Long Distance Mac & PC Communication

[Mystievel]

Hi all,

First post here on Tom's Hardware, this looks like the best place as any to discuss the following:

The question:
What is the "best" way to communicate (wireless) between a Mac and a PC across separate networks? (Internet, etc, across the country, NOT from the same router).

Background:
I have a "robot" (RC car with Webcam) that my friends across the country can drive around using Skype. I'm doing the Janky method of using AutoIt to scan the Chat for specific characters (a, s, d, w, etc) that I read, send to the robot, and then make the appropriate move. I am using Windows Vista on an old Dell Studio Laptop PC and my friends have all of the following: Apple MacBook Laptops, I-Pads, and Android SmartPhones.

Goal:
I would like to buff this up and allow my friends to control the car from a custom GUI (web based/custom SW/phone app/anything is fine as long as it works) that will send data through the internet/satellite/whatever medium. The data could even be a simple text document that contains a single character but overall my computer has to be able to read it as fast as possible from the moment the data is sent.

Thank you in advance!

 

[bill001g]

You can't actually run wireless across the country but you could use wireless at the ends.

Why not just use one of the many vpn solutions or put a server in and run it via standard http.

You still be get a lot of delays you can do nothing about because of the distance so real time control of devices it not going to work real well.