AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT WFH

Written by Fadi Matti on March 20, 2020. Posted in Architecture, Autodesk, BIM, Construction, Engineering, Knowledge Base, Manufacturing, Working From Home.

Autodesk AutoCAD has various options for you to work from home.

LICENSING

Please refer to this link for further information: SU and MU Autodesk Licensing

ACCESSING FILES AND SHARING FILES REMOTELY ON A NETWORK ENVIRONMENT:

There are a few options available for you to access files from your office network. Please note that some of these options like Cloud Storage Providers, AutoCAD Web, Desktop Connector & BIM 360 Docs and E-transmit. Pre-uploading may be required.

VPN ACCESS:

Customers can access their files through a VPN environment, this can be a fast and easy set up that allows you access to the office network. Internet speeds need to be considered

CLOUD STORAGE PROVIDERS:

Alternatively, users can utilise a cloud storage provider like Autodesk Drive, OneDrive, Drobox etc. For certain storage providers it is recommended that the Syncing is turned off while working on the file. Read this article on how To Save Dra wings Online. Pre uploading may be required.

AutoCAD WEB:

One option is to use the AutoCAD Web application. This application is included with AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT subscriptions. There is no installation required just need to go to https://web.autocad.com/ and log in with your Autodesk account to access the application. You do need to pre-upload the DWG and DXF with the desktop version. You can open, edit and create files. Please note that the App does not have all the AutoCAd desktop features and therefore may not suit all customers.

AUTODESK DESKTOP CONNECTOR & BIM 360 DOCS & AUTODESK DRIVE:

The Autodesk Desktop Connector allows you to access files from your BIM 360 Docs & Autodesk Drive accounts with your desktop environment. For the workflow read How to save an AutoCAD drawing to BIM 360 using Desktop Connector. Please note that there is no lock file mechanism and users may be working on the same file at the same time. In this scenario, each users’ s save will get uploaded, but whoever uploads last wins.

ETRANSMIT:

AutoCAD users can benefit from the ETRANSMIT feature. This feature allows users to create a zip file of their drawings and all supporting files such as xrefs, fonts and plotstyles etc. For more information see Have You Tried: Package Drawings for Transmittal.

VAULT:

Customers have the option of using the Vault environment to work on their drawings remotely. Vault allows you to work on a local copy of the project. Please refer to Autodesk Vault

For configuration, workflows and tips see Best practises for getting started with Vault, Using the AutoCAD Vault ARX and Essential Skills.

To Access Vault from home, relevant information can be found in Vault and Working from Home.

INTERNET SPEEDS

As you can imagine, an important consideration here is the speed of the Internet. For a rough estimate on how much time is required for uploading and downloading files, here is a Calculator:

In Australia we typically have:

ADSL 15-20 Mb/sec download to home and 1-2Mb/sec upload to office/cloud
NBN 25/50/100 Mb/sec download and 10/20/35 upload to office/cloud

For example, a 100MB file will take 14 minutes to upload on a ADSL connection, meanwhile only 30 seconds on a NBN connection.