Can't use Remote Destop from outside my wireless network

Jul 20, 2005 4 Replies

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S 21 years ago

I have a Netgear MR814 router. I am trying to be able to access my home network while away from the house.

I am able to access any other computer on the network with XP Remote Desktop from within the network. I am not able to get access from outside the network. I don't think it is a firewall issue. All PCs firewalls are set to allow Remote Desktop. The laptop I am trying to use on the outside is XP home. All others are XP Pro

I have enabled port forwarding on the router and made sure I was using the latest IP address assigned to me by Verizon.

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Steve Winograd [MVP] 21 years ago

How can you be sure that you're using the latest IP address if it's dynamic and could change at any time? I use a dynamic DNS service

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for that.

What exactly happens (or doesn't happen) when you try to access your computer from outside? If there's an error message, what does it say?

Can you ping your router from outside?

What IP address is the router forwarding port 3389 to? If your computer gets a dynamic IP address from the router, it could change. I assign a static IP address to my computer.

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Duane Arnold 21 years ago

Maybe, your remote location like your job or whereever has a FW and is not going to allow you to make that connection.

Duane :)

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S 21 years ago

How can you be sure that you're using the latest IP address if it's dynamic and could change at any time? Verizon only changes it every few months.

What exactly happens (or doesn't happen) when you try to access your computer from outside? If there's an error message, what does it say?

"The client could not connect to the remote computer.

Remote connections might not be enabled or the computer might be too busy to accept new connections.

It is also possible that network problems are preventing your connection.

Please try connection again later. If the problem continues to occur, contact your administrator."

Can you ping your router from outside? Yes.

What IP address is the router forwarding port 3389 to? If your computer gets a dynamic IP address from the router, it could change. I assign a static IP address to my computer. A static IP address is in place for each computer.

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Steve Winograd [MVP] 21 years ago

I wouldn't rely on that. My IP address usually stays the same for months, but I've seen it change in a few days, too. I recommend getting a dynamic DNS service.

Thanks for giving the full text. Unfortunately, that's a generic error message that doesn't help to find the problem.

Good.

I'd try connecting the computer directly to your broadband modem, leaving the router out of the circuit. If remote access works with the computer's firewall turned on and configured to allow RDP connections, then something's wrong with the router setup.

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