Remote Desktop Query

johnmikedooley wrote:

I know there is an application called Real VNC, but I am aware that you have to be on the same internal network in order for that to work.

Absolutely not true....

Real VNC works exceptionally well over any network, internal or external.
I use it all the time for remote access to my machines when away from base & for remote support calls. You do need to port forward on your router to get the full benefit though.

Logmein is also very easy to setup & use. I have it on a number of customers machines & found that it all but sets itself up, I never had to port forward using it. One thing to bare in mind though, if you ever have a need to transfer files back & forth, the free version of Logmein does not support it, only the Pro version will.

There is also another one called Tight VNC which is supposed to be very good too but I have never used it.

gadgetman496 wrote:

(snip)
Absolutely not true....
Real VNC works exceptionally well over any network, internal or external.
I use it all the time for remote access to my machines when away from base & for remote support calls. You do need to port forward on your router to get the full benefit though.

Never knew that - good point. More on this here.

johnmikedooley wrote:

Ok so Tight VNC appears to be more efficient & advanced than the Real VNC.
If I am able to use Real VNC to connect to machines across the internet, why get so complicated etc...
I have an internal LAN at home with all machines using Real VNC, no problems there. How exactly does one connect back to my machine at home if I were to travel with my laptop. Am I using my public email address etc or what.
I Have tried looking for setup Docs on the internet on this but find it hard to get a laymans term on it.
Finally, how could one use Windows Remote Desktop Application to do this, is it done similar to that of the Real VNC setup??

Thanks for the Advice.....

When you install Real VNC you get the option to install both the "Server" & the "Viewer".
The server must be installed & running on the target machine (Your PC @ home) and the viewer should be installed on your laptop.

When you want to connect to a remote PC (your PC @ home) you would type the WAN IP of your home PC into the viewer on the laptop.

Some points to note:

Don't confuse your "Internal IP" with you "WAN IP". Your WAN IP is actually your "External IP" & you can find out what your WAN IP is by going to this Website: http://www.mywanip.com/ This site also has a neat little download which runs in your system tray & lets you check your WAN IP from there if you want. Your WAN IP can also be found on the Admin page of your router.

Your PC's IP Address looks something like 192.168.x.x Whereas your WAN IP would be something like 89.100.xxx.xx

TIP:
When you hover your mouse over the VNC icon in the system tray it displays your IP address. This is the internal IP of your machine & not the external WAN IP needed to connect from a remote location.


You also need to know that most Internet providers don't supply you with a "Static IP", They supply a Dynamic IP, because of this your WAN IP can change from time to time or when you restart your modem/router it can change too.

It would also be prudent to setup your home PC with a "Static internal IP"
This is not very difficult and you can get all the Info on that from here: (I'm assuming that you are using XP) http://www.portforward.com/networking/static-xp.htm

It is also possible to connect to a remote computer via Real VNC using any Web Browser. For example, let's say you were at a remote location where you had access to a PC with Internet access but that Real VNC viewer was not installed, you could use the Web browser to connect to your PC @ home.

For example: If your WAN IP(on you home PC) was 89.100.45.678 that's exactly what you would type into the VNC Viewer to connect.
But if you had no viewer available & wanted to connect using a Web Browser you would enter the following into the Browsers address bar
http://89.100.45.678:5800
It's not absolutely necessary to include the :5800 in the above url as it will work with or without it, I'm including it to try to impress upon you the difference between the two ports 5800 & 5900

Note: you must have Java installed for the Browser option to work.

Setup:

You need to setup "Port Forwarding" on your router in order to be able to access your machine form a remote location. You also need to forward the relevant ports for both UDP & TCP
Again you can get the Info on this here:
http://www.portforward.com

Real VNC uses ports 5800 & 5900 for remote access.
Port 5900 is the one used for access using the Real VNC Viewer option.
Port 5800 is the one used for access using the Web Browser option.

I found all this a little confusing at the start, but believe me it's not too hard at all to setup. Once you get it working, it works exceptionally well.

Just as a by the way:
Let's say for argument sake that you were at a remote location & you didn't know your current WAN IP, if you had the little download I mentioned above installed in the system tray, you could phone home & ask someone to click on it & give you the WAN IP.

Even better still, Let's say that due to a power outage or something, that your router got restarted & your WAN IP changed? There is a program called [URL="[URL=http://ipmailer.wappu.tv/]IPMailer[/URL]"][/url]IPMailer & it emails you the new WAN IP anytime your current WAN IP changes (Very handy believe me) & if you really wanted to be clever? you could use an email address from a mobile provider such as Vodafone & get it to TXT you when the email is sent.

So, to recap:
Install RealVNC on your home PC.
Forward ports 5800 & 5900 on your router. (remember to do both for UDP & TCP)
Setup a static IP on your home PC (Optional).
Install VNC viewer on your laptop (or use your Browser).
Record your WAN IP.
And away you go.

Really & truly though,
the best way to get this up & running is to find someone at a remote location who is willing to help & preferably with both of you using Skype so that you can actually try it out & be fully confident that you have it all working well.
That's how I done it originally & I've never looked back

Anyway, that's enough waffle from me for now, I hope it gives you a better idea of how it all works.


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beolight wrote:

kudos to gadgetman496

most illuminating

I second that - that was an outstanding explanation gadgetman496!

/applause

What IP Address did you use to port forward?

It should be the Internal IP of the machine the router is connected to.
Hold your mouse over the VNC icon in the system tray to see this IP

I'm not 100% sure, but I seem to recall that on the Linksys The enable box must be checked to activate the port forward???

The Linksys may also have a filter setting called "Block WAN Request" if it has? this should be set to "Disable"

This is Portforward.coms instructions for your router:
http://www.portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/Linksys/WRT54GSv4/BitTorrent.htm

It is showing what's needed for Torrents but I think they have a wizard there to set it up for you.

johnmikedooley wrote:

In Fact I have just set up www.logmein.com. It works real well & excludes the hastle of everything else, cheers for the advice lad!!

Logmein works very well, it has been mentioned by Feylya in the second post & I also mentioned that I use it too from time to time. If you Opt for the Pro version of Logmein it will work for 30 days & automatically revert to the free version after that. The only drawback with the free version is that it will not allow you to transfer files back & forth.

EchoVNC is another version of VNC which installs & works without any port forwarding of firewall settings required.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/echovnc/

Just as a final word on you original situation,
Very few ISP's with the exception of IB will supply a static IP to a non business user account so there is nothing strange about that & it has nothing to do with you inability to connect using RealVNC.
Static or non static IP accounts will connect to RealVNC once all the PORTS/ROUTER/FIREWALL settings are correct.

The fact that your IP is private has nothing whatsoever to do with it.
All that is important is that you know the IP (WAN IP) & that it is this IP you use to make the connection.

Bottom line is that you are happy enough with Logmein & that's great.
Enjoy it johnmikedooley.

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johnmikedooley wrote:

gadgetman496 cheers again for your comments & wisdom.
I still dont under stand why I could not connect externally?
Even if I connected my Laptop directly to the modem, its till would not work, really strange? Im still under the illusion that ISP may have some settings enabled in order to cut out that remote connections? I dunno.....

Well johnmikedooley,

it would indeed have been nice to know what was causing your inability to connect. One thing is for sure though, it is possible to connect regardless of which provider you are with.

I have set Real VNC up on many Linksys models in the past but it's some time ago now.

I'm not sure about the Linksys as I don't have one to hand at the moment, but I know that many routers have a feature in the NAT settings called "Virtual DMZ" & it requires that you enter the internal IP address of the exposed PC (that's the 192.168.x.y IP of the machine you are trying to connect to) into that section in order for access from outside to be successful. Maybe it could have been something to do with that?

I know too that all this is quite frustrating & time consuming for you & I'm sure you have had enough of it by now.

Sometimes when you are troubleshooting situations like that, it is necessary to momentarally disable both your software Firewall & your Router Firewall individually (only long enough to see if you can connect) in order to at least be 100% sure that they are not the culprit.

Sure, if Logmein is covering your needs then that's all that's important at the end of the day.

Don't you just hate technology when it's making life more difficult then it's worth?


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