11g or 11MBit/sec via 802.11b



    But your last resort might be USB thumbdrive or sneakernetting a CD.
  • Reply 10 of 12
    boukmanboukman Posts: 93member
    Well, if you can login to the PC (that is, you have a username/password) and happen to know its IP number, you can always use the finder to connect to its file system (I'm at work right now, but I think there is a "connect to" item hidden somewhere in the Finder's menu), and then you can actually drag and drop anything, including a 400MB file.
  • Reply 11 of 12
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    I did it with SendthisFile, thanks notaclone. Boukman that's also a good idea, I'll have to set that up on the PC if I have the rights. No sneakernetting, it's in RI. And I'll have to check out the particulars of port forwarding some time in the future. Thanks for the help guys!
  • Reply 12 of 12
    mrmanishsmrmanishs Posts: 3member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Aquatic View Post


    Please help. I want to send a 400 meg file from my Mac to a PC at URI which I can Remote Desktop to. First of all it's retarded I can't just drag it. Second of all, I tried FTP but I'm on Airport and when I tried my external IP I got from whatsmyip.org or whatever it didn't work. I tried KDX and couldn't get it to work, I can't install programs on it and AIM Express can't send files, I tried Gdisk/Gdrive and they aren't compatible with each other...It's so simple, yet I can't think of what to do. Thank you in advance! My last ditch effort if there is no other way will be to split it up in 50 meg chunks and shuttle it on iDisk but sending straight would be faster... I also tried plugging straight in to the router or whatever box that you plug in to the wall, the one from Comcast, and didn't get an IP. I can do that at home. I feel completey incompetent. Again if someone could help...thanks.



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