I am currently in the process of getting a new laptop, but it is going to take 20-25 days to get here. So, I’m going to bring my wife’s laptop to work, but it is not powerful enough to do what I need to do. So, I decided I’ll remote desktop into my home computer to work. The problem is, I have a home setup with dynamic IPs. These home setups change the IP address of my network every once in a while, so I don’t know how that will affect my remote desktop setup. After searching around I figured it out and thought I would share my findings.
My environment is Windows 7 with a Verizon Actiontec router. At first I had Windows 7 home edition, but it wouldn’t allow me to set it up the way I wanted (please refer to Step 3 – Allowing Remote Desktop Connections). So, I upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate edition.
Please Note: The following steps are an informative process on how this worked in my environment. Every environment is different. People use different routers, have different firewall setups, etc… Hopefully this can help someone with a similar environment. But, if your environment is different, it might not work for you.
Step 1 – Port Forwarding
Remote desktop runs on TCP port 3389. However, most router configurations block this port. I knew from the start that Verizon Fios does (and that is what I use). So, my first step was to forward port 3389 through. Most routers have a webpage you can go to in order to setup port fowarding. With Fios, you need to go to http://192.168.1.1 (this differs based on your service provider). After you log into your router configuration page you need to find the port forwarding section. In Fios it is at Firewall Settings – Port Forwarding.
The next step is to add the port forwarding rule. The first thing it will ask you for is your IP address.
This is the IP address to your local computer you want to Remote Desktop into. If you have a home router setup then there are 2 IP address. The IP address the service providers assigns to your network and the IP address assigned to your computer. We need to forward the port through to the local computer IP address.
To figure that out you can open a command prompt (Start – run – cmd). Then type ipconfig. Look for the IP Address (or IPv4 Address). It should be something like 192.168.1.3 (this assumes you have a typical dynamic IP setup, if you have a static IP then your IP address might not start with 192).
After you have figured out your computers IP address, then you have to add the rule to forward port 3389 through to that computer. With the Fios ActionTec router, you just need to click the Add link next to the Specify Protocol dropdown. Then choose the Add Server Ports link. Then choose TCP from the dropdown. Then choose Any in the Source Port and Single/3389 in the Destination Port. Then click the Apply button a few times until you get back to the main screen. Keep all the other settings at default and your port forwarding rule should be setup.
I realize that not everyone has Fios. So, here are a couple of links for other popular routers that other companies use that can help you through port forwarding setup.
Step 2 – Firewalls
You might have firewalls setup on your computer that block port 3389. This really depends on what firewalls you have running on your computer.
Since this walkthrough is for Windows 7, I am going to talk about the default firewalls for Windows 7
Go to Control Panel – System and Security – Windows Firewall – Advanced settings. Click Allow another program. Click Inbound Rules and then New Rule. Follow the wizard through to allow port 3389.
Step 3 – Allowing Remote Desktop Connections
With Windows 7 you have to allow remote desktop. Right click on Computer – click on properties – Advanced system settings. Then go to the remote tab. Make sure that “Allow remote assistance connections to this computer” is checked. Then, choose the correct radio button for user access to your system. Make sure that “Don’t allow connections to this computer” isn’t checked.
Please Note: This step is where I had the most issues. I had Windows 7 home edition installed on my desktop at first. The radio buttons for “who” can access remote desktop were not available for me. After doing a little searching, I found out that you need Windows 7 Ultimate or Professional to get access to these settings. Luckily, I have an msdn license and the upgrade is very simple (all you need to do is enter the license key in the upgrade wizard on the computer)
Step 4 – Verify your port is open correctly
The previous steps were all about opening port 3389. In order to check that these steps worked, you can use the following website: http://www.canyouseeme.org/. This website figures out your Dynamic IP address and lets you enter a port. Then it tells you if it was able to access that port on your computer. If this step fails it either means your port forwarding is not setup correct, a firewall is blocking your port, remote desktop is not setup on your computer or something else is wrong that I didn’t encounter.
Step 5 – Working with Dynamic IPs
As mentioned earlier, most home routers have a Dynamic IP setup (static IPs cost more and most people don’t get them). Basically, your home network gets and IP address and it assigns IPs to your local machine. So, your network IP could be 71.126.156.140. Then, once traffic hits your network, the router assigns an IP to your computer (such as 192.168.1.4). So, all we did in the previous steps was make sure port 3389 could get through to the local computer IP (such as 192.168.1.4). At this point you could remote desktop into your computer with your network IP address. The problem is that this is a Dynamic IP (usually). Service providers change your IP at random times. It is unreliable to use that IP address to remote desktop into. So, whats the answer? My answer is a company called NO-IP. This product installs on your home computer and gives you a url (something like homecomputer.no-ip.org). Then, when anyone ever uses that url, it figures out the dynamic IP of your home network. Pretty cool, eh.
Just install the NO-IP Dynamic DNS Update client on your computer and you should be all set.
NO-IP has a good walkthrough for setting up their product for remote desktop: http://www.no-ip.com/support/guides/remote_access/windows_remote_desktop.html. The reason I wrote this article instead of just pointing to their walkthrough is because I ran into some issues with the port forwarding on Verizon Fios and the Remote Desktop enablement of Windows 7. I thought this walkthrough in addition to theirs might help some people out.
Now you can go to another computer, open remote desktop and enter your NO-IP url to access your home computer. I even installed IIS on my home computer, opened up a website port and use my home computer to access my development sites while I am in other places (pretty cool stuff).
Once again, these steps are for my environment. The basic ideas are the same for everyone:
- Port foward port 3389
- Verify the firewall isn’t blocking port 3389
- Allow Remote Desktop to your computer
- Install No-IP to get a url for your Dynamic IP address
If these steps do not work for you, I am sorry, but it is probably a nuance of your setup compared to mine.
