Easy remote access to my home pc?

[4wd]

How would I know the IP of the server PC?

-Deozaan (September 15, 2008, 11:17 AM)

Download and run IP2 on the server.  It will give you the LAN and WAN IP of the PC.

If you notice that the WAN IP changes every so often, (depends on IP expiry time set by ISP), then you'll need to do what mediaguy says above.

BTW, I think I forgot a step.

You might need to add in the name of the user who is allowed to connect remotely under RDP.  To do so, on the server PC go to My Computer->Properties->Remote->Select Remote Users and add the username in, (from step 1 above).

By default, the owner of the PC already has Remote Access, ie. the first user you created while installing XP, (who'll have admin priveleges).  Since all my PCs have the same initial user I haven't had to add any users to RDP.

Also, when you log in via RDP the server PC will drop back to the Welcome screen, (I'm assuming single user XP setup here), any programs running will continue in the background.

[Deozaan]

If you don't have a static IP with your Internet Provider then you can create a dynamic hostname (one that keeps track of your dynamic IP address) through dyndns.org

-mediaguycouk (September 15, 2008, 11:19 AM)

Thanks, I have a dyndns.org account set up keeping track of my IP. How will it know when I change, for example, if I change ISPs or move to a different geographical location?

And thanks to 4wd for the easy to follow process. I think the only hitch here is I don't necessarily want to password protect my user account on this PC, but obviously I don't want anybody to be able to login from anywhere.

And about this:

You might need to add in the name of the user who is allowed to connect remotely under RDP.  To do so, on the server PC go to My Computer->Properties->Remote->Select Remote Users and add the username in, (from step 1 above).

By default, the owner of the PC already has Remote Access, ie. the first user you created while installing XP, (who'll have admin priveleges).  Since all my PCs have the same initial user I haven't had to add any users to RDP.

-4wd (September 15, 2008, 06:24 PM)

Is that the login credentials for the server or is that the User account name for the client pc? For instance, if I'm at the university and they have weird user accounts like building names and room numbers, do I need to allow all the possible accounts I might be on when trying to remote, or just the 1 server account?

[4wd]

Thanks, I have a dyndns.org account set up keeping track of my IP. How will it know when I change, for example, if I change ISPs or move to a different geographical location?

-Deozaan (September 15, 2008, 10:57 PM)

You need to run a client on your PC that modifies the dyndns.org redirection setting when your IP changes OR if you're running through a modem/router it might be sufficiently intelligent, (eg. Zyxel Prestige 660), such that you can get it to do it.

And thanks to 4wd for the easy to follow process. I think the only hitch here is I don't necessarily want to password protect my user account on this PC, but obviously I don't want anybody to be able to login from anywhere.

No problem.  Unfortunately to be able to use RDP you have to specify a password on an account.  There are a few things you can do to minimise the likelihood of someone causing havoc via Remote Desktop.

Depending on your firewall/NAT/router setup you may be able to restrict access to a set range of IPs.
Choose a decent passphrase, (not password), and use the Autologin feature of TweakUI to log in locally.
Use an account with limited permissions, (not admin).
You can change the port from the default 3389 to something different, (eg. 64825), making it harder to find.
Restrict Remote Desktop connections to a VPN, (see here for a portable client).

You might need to add in the name of the user who is allowed to connect remotely under RDP.  To do so, on the server PC go to My Computer->Properties->Remote->Select Remote Users and add the username in, (from step 1 above).

-4wd (September 15, 2008, 06:24 PM)

Is that the login credentials for the server or is that the User account name for the client pc? For instance, if I'm at the university and they have weird user accounts like building names and room numbers, do I need to allow all the possible accounts I might be on when trying to remote, or just the 1 server account?

For the server, the same one you did here:

1) On the PC that you want to control, (henceforth called the "server"), create an administrator account and give it a password.

eg.
The server is called MyPC.
The account you created above is called George.

1) On MyPC go to My Computer->Properties->Remote->Select Remote Users
2) Click Add
3) Type George and click Check Names
4) The computer will change the entry to MyPC\George.  If the computer can't find that user it will prompt you to correct the information or remove the user.
5) You can then just OK out.

[JoTo]

Hiho,

Another solution can be UltraVNC SingleClick (UVNC SC) or PCHelpWare.

Both are VNC like solutions. PCHW is free for everything (even for commercial use).

They both need physical access on the server, thats the bad thing about it. But they are very easy to use, as all the techie things is done by YOU (the computer expert). The user only have to download a small self-contained exe from your website (about 100-300kb) and doubleclkick it. Connection established. No installation necessary, either on userside nor on your side (viewer). UVNC SC even deletes itself after the session ends and leaving no trails on the remote pc.

Chat, Filetransfer and controlling the desktop of the remote PC is available with that.

No router/port-forwarding necessary on userside, as the server initiates an outgoing connection to the viewer (you are in listen mode). The user pc only must have normal WAN access.

The way it goes is this:
First you create a server-package with your actual data (your IP, username, password, blah, blah, blah). Very easy to do with PCHW as you start the viewer, enter your desired parameters and press the "Create Server" button. Then you can find a ready to release small exe file on your harddisk. Now upload this single exe to your webspace or wherever it can be accessed from the others. Then you press the "Start" button in your viewer and wait.

Second you tell your mother to download this package with her browser and start it somehow. The server connects to your viewer and you can begin controlling. So your mother only must be able to download a file and start it. No need to know whats going on under the hood.

You can create the server package in different ways so that the user must either enter a login/Password or that the connection is made automatically and without user activity (after starting up the server of course).

All features known from UltraVNC are available. So you can make direct connections, use the mirror drivers (but that needs install on the remote/userside pc! - but it works without the drivers as well, only slower) and repeater connections (when you are sitting behind a firewall as well). You can setup your own repeater or use the UVNC public repeater.

So this solution is excellent for helping in technical problems. Its not convinient to get a permanent access to your own home pc from everywhere in the world (User activity on remote side necessary!).

I just try to use the free 1scdll.dll from PCHelpWare in my own application to get up a remote support system for our company helpdesk with ticket support and such things. We'll see if i can get this to work. As i said, PCHW is free also for commercial use and you are allowed to build and deploy your own app with the 1scdll.dll (even if the dll is closed source) or use their ready to use apps (server and viewer) that can be customized with own gui elements (texts, background, company logo, blah).

HTH anyone
CU
JoTo

Links:
Ultravnc: http://www.uvnc.com/
PCHelpWare: http://www.uvnc.com/...chelpware/index.html
UVNC and PCHW Forum: http://forum.ultravnc.info/

[Deozaan]

Could someone give me a little more detailed info on how to connect the client to the server using Windows Remote Desktop (in XP)?

I have DynDNS set up to give me my IP address using deozaan.getmyip.com, but when I open the RDC client and type in deozaan.getmyip.com as the Computer it says:

"This computer can't connect to the remote computer.  Remote Desktop cannot find the remote computer. Type the computer name or IP address again, and then try connecting. If the problem continues, contact the owner of the remote computer or your network administrator."

I have multiple computers connected to the network. Do I need to include the Computer name somewhere in there?

EDIT: Okay, so I had the port forwarded to the wrong computer. But now when I try to connect it says:

"Remote Desktop Disconnected. This computer can't connect to the remote computer. Try connecting again. If the problem comtinues, contact the owner of the remote computer or your network administrator."

[f0dder]

You need to make sure the port isn't blocked by a firewall, you need to make sure the service is started (and iirc, you can only RDP to XP Pro setups, not home), and somewhere in System Properties you also need to tick a checkbox allowing remote desktop sessions.

[skiracer]

i use logmein all the time.  i have the free version so am limited to what that provides.  i have a home office and two other field offices on construction sites at locations in different parts of the state.  the only shortcoming is that the other computers have to be up and running to log on to them so i find myself leaving the three computers running all the time so that i can access info from each if i need it at any time during the day or evening when working at home.  It is a very good system and being free makes it that much more inviting. i would be interested to know of other systems that are out there if anyone else knows of any that are comparable to logmein.

[Deozaan]

You need to make sure the port isn't blocked by a firewall, you need to make sure the service is started (and iirc, you can only RDP to XP Pro setups, not home), and somewhere in System Properties you also need to tick a checkbox allowing remote desktop sessions.

-f0dder (October 07, 2008, 05:50 PM)

I can connect via LAN, so I think I've done all that. And I do have XP Pro. But for some reason when I'm trying to access from outside my LAN, it's a no go.

[compn]

Thanks 4wd! One more question:
How would I know the IP of the server PC?

-Deozaan (September 15, 2008, 11:17 AM)

tell the other computer person to go to:
http://www.whatismyip.com

[city_zen]

I can connect via LAN, so I think I've done all that. And I do have XP Pro. But for some reason when I'm trying to access from outside my LAN, it's a no go.

-Deozaan (October 09, 2008, 02:41 AM)

My guess is that you haven't configured your router to forward outside connections on port 3389 to your PC's internal IP. That'd be step 3 of 4wd's list:

3) Ensure that port 3389 is able to get through any firewall/router on both PCs and that if you use NAT that port 3389 is forwarded to the server PC.

-4wd (September 15, 2008, 07:44 AM)

The way to do that depends on each router's settings screen, but it's usually under "Port forwarding", "Virtual Servers" or the like.
My advice would be to choose a random port (for example 48379) for external connections and then tell the router to forward incoming connections on that port (48379) to port 3389 of your PC's internal IP (which probably looks like 192.168.x.x). The way to connect to your PC from outside (=what you have to type in the RDC dialog box) would then be: deozaan.dyndns.org:48379 (I'm assuming you chose DynDNS as dynamic IP service and "deozaan" as username, change accordingly with your real data)

I hope I didn't confuse you further   

Let us know if that solves it.

[Deozaan]

My guess is that you haven't configured your router to forward outside connections on port 3389 to your PC's internal IP. That'd be step 3 of 4wd's list:

-city_zen (October 10, 2008, 10:36 AM)

I've done that, too.



This is how I'm trying to connect and the error message I get:

Easy remote access to my home pc?

[4wd]

My guess is that you haven't configured your router to forward outside connections on port 3389 to your PC's internal IP. That'd be step 3 of 4wd's list:

-city_zen (October 10, 2008, 10:36 AM)

I've done that, too.

-Deozaan (October 10, 2008, 03:33 PM)

We need a bit more info about your network setup:

What modem/router/hubs/etc, how is it all setup?

If you're running a firewall on the server/host PC, is it configured correctly ?
(I know you said it works from LAN but your rules may be allowing blanket LAN access while still restricting net access.)

Your modem/router, does it have a firewall, (as well as NAT)?
Is it turned on?
Have you created a rule to allow RDP to pass through the firewall?
(My Zyxel has a SPI firewall, so I need to create a rule to allow RDP before it even gets to NAT routing.)

Any firewalls you are running should have a log, (blocked/allowed/attacks/etc), set the firewalls up to report everything then try accessing via RDP.

If you don't get an ACCESS log entry in your software firewall, it will most likely be failing to get through your modem/router.  If you have an ACCESS log entry for the modem/router but none for the software firewall then it's failed at NAT.

Another tip, quite a few modem/routers allow IP loopback, (some you can set from the WWW interface, some from telnet, eg. Zyxel), by turning it on it allows you to use the WAN IP to access LAN servers/hosts from within the LAN.

eg. You already know RDP works from another LAN PC by connecting to 192.168.x.x.

By turning IP loopback on, you'd also be able to use your WAN IP, eg. 86.67.234.33.   The modem/router seeing this is your WAN IP will just loop it straight back into your LAN without sending upstream to your ISP.  It's a good way to test your server/host programs, I leave it enabled all the time.

This will allow you to test your modem/router firewall/NAT without being dependent on any outside routers/dns/etc.

[city_zen]

My guess is that you haven't configured your router to forward outside connections on port 3389 to your PC's internal IP. That'd be step 3 of 4wd's list:

-city_zen (October 10, 2008, 10:36 AM)

I've done that, too.

-Deozaan (October 10, 2008, 03:33 PM)

Yup, sorry, I hadn't seen that you'd mentioned it already.

This page has a few additional tips about troubleshooting Remote Desktop Connection problems

[Deozaan]

We need a bit more info about your network setup:

What modem/router/hubs/etc, how is it all setup?

-4wd (October 10, 2008, 05:17 PM)

All I have is Windows XP Firewall and a D-Link DI-624 Router. You already saw the configuration for my router. Remote Desktop Connection has an exception in the XP Firewall.

[city_zen]

Remote Desktop Connection has an exception in the XP Firewall.

-Deozaan (October 11, 2008, 06:06 PM)

One more idea: did you check that the scope of the Windows Xp Firewall exception is "Any computer (including those on the Internet)" instead of "My network (subnet) only"?

[4wd]

All I have is Windows XP Firewall and a D-Link DI-624 Router. You already saw the configuration for my router. Remote Desktop Connection has an exception in the XP Firewall.

-Deozaan (October 11, 2008, 06:06 PM)

Apart from what city_zen just mentioned above, some other things:

According to the manual for the DI-624, it has a Firewall and IP filtering.  Are either of these enabled?

If it is, then temporarily disable it and see what happens.  Note, some routers actually require a restart before they pick up new settings.

Some other things to try:

1) Temporarily put the LAN IP for your RDP host into the DI-624's DMZ.  This will bypass any rules in the router and expose the PC to the internet - make sure your software firewall is turned on.  If it works then, the problem is definitely the router blocking something.

2) Try using the WAN IP and not the DynDNS service - when it all works go back to DynDNS.

3) Use the PrtQuery command as mentioned on the page in city_zen's post above.

4) Here's an interesting thread from 2005 about someone trying to get the DI-624 to do RDP.  Take note of the last post on the page.

5) Buy a decent router    really, from what I've read of it so far, I hope you got it free 

Latest firmware for D-Link stuff can usually be found here: D-Link Support - it's in German but there's a Google translate button on the left.  For specifically the DI-624.

[Deozaan]

One more idea: did you check that the scope of the Windows Xp Firewall exception is "Any computer (including those on the Internet)" instead of "My network (subnet) only"?

-city_zen (October 11, 2008, 10:20 PM)

Just checked. Scope is set to Any/All.

According to the manual for the DI-624, it has a Firewall and IP filtering.  Are either of these enabled?

If it is, then temporarily disable it and see what happens.  Note, some routers actually require a restart before they pick up new settings.

-4wd (October 11, 2008, 10:37 PM)

There's not really an option to disable router firewall that I can see, but I added the host's i.p. to DMZ and no luck.

Some other things to try:

1) Temporarily put the LAN IP for your RDP host into the DI-624's DMZ.  This will bypass any rules in the router and expose the PC to the internet - make sure your software firewall is turned on.  If it works then, the problem is definitely the router blocking something.

-4wd (October 11, 2008, 10:37 PM)

See above.

2) Try using the WAN IP and not the DynDNS service - when it all works go back to DynDNS.

-4wd (October 11, 2008, 10:37 PM)

I'm getting the same problem.

3) Use the PrtQuery command as mentioned on the page in city_zen's post above.

-4wd (October 11, 2008, 10:37 PM)

I didn't understand from that website how to access the Port Query. Does that come with Windows or do I have to download it separately?

But I did follow the link to http://www.canyouseeme.org/ and tested out a few ports. It seems that the only one that was open was port 80. I'm beginning to suspect these problems have more to do with the ISP or the school setting up filters, since I'm using University-provided internet.

4) Here's an interesting thread from 2005 about someone trying to get the DI-624 to do RDP.  Take note of the last post on the page.

-4wd (October 11, 2008, 10:37 PM)

I followed the advice on the last post on that page and forwarded port 80 to 3389 and it didn't connect. But it also didn't refuse the connection either. Well, eventually it times out, but that's after 5 minutes or so. Of course, typing in the WAN IP with port 80 in my browser asks for a user name and password for some system that is NOT in my network. Again, this is what makes me think this is school filtering stuff.

5) Buy a decent router    really, from what I've read of it so far, I hope you got it free 

-4wd (October 11, 2008, 10:37 PM)

I've regretted buying D-Link almost from the day I got it. I bought this router along with a D-Link Wireless PCI card for my computer in 2005, thinking that two products from the same company should be compatible with eachother. Well, somehow the router was causing the PCI card to blue screen my system. I could connect to other wireless routers without a problem, but my D-Link NIC connected to my D-Link Router made my PC bluescreen.

And D-Link tech support sucked, suggesting it was some sort of IRQ conflict and telling me to take my PC to a local technician to make sure. I couldn't believe it! The guy didn't even try any troubleshooting steps. I just told him that it was making my PC blue screen and he came to that stupid IRQ conclusion and told me to pay a local technician to have it taken care of.

Not only that, but the router kept resetting about every 10 minutes on the dot which made it impossible to download large files! Thankfully a firmware update and changing some settings fixed that problem. Although, it still resets every 20 minutes when I've got uTorrent open. :-(

Latest firmware for D-Link stuff can usually be found here: D-Link Support - it's in German but there's a Google translate button on the left.  For specifically the DI-624.

-4wd (October 11, 2008, 10:37 PM)

I'm pretty sure I've downloaded the latest DI-624 firmware to fix the above mentioned problems.

I think all in all, I'm going to have to blame this one on the school or the ISP blocking the ports.

Thanks for the help everyone!

[4wd]

3) Use the PrtQuery command as mentioned on the page in city_zen's post above.

-4wd (October 11, 2008, 10:37 PM)

I didn't understand from that website how to access the Port Query. Does that come with Windows or do I have to download it separately?

-Deozaan (October 11, 2008, 11:36 PM)

Download from here.

But I did follow the link to http://www.canyouseeme.org/ and tested out a few ports. It seems that the only one that was open was port 80. I'm beginning to suspect these problems have more to do with the ISP or the school setting up filters, since I'm using University-provided internet.

4) Here's an interesting thread from 2005 about someone trying to get the DI-624 to do RDP.  Take note of the last post on the page.

-4wd (October 11, 2008, 10:37 PM)

I followed the advice on the last post on that page and forwarded port 80 to 3389 and it didn't connect. But it also didn't refuse the connection either. Well, eventually it times out, but that's after 5 minutes or so. Of course, typing in the WAN IP with port 80 in my browser asks for a user name and password for some system that is NOT in my network. Again, this is what makes me think this is school filtering stuff.

I forgot to mention, by default your router usually grabs port 80 so you can access its interface.  This is why I changed my router port far away from port 80, in case I wanted to run a web server and also to make it a little bit harder to remote access it - they have to find it's port first, (even if remote config was allowed, which it isn't).

If you can, change your router's web interface port to something else, (eg. 5000), and then set the Virtual Server for your RDP host so that the incoming Public port is 80 and the Private port is 3389 and then try accessing using both your WAN IP and DynDNS address.

I've regretted buying D-Link almost from the day I got it. I bought this router along with a D-Link Wireless PCI card for my computer in 2005, thinking that two products from the same company should be compatible with eachother. Well, somehow the router was causing the PCI card to blue screen my system. I could connect to other wireless routers without a problem, but my D-Link NIC connected to my D-Link Router made my PC bluescreen.

I use one of these and the only problem I have with it is that it runs a bit warm underneath which makes it spontaneously reboot when it gets too hot, usually only in warm/hot weather every few days or so and is easily fixed by sitting it on something so that there is a ~25mm air gap underneath.

Not only that, but the router kept resetting about every 10 minutes on the dot which made it impossible to download large files! Thankfully a firmware update and changing some settings fixed that problem. Although, it still resets every 20 minutes when I've got uTorrent open. :-(

The Zyxel also did this until they fixed it with a firmware update.  It was related to the size of the NAT Session Table, originally 1024 IIRC.  BitTorrent tended to max this out pretty quick, under an hour.  A later firmware increased this a little bit to approx. 5000 NAT sessions before the table becomes full.  That pretty much solved the problem.

The problem can be reduced by:
a) Reduce the number of connections in BT
b) Decrease the NAT time out period, ie. those connections are free'd up quicker.
c) Don't use BT
d) OR buy a new modem with are larger NAT table

If you check this link, (search for DI-624, second occurrence), you'll see that the DI-624 is not capable of more than about 200 connections.  So setting uTorrent to use 200 or less connections should enable it to last more than 20 mins.

I think all in all, I'm going to have to blame this one on the school or the ISP blocking the ports.

If you can work out what ports they allow, (HTTP, FTP, SMTP, NNTP, etc), then you can set up tunneling to bypass the port blocking.

[brahman]

You have been answering to a 4 year old thread!

Dyndns is afaik no longer free. Teamviewer rules.

[Jibz]

LogMeIn is apparently shutting down the free service as well.