Allow Remote Desktop Connections From Outside Your Home Network

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Allow Remote Desktop connections from
outside your home network
Ever wanted to access your home computer when you're away Irom home? II you have a home
network, you can use Remote Desktop Connection to access your home PCs Irom outside the
network. This can be handy when you're traveling or at work.

Note
The steps described in this topic are designed Ior advanced users who are comIortable with
changing router conIigurations. To set up Remote Desktop Connections within the same
networka much simpler processsee Allow someone to connect to your computer using
Remote Desktop Connection.
There are six steps you'll need to Iollow to set this up. Each one is explained in detail below.
1. Allow remote connections to the computer you want to access.
2. Make sure Remote Desktop is able to communicate through your Iirewall.
3. Find the IP address oI the computer on your home network that you want to connect to.
4. Open your router's conIiguration screen and Iorward TCP port 3389 to the destination
computer's IP address.
5. Find your router's public IP address so that Remote Desktop can Iind it on the Internet.
6. Open Remote Desktop Connection and connect.
Allow remote connections to the computer you want to
access
To access one computer Irom another computer, you Iirst need to allow remote connections on
the computer you want to access, which must be running one oI the Iollowing versions oI
Windows:
O Windows XP ProIessional edition
O Windows Vista Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise edition
O Windows 7 ProIessional, Ultimate, or Enterprise edition
On the computer you want to access, Iollow these steps:
1. Open System by clicking the Start button , right-clicking Computer, and then clicking
Properties.
2. In the leIt pane, click Remote settings. II you're prompted Ior an administrator
password or conIirmation, type the password or provide conIirmation.
3. Under Remote Desktop, select one oI the options to allow connections. For more
inIormation about these options, see What types oI Remote Desktop connections should I
allow?
4. Click Select Users.
5. In the Remote Desktop Users dialog box, click Add.
6. In the Select Users or Groups dialog box, do one or more oI the Iollowing:
4 To speciIy the search location, click Locations.
4 To speciIy the types oI objects (user names) that you want to search Ior, click
Object Types.
4 In the Enter the object names to select box, type the user name that you want to
search Ior, and then click Check Names. II the user name isn't Iound, click
Advanced to run an advanced search.
7. When you Iind the correct name, click OK.
The name will be displayed in the list oI users in the Remote Desktop Users dialog box.
8. Click OK, and then click OK again.
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ake sure Remote Desktop is able to communicate through
your firewall
II you're using Windows Firewall, Iollow these steps:
1. Click the Start button , click Control Panel, type "Iirewall" in the search box, and then
click Windows Firewall.
2. Click Allow a program or Ieature through Windows Firewall.
3. Under Allowed programs and Ieatures, scroll down to Remote Desktop and make sure its
check box is selected.
4. Under Home/Work (Private), make sure the check box next to Remote Desktop is
selected.
II you're using a non-MicrosoIt Iirewall, reIer to the instructions that came with your Iirewall.
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ind the IP address of the computer on your home network
Next, determine the IP address oI the destination computerthe one you want to connect to.
1. Click the Start button , click Control Panel, type "network" in the search box, and then
click Network and Sharing Center.
2. Next to Connections, click the link Ior your current network connection (either Wireless
Network Connection or Local Area Connection).
3. Click Details.
4. Write down the IP address listed next to IPv4 Address. You'll need this address when you
turn on port Iorwarding.
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orward TCP port 3389 to the destination computer's IP
address
To allow remote connections Irom outside oI your home network, you need to set up your router
to Iorward remote access requests to the computer that you want to connect to.
1. On any home network computer that's connected to the Internet, open a web browser and
type the internal IP address oI your router. This address will usually be 192.168.1.1,
192.168.0.1, or 192.168.2.1. ReIer to the instructions that came with your router iI you
need more inIormation about accessing the router's conIiguration screen.
2. Type the router administrator user name and password.
3. In the router's conIiguration screen, look Ior a place to turn on port Iorwarding (also
called port mapping).
4. Forward TCP port 3389, the deIault port Ior Remote Desktop Connection, to the IP
address oI the home computer you want to access Irom outside the network.
To access more than one oI your home computers Irom outside the network, you can Iorward an
additional TCP port to each additional computer. For example, you can Iorward TCP port 3390
to a second computer, TCP port 3391 to a third computer, and so on. Then change the listening
port, the port that Remote Desktop listens to Ior incoming network traIIic that matches that port,
on each computer to match the number you assigned. When you use Remote Desktop
Connection to connect to these computers, type the IP address oI the router, Iollowed by a colon
and the port number (Ior example, 208.147.66.254:3390).
Changing the listening port is also helpIul as a security measure, since a malicious user might
Iirst try port 3389, the deIault Ior Remote Desktop Connection. By changing the listening port,
the malicious user has to guess which port you've chosen. For inIormation about changing the
listening port, see How to change the listening port Ior Remote Desktop on the MicrosoIt
website.
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ind your router's public IP address
While you're still at home and connected to your home network, open a web browser and search
Ior "Iind IP address" to Iind a service that will report your router's public IP address.
UnIortunately, some computers are given a diIIerent IP address each time they connect to the
Internet. An Internet service provider (ISP) can use a Iew IP addresses to serve many customers
that way, but it means that your computer's address on the Internet is always changing.
To get around the problem oI a Irequently changing IP address, try a DNS dynamic update
service, which allows you to assign a URL to your router that you can use instead oI an IP
address. The URL stays the same no matter how oIten the IP address changes. To Iind a service,
search Ior "DNS dynamic update" on the Internet.
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pen Remote Desktop Connection and connect
Now you're ready to actually make the connection. Follow these steps on a computer outside oI
your network:
1. Click the Start button , type "remote" in the search box, and then click Remote
Desktop Connection.
2. Type the router's public IP address in the Computer Iield (Iollowed by a colon and the
new port number, iI you've changed the listening port; Ior example,
208.147.66.254:3390).
3. Log on to the remote computer as you normally do.
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