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by jasonbis 1 view

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Here is my problem. I want to connect to my office computer from home. I have windows XP on both computers. I have DSL at the office and a cable modem at home. I have successfully connected to my home computer from the office through XP's "Remote Desktop Connection" because the only thing I need to know is my static, routable IP address for my cable connection which I know. However, I am not able to connect to my office computer because it has DSL and a router which I cant get passed. There areseveral computers at the office all connected through a hub which is connected to a router. All the computer have static IP addresses such as 10.0.0.1. The only real address is the router. I know that address and the user name and password to get into that router but I need to know how to connect to other computers in the office from home. Since the computer addresses aren't routable, obviously I will have to connect to the router somehow first and then gain access to the other computers. I think this might have something to do with Network address translation. The router is a 678c router from Cisco. Someone please give me step by step instructions on how to achieve this. Thank you.

10 replies

by timthetoolman

Hi,

I'm not sure on the specifics for your router, but essentially you need to set a "port forward" on it.

That means you specify the IP address of the router as the address to connect to and a port to talk on (you need to specify the port youwant to connect the remote desktop with), and the router will foward that information on to the internal IP address that you set it up for at work - maybe 10.0.0.5 for example. This will happen for all traffic on that port.

Specific configurations will be in your router's manual.

Cheers,
Tim.

by jasonbis

Thanks. You know what you are talking about but I was looking for a long drawn out explanation since I am dumb.

by tbragsda

The problem (not really a problem) is NAT. Your internal WKS use one Internet address and private addresses, 10.x.x.x. This is good, you really don't want to have all your workstations with public addresses. You may also have a firewall built into that router.

Are you trying to gain access to a network server at work? If so, look into VPN (ipsec may be supported in that router).

by jasonbis

Thanks. You know what you are talking about but I was looking for a long drawn out explanation since I am dumb.

by curlergirl

I'm not sure you can do this with Windows XP's remote desktop connection software. You might be able to do it with a single PC, but the problem with connecting to multiple PCs behind a router is that each PC has to have its own port assignments that are different from each other PC (because they are all using the same public IP address), and I don't believe that RDP allows you to do this (or at least I haven't seen anything describing how it might be done). There are several 3rd party remote control software packages that will allow you to do this - pcAnywhere from Symantec is the one that we use all the time. It is pretty easy to configure the software, and Symantec documentation is good and will tell you how to do it, but you will also have to configure your router. I'm not familiar with Cisco routers, but what you need to do is configure the router to forward TCP/IP packets coming in on specific ports (the ones you've set for each machine) to that machine. For example, say youhave two workstations. You set up WS1 at IP address 10.0.0.5 with pcAnywhere using ports 5631 (TCP) and 5632(UDP), and you set up WS2 at IP address 10.0.0.6 with pcAnywhere using ports 5633 (TCP) and 5634 (UDP). Then you have to configure the routerto forward TCP packets on port 5631 to 10.0.0.5 and on port 5633 to 10.0.0.6, and UDP packets on port 5632 to 10.0.0.5 and on port 5634 to 10.0.0.6. Then, you set up your remote client with pcAnywhere connections and specify that you want to connect to WS1 at your public IP address using ports 5631 and 5632, and WS2 at the same public IP address using ports 5633 and 5634. Once you launch the particular pcAnywhere connection, your remote workstation connects to the public IP address of your router, and the router knows where to forward the packets so that you connect to the correct workstation behind the router.

by curlergirl

Just as a side note - opening ports like this on your router does put some holes in the security provided by your router and NAT. pcAnywhere allows you to ameliorate this somewhat by using encryption schemes and passwords. You should take advantage of this if you're going to set this up. Hope this helps!

by jasonbis

SYNERGY/DLO, Since you gave the most detailed and concise answer I am awarding you the points but under one condition. That you give me your email address. I couldnt find it on here and if I run into any snags setting this up with pcanywhere I wouldlike to contact you. Kidding about the condition and I thank you for your answer. You seem very knowledgeable and I would love to stay in contact. Hope to hear from you soon. jasonbis@yahoo.com

by jasonbis

SYNERGY/DLO. Duh, like I said I am dumb. I accidentally forgot to give you the points. Email me back so we can set something up. I dont know how to change it now so I will have to post it again or something. Sorry. jasonbis@yahoo.com

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