Trying to use UltraVNC

Mar 30, 2005 3 Replies

Hi there,



I am looking for some networking wisdom here. I am trying to use a free product called UltraVNC to connect to my work computer from home. Here is the path it must go through.



Home Comp --> Linksys Wireless Router --> Internet --> Work Router -->



Server --> Work Desktop Machine



Can someone please clue me in on what ports need to be forwarded where? I have no clue. All I know is I am getting the "Failed to connect to server." at home.



Any help is appreciated.


By default it is TCP 5900+N (N being the display) for the client or 5800+N for the browser based port. However you can configure the server to use a different port...

Michael

I hate to bring up the proverbial red flag, but if you don't already know how to do this then I suspect that you are going to leave a gaping hole in your company security if you do this.

First thing to understand is what ports are used by VNC, it shows the ports right on the configuration panel - even in the help documents. You have to open those ports INBOUND at the company router/firewall and then NAT/Forward them to the computer running VNC in the office - you only get one computer per port you forward. Also, don't use the default VNC ports for this, change them to something like 60000 - we're seeing about 800 scans per day on 5900, which means that someone is looking for open VNC machines.

You don't mention whether you are trying to configure your home's router or your work's router.

I suspect the former, in which case I suspect that you won't be able to do this.

The problem probably lies with the rules on the firewall at work and, more importantly, the way IP addresses are assigned within a private network. The machine you are trying to connect to will almost certainly not be visible to the internet (it will probably have an IP address starting with 192.168.).

Normally, you would log in to your work's network using, say, VPN, and then open a VNC connection to a machine on that network (which will now be visible to you).

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