Remote Desktop from outside LAN

I'm having trouble setting up Remote Desktop on my Windows XP Pro machine. I have it working perfectly within my lan - I've set the host up with a static IP, remote desktop connections enabled, windows firewall off - so every everything is working there.

However, when I try to connect from a computer outside my lan (or using the public IP address I get when I view www.whatismyip.com) it doesnt work (connection refused message). I have set my router up to forward port 3389 like I am supposed to and canyouseeme.org is able to see that I am running a service on that port - so it doesnt seem to be a port forwarding issue. I'm really rather confused at what to look at next - ideas?

 

Have you tried put your host machine outside of your LAN and using the public IP?(just for test)

 

Use pcAnywhere "“ however these 2 links are useful.
First one for checking (be sure to sub your port number for the 5631 given).
Second one also applies to windows firewall and enabling remote desktop.


http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/pca.nsf/0/3cab4c5e684a8e8588256acc0048cd13?OpenDocument


http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPOR...pen&docid=2001091906242012&nsf=pca.nsf&view=0


Hope it helps.

 

Sorry to bring up an old topic but are you sure that your ISP hasn't blocked the port that it runs on?

www.canyouseeme.org has a usefull toolk to help determine wether or not they have.

 

Elite

Don’t need a whole program to verify if ports are open or blocked.

First thread gave in post above (for checking) gives details on how to do
that with telnet cmd from ms-dos window. It’s quick n easy.

 

Still Another Useful Program

I've been using the free version of LogMeIn for some time, with ZoneAlarm as the firewall on my desktop computer. LogMeIn runs as a service on the host computer, which can be accessed from any computer anywhere (as long as the host is turned on, of course. ) The free version doesn't permit file transfers but, otherwise, I can't recommend it highly enough.

 

Personally, I use a VPN to connect to the network and then run Desktop sharing through the VPN connection.

 

I tried several different versions of VPN before discovering LogMeIn, but was unsuccessful with all of them. I couldn't even get my two computers to talk to each other.

With LogMeIn I can access either of my two computers from any computer that has internet access.

 

Jim,

I think you are right, in that if all you want to do is get remote access to your PC then something like LogMeIn or GoToMyPC is the simplest solution and for many cases the best solution.

However, if you have a static external IP (or want to play with Dynamic DNS) then VPN is a good alternative. In particular in that you also get other facilities. For example, using my VPN connection I can connect to my work PC via remote desktop, connect to the company intranet, and book in/out project files from our subversion system (on days when I work at home).

I guess I am a VPN advocate and couldn't resist the temptation to suggest it here.

Oh! and before I forget, VPN is another reason why investing in a decent hardware firewall, if you have a business network, brings a lot of benefits.