control home pc from work

Discussion in 'Networks' started by thetokyoproject, Aug 20, 2007.

  1. thetokyoproject

    thetokyoproject Byte Poster

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    i;m a bit of a novice. but what sort of things do i have to do if i wish to control my home pc (adsl broadband connection) from work? can i just use windows xp config or must i purchase additional software. i;m particularly interested in the config on my router.

    many thanks in advance.
     
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  2. Beerbaron

    Beerbaron Megabyte Poster

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    you can use remote desktop, you would have to port forward 3389 on your router and give a user remote desktop privileges if they arent an admin

    edit: you would need xp pro as home doesnt allow for this option
     
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  3. Modey

    Modey Terabyte Poster

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    The easiest and also pretty secure way to do it would be to use LogMeIn. It's all web based so it will work on most connections even if they are restricted (as many work connections are). I have been using it for quite a while now and have found it very reliable.

    The best part is that it's free for just the remote control part of it. If you want extra features it will cost you. All you need to do is install the client on the PC you want to control, then you need a plugin for your browser on the machine you want to use at work. Give it a go, it's all very simple to use.
     
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  4. zxspectrum

    zxspectrum Terabyte Poster Forum Leader Gold Member

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    You could also use a program called logmein i think it allows remote access etc

    Ed
     
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  5. Boycie
    Honorary Member

    Boycie Senior Beer Tester

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    Another vote for log me in!
     
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  6. thetokyoproject

    thetokyoproject Byte Poster

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    thanks for the logmein recommedation, i may give it a go.

    so if i have the following settings on my router

    Application = RDP
    External Port = 3389
    Internal Port = 3389
    Protocol = TCP
    IP Address 192.x.x.x
    Enabled = Yes

    Under remote tab, i've enabled the remote access.

    so which IP address should i use to access my machine from RDP at work?

    i'm a little confused about the whole internal private address and the external IP address.

    many thanks.
     
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  7. Sparky
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    If you forward port 3389 to the LAN IP of your PC you need to type the WAN IP address into the PC you are using at work.

    Note that your WAN IP address will change with ADSL although in some cases you can have the same IP address for days. 8)
     
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  8. ThomasMc

    ThomasMc Gigabyte Poster

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    just too add to what sparky said you could use something like no-ip.org and use the client to update your ip on change, also some routers come with a DynamicDNS or DynDNS client installed
     
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  9. Theprof

    Theprof Petabyte Poster

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    I've used Radmin and UltraVNC for remote administration like you have here. As mentioned above you are going to have to port forward a port. Its not the 3389 but 5xxx something in that range. They have the documentation on the site.
     
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  10. thetokyoproject

    thetokyoproject Byte Poster

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    just one quick question about security:

    External Port = 3389
    Internal Port = 3389

    Can I change either ports to be a different number for security reasons?

    Thanks.
     
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  11. Sparky
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    Yes, just forward 3390 (just an example) to 3389 if your router supports it.

    Also you may want to lock down the source of the WAN traffic. This will be the published range of IPs that your work has.

    Edit: Its also worth noting that outbound traffic from your works LAN might be locked down. I lock down outbound traffic on some networks I support as some punks were using RDP to get onto their PCs at home so they could browse the web as their is a content filtering proxy on the LAN. Soon stopped that, hee hee!
     
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  12. thetokyoproject

    thetokyoproject Byte Poster

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    Thanks Sparky. Your help has been more than welcomed.

    My router is dying at the mo' so not been able to test this but hopefully soon.
     
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