Remote Desktop over different networks!

Okay, i've always wanted to do this but never got it to work....

I'll like to know how do u go about connecting to a computer in a remote location using the built in Win. XP Pro remote desktop utility. I know I can use programs like LogMeIn etc. but in times where I don't want to use such programs, how do I use remote desktop to connect to a remote computer? I've used it more than many times to connect to computers on the same network, but never had any success trying remotely.

What I know, and what i've tried so far:
In the case of me wanting to say connect from work to home.....
I've been told that I would have to set up NAT routing on my modem, and set port forwarding on my router, both at home. I've also installed the IIS Service on the computer I plan to connect to, and set a specific port on the said computer as well. I have messed w/ the NAPT feature on my modem, and also configured port forwarding on my router to no avail. I am not sure if i'm setting up the NAPT settings on the modem properly, but i'm pretty sure that the port forwarding I set on the router is fine...but it's not working either way.

I think one of my biggest problems is that the IP Address on the modem (the ISPs modem, which I have access to) changes ever so often. Like every 4hrs or something (i'm not sure)...so that might be an issue..but I am not to concerned about that..as I just want to get this working at least once for no prolonged periods of time.

So, does anyone have any experience using remote desktop over different networks like this? Kego, Shyster, Wirelessman? Anyone's input will be greatly appreciated....

 

Have you tried making your own private VPN? Hamachi, made by the same company that makes LogMeIn, does the VPN stuff for you. Works like a charm so long as the networks do not have VPN or RDP ports blocked.

 

Nope, don't have much experience w/ VPNs. I guess it's something I could look in to. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

this probably isn't the right sub-forum to post this question. and what do you mean over different networks?

that being said, i use remote desktop all the time to remote into my 3 systems at home from work.

windows default remote desktop port is 3389 so i'll use it in my example below.

the only things i had to do to get it working are:

1. on remote system, make sure RDP is active (my computer->properties->remote)
2. assign remote system a static internal IP address
3. on my router, forward port 3389 to IP addr from #2

piece of cake. don't think you need to have IIS unless you're connecting to the remote system using a browser, but i could be wrong.

 

Well, it sounds simple but I've never got it to work. I've done what you've said beforem, but no luck

Edit: And yes the IIS is for remoting over a web browser.

 

what are you using to remote in? also, you mentioned your ISP changes you IP addr every few hours.

 

I use the regular LogMeIn, so what is the difference between that and Hamachi?

 

www.logmein.com
use their service... u can download a program in the slave machine (the one u will be entering) and acces the computer from the host machine (the computer u will sit on to connect) from web page.

 

don't know if you're using remote desktop web connection, but if you are, here's a decent setup guide:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/northrup_03may16.mspx

 

Well over the web browser and using the actual built-in utility is doing basicaly the same thing. But at the time when I tried I was using the regular remote desktop program on my work computer. I will try setting up everything tonight and test tomorrow to see what issues I get if any. I guess I will have to laison w/ my mom at home to tell me what the ISPs Internet IP Address is ATM ..seeing that it's Dynamic and changes ever so often. And I can't change that....

 

Guess what?..That's the same guide I was looking at.

 

@Makaveli72:

In order to be able to keep track of your public IP address, in case your ISP should change it, sign up for a dynamic DNS account - many of the basic accounts are free - such as with DynDNS.

Basically, what you get with a basic, no-pay account, is a subdomain name that comes off of one of DynDNS' own registered DNS domain names. For example, DynDNS has registered the domain doesntexist.com, so, provided it's available, you could get the subdomain name makaveli72.doesntexist.com attached to your DynDNS account. What DynDNS then does is periodically receive updates regarding the IP address your ISP has assigned to you (either from a client app you download, or from your router's built-in functionality - my router automatically updates my assigned public IP with DynDNS) and keeps that IP address associated with the subdomain name that you got with your DynDNS account.

That way, if you want to make contact with your home system remotely, all you would have to do is type makeveli72.doesntexist.com, or even [url]www.makeveli72.doesntexist.com[/url] into, e.g., a web browser and, if your router has the right port forwarded to your target home computer, that will get you there. In addition, if you just want to use the actual IP address, you can just double-check with your DynDNS account to see what IP address they currently have associated with the host name you've chosen, and then just use that number.

That is actually how I remote into the headless desktop I use as a home server when I'm away from home (although I usually have my notebook with me, so I don't have to worry about finding a computer that has the client for Remote Desktop installed).

Getting onto the computer at home is actually pretty easy. When the connection dialogue box for Remote Desktop opens, I just type in the IP address that I double-checked with DynDNS, click "Connect" and in short order I'm staring at the desktop for my remote home computer.

EDIT: Also, I don't use IIS at all for remoting into my home server; the RDP application is sufficient unto itself.

 

I know about LogMeIn...as I use it all the time...but the purpose of this thread is to use the built-in remote desktop utility instead of LogMeIn.

 

i was just going to suggest dyndns, but shyster1 beat me to it. i've used dyndns in the past (i now have a static IP so no worries) and it's definitely useful.

i've also used IIS with the remote web app but it always seemed slower than the just using RDP app alone.

edit: i used that guide as well to set up the web remote thing. it's a lot more complicated than just using the rdp app alone. personally, i'd undo all the stuff it says about IIS/remote desktop web connection and just use the app.

 

Good looking out guys..i'll give dydns a try tonight! And see what happens esta manana. Gracias!

 

Buenas noches; hablemos manana.

 

Guys...remember when I said I was pretty sure I set up the port forwarding right on the router in my original post...I guess I was wrong...I came across this site while browsing DynDns website, and apparently I configured it wrong At the very end, instead of putting the ports to 3389 for both start and end. I believe I had put the port I manually created on the remote computer through IIS (for security reasons) as the end port, and put 3389 as the start port. Stupid me right..hopefully that was my problem...

And BTW, while browsing DynDns website..i've relaized that i've actually tried a similiar service like this before called http://www.no-ip.com/ which gave me a zapto.org domain name. Either way..I have some xtra info. at hand that I didn't have before...so tomorrow I will report back w/ my findings...Thanks again!


Edit:

I'll give it a try w/ out it.

 

Well...I verified my IP via DynDns but the darn thing wouldn't connect via Remote Desktop either way. It says this computer cannot connect to the remote computer. I configured my router as well using THIS as a guide. I configured the modem w/ NAPT and I took off my config. as well..back to it's default settings..none of which worked. So idk...one thing I found strange though...when i'm home and I enter my Internet address it goes to the ISPs modem. I was thinking it will give me a prompt to log in. Another thing I find strange is that the Internet IP on my router is different than that of the IP on the modem. So it seems like the modem is hiding my Inside Local IP address by using NAT on via the modem or something. Oh..and I left my desktop machine on and enabled LogMeIn on it at home...the computer I want to remote into is a laptop. Both the laptop and desktop are running XP. Now, when I log into the desktop via LogMeIn and then remote into the laptop using the desktop machine..I look at the DynDns utility in my task tray that shows me the current 'Internet IP', and that is different than what I see online on the DynDns webstie..even after multiple refreshes and syncrhonizing. In any case...I tried both IPs and still no dice... BTW, when I log into the modem the IP on it is matching w/ the one on the DynDns utility on the laptop, not the one from the DynDns website. So I guess the synchronization of the website is not too reliable.

Update: My Supervisor and I was just troubleshooting the issue and he told me to try pinging the Internet IP of the modem, the same one that DynDns would show..and it wouldn't ping, so he was telling me that the IP doesn't have reachability..that the ISP has set it up in that way by using only a certain range of IP addresses that can be reachable...and I guess mine is just not in that range. I'm just depressed right now!

Still any input/suggestions that could be a workaround will be greatly appreciated.

 

That's a rather interesting little conundrum. It does appear to be the case that your ISP is attempting to frustrate the ability to initiate contacts from the outside. However, if the modem has it's own firewall, it may also have to do with the configuration of that firewall - do you know if the modem has a separate firewall, and is there an administrative webpage for the modem that you can log onto?

Also, since you know the IP address the modem shows to the world, and the IP address that is assigned to the router's interface with the modem, what happens when you try to ping the router's IP address from outside? Keep in mind, at least with respect to pinging, it is possible to configure a router so that it does not respond to pings from the outside, so you might double-check to see if that function has been set in the router's configuration (also the modem's configuration if you can access it).

In terms of DynDNS reporting only the router's IP address, that's unfortunate, but my guess is that that's how the client app is set up; however, you might check into the configuration of that app to see if it can be configured to look for the modem's IP instead of the router's IP.

Lastly, since the modem appears to be actively filtering packets, if you can access the configuration for the modem, you may also have to set up port forwarding on the modem as well.

Beyond that, how old is your modem? If it's old enough, you might consider contacting the ISP to see about getting an upgraded version (as well as using that request as cover to ask about the functionality of the new modem - just out of curiosity - to see if it has any active filtering mechanisms).

 

by the way...who's your ISP?

 

Doh! Forgot to ask that one!

 

FYI: The modem is acting as a DHCP Server...basically assigning my router a Static IP, Subnet and DNS adresses. The static Internet address on the router is different than the Internet address on the modem...don't know if that would be another issue with me trying to remote in.

 

Since you were looking at the wrong IP Address from DynDNS, do you get anything different if you try the correct address reported by DynDNS?

 

bit confused when you say the static IP of the router is different than the IP of the modem. this is normal. for example, IP addr of my modem is 24.18..., IP addr of my router is 192.168...

is that what you mean?

also, have you tried turning off your modem's dhcp and letting your router handle it? it shouldn't matter, but that's how my setup is and rdp works for me.

 

Same error when I try the correct IP on the modem...see attached!

 

That's not actually correct. Your router's internal IP address is typically one that begins 192.168. ...; however, the router also has another IP address for the interface that connects to the outside world via the modem. However, I am a little puzzled as to why there might be different IP addresses for the router's WAN interface and the modem - my guess is that that may have been a mistake on Makeveli72's part based on his misreading of the data being shown by DynDNS. Still, it may be the case that, because the modem is a device on the network, that it may in effect be acting as a second router, with it's own set of IP addresses. For the time being, I wouldn't disable DHCP on the modem itself, as that would probably result in your ISP not assigning you any IP address, which would make it impossible to get in or out.

 

I will try and clear up the confusion when I get home to give some decent print screens. Basically, the IP 10.0.0.138 is my DNS. and 10.0.0.1 is the WAN IP for the router. The modem assigns me that for the router.

 

I was messing with the modem and got kicked right out of LogMeIn..now my desktop machine is saying offline...so i'm limited right now.

 

I think that because you're using the Speedtouch 530, and are running on a network based on PPPoA, that I may not be able to really help with getting remote desktop to function since I don't have experience with that type of network. I can help try to think things through, but I can't give a real step-by-step how-to.

However, not to despair; it seems that others have had similar problems, and have posted about it.

In particular, the OzCableGuy has posted a whole webpage about configuring the Alcatel Speedtouch Pro, which may have some useful information for you.

There's also what looks like a pretty comprehensive how-to on configuring the Thompson/Alcatel Speedtouch 530 here. Hopefully one of those two sites will have some useful info for you.

 

Hey thanks alot Shyster! I'll mess around w/ it later when I get home.

 

*UPDATE*

The links didn't give me any extra info. that I didn't know already or just wouldn't use but thanks nevertheless Shyster.

So I did some more searching and came across a lifesaver website. The site tells me everything about my modem/router such as, manuals, troubleshooting tips, firmware info, most importantly, various commands I can use in the command prompt to configure it even further. A true lifesaver site I tell ya.

So anyway I open command prompt and telnetted into my modem and basically turned off the built-in firewall that I didn't even know it had until I met the lifesaver site. So now my Internet IP on the modem is pingable from the outside. I got my g/f to test for me, as she is in a remote location (In another country than I am) I wanted her to try and remote in but ATM she can't due to some computer-related limitations...So most likely tomorrow evening I can get her to try remoting in for me.

Edit: Sorry for taking so long to respond eh...busy browsing the Clevo/Sager forum!

 

Sounds good; glad you found something that helped, and sorry I couldn't be of more help.

I will say, though, that once you get Remote Desktop set up, it's pretty easy to use. I've been tinkering on my home server from my in-law's house 50 miles away from where the server computer sits in my own apartment. The system is pretty responsive, even though I've got it passing through highest video quality, sound, and all drives.

 

Man, this thing is beating me up bad..I haven't tried remoting in from outside as yet, but i've tried from inside using the Internet IP address of my modem and can't seem to get it to work...so i'm thinking if I can't get it done from another computer on my local network, it wouldn't work from outside either..so i'm basically done trying w/ RDC....

What i'm going to do now is try setting up a VPN...i've already set it up on my computer here at home...so when I go in to work on Thursday next week, i'll configure it there and try and connect home that way. Hopefully that doesn't give me a hard time too...I've already checked the router's settings in regard to allowing VPN connections etc. and i've configured the modem for PPTP as well. So next week, we'll see how the VPN goes. As of now though, Remote Desktop sucks!

 

I don't think that would work if you tried remoting onto the remote computer from on the same subnetwork. In that case, you should be using the IP address of the computer onto which you want to remote.

E.g., when I'm on my own home network, with IPs going 192.168.1.x, if my local computer has IP 192.168.1.22 and the remote has 192.168.1.103, then in the connection dialog for remote desktop, I enter 192.168.1.103 to get onto the remote computer.

 

Yea I understand that perfectly...as I do that all the time. As far as I can see that's the best and easiest way of using Remote Desktop. "While ur on the same network". But I was just testing it to see if it would work...it doesn't that way..it does using the local ip, but I just don't have any confidence that it would work remotely, so that's y I opted to set up the vpn.

Ah mean..this thing is much more complicated than it has to be...at least in my case...it's like u have to configure the modem's internal firewall, set up port forwarding..do the same on the wireless router's firewall, windows firewall, and any third party firewall. Ah mean...WTH. It's too much..and then for it not to work still...It's like I disable everything, put myself in a DMZ and still no luck...I think i've tried it all. And as I said before I have no faith in RDC over different networks anymore...at least in my case.

So i'm shifting directions towards trying via vpn.

 

Fair enough; far be it from me to distract anyone from finding the best solution that works for them. It's a shame, though, that your modem/router seems to make such a simple thing so cussedly difficult. Once I got remote desktop working from within the same network, I didn't have a spot of trouble using it from across the internet.

 

Hi guys, I was gone for a log week end, so who can summarize for me the solution for this thread in two lines?

 

Couldn't get remote desktop to work around the perversities of the ISP/modem/router, so Makaveli72's going to try setting up a VPN.

 

Ah, so much head breaking to decided to go with VPN, lol.

You got 20 rep power, congratulations.

 

Hey, sticking with only two lines - the torture!

 

Hahahaha, you know I'm a man of a few words, and I get dizzy with long paragraphs

 

I know Shyster1 said he wasn't sure this will work, but just to clarify for others who come along--it should work, assuming your router can be set up to forward traffic.

What happens is your local client (192.168.0.10 for example) sends data to the home router for the outside network...let's just say 68.25.125.43. Your LAN router interface sends it to your ISP router, which says, hey you dummy, that's your WAN address, and forwards it right back...your router then redirects it back into your other machine.

So, this is a stupid way to do it, as you are adding an extra two hops for your data, but it does work. As Shyster mentioned, it is better to remote connect to the local ip address

 

p.s.--did it mention anywhere in this thread what router you are using?

Since each router is slightly different, the configuration is often user specific

 

If source and destination IP address are the same, I think ( not sure) the IP protocol will give you an error.

 

I was trying to remote from a different computer on my network.

I understand what u r saying gerry...i'm using a Linksys WRT54G Router.

 

Not sure I follow you--do you mean if you set up RDP on your computer, tried to route out and back to the same exact machine?

I thought the OP has two machines he is attempting this on.....

If he is two machines (both have different local IPs), it works even though there is only one external (wan) address.

the local router substitutes the internal ip address correctly....at least mine does. Just tried it with the server in the basement just to make sure.

I can connect to local IP address from laptop to server, or to wan address with the router forwarding the connection from laptop, to outside the network, back to the network and into server.

When the original OP states he isn't sure if it will work connecting to the SAME network, you have to recognize that the router does not distinguish this....it sees the external address and forwards it out--forwarding out is a separate function than routing in. Then the external router forwards the packets back to the internal router, which (if set up properly) says, well, I am supposed to send this stuff this way....and forwards it to the proper machine.

When forwarding out, the router is not even aware that the destination is itself....think of it as two separate entities--one responsible for ingoing and the other responsible for outgoing.

That's why when you're dealing with an enterprise router you need to set up inbound and outbound rules...the two actions are separate so you can route off and back on to your network.

 

oops, my message was directed to the post above you....don't know that router, too bad it isn't the
WRT54GL Router...let me take a look at the manual if I can find it

 

OK, the EASY way to do this would be to assign a static ip address to the machine you want to connect to remotely, then log into your router and go to ADVANCED CONFIGURATION > DMZ

Enable this, and plug in the IP of that machine.

Save Settings.

Now, try and connect.

Now, the drawback here is you are exposing much more of your machine than a single port....you are basically putting this machine front and center on your network--ie, you're not opening one port, but all of them.

If this machine is hardened properly--up-to-date patches, av, standard windows firewall is fine, you should connect right up to it.

 

..............

 

I've tried that before too...just to see if it would work...and that didn't either. And the machine does have a static IP already.

The 54GL should basically be the same as the 54G, it just supports Linux as well.