IP Address for Remote Assistance?

[Tony Williams]

I am trying to use Remote Assistance to help a friend with a few problems.
When I tried to connect I got the infamous "cannot resolve host message"
From reading the posts on the subject in this newsgroup it would appear that
the IP Address could be the problem. The email message Remote Assistance
sent me contains the following attachment:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="Unicode" ?><UPLOADINFO
TYPE="Escalated"><UPLOADDATA USERNAME="New User"
RCTICKET="65538,1,192.168.1.3:3389;new-0ec847cb60b:3389,*,YkcAePmaMZClfMW/7DHL8h27qsnG2Vq6SweuTtsVsCU=,*,*,T85oAQ5XpT/9wfAJzdeXXuE7xcQ="
RCTICKETENCRYPTED="0" DtStart="1172513954" DtLength="120" PassStub="" L="0"
/></UPLOADINFO>

The IP Address is clearly the LAN address and it seems I need to change that
to the actual Internet IP Address. My friend is with TalkTalk.net in the UK
and he asked them how he could determine his actual IP Address and was told
"You will have to ask Microsoft " and this from their technical support!!!!!
I'm sure that's not the case so I have 2 questions.
1. How can my friend determine his IP Address while he's online? (I think
TalkTalk use dynamic IP Addresses so it's different everytime he logs on)
and
2. If I get the IP Address will I then be able to get a connection to his
machine if I change the 192.168.1.3 to whatever in the code above and if not
what else can I do?

Thank you
Tony

 

[Sooner Al [MVP]]

I am trying to use Remote Assistance to help a friend with a few problems.
When I tried to connect I got the infamous "cannot resolve host message"
From reading the posts on the subject in this newsgroup it would appear
that the IP Address could be the problem. The email message Remote
Assistance sent me contains the following attachment:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="Unicode" ?><UPLOADINFO
TYPE="Escalated"><UPLOADDATA USERNAME="New User"
RCTICKET="65538,1,192.168.1.3:3389;new-0ec847cb60b:3389,*,YkcAePmaMZClfMW/7DHL8h27qsnG2Vq6SweuTtsVsCU=,*,*,T85oAQ5XpT/9wfAJzdeXXuE7xcQ="
RCTICKETENCRYPTED="0" DtStart="1172513954" DtLength="120" PassStub=""
L="0" /></UPLOADINFO>

The IP Address is clearly the LAN address and it seems I need to change
that to the actual Internet IP Address. My friend is with TalkTalk.net in
the UK and he asked them how he could determine his actual IP Address and
was told "You will have to ask Microsoft " and this from their technical
support!!!!! I'm sure that's not the case so I have 2 questions.
1. How can my friend determine his IP Address while he's online? (I think
TalkTalk use dynamic IP Addresses so it's different everytime he logs on)
and
2. If I get the IP Address will I then be able to get a connection to his
machine if I change the 192.168.1.3 to whatever in the code above and if
not what else can I do?

Thank you
Tony

If he is behind a router or firewall the easiest way to get his public IP is
to go to a site like http://www.whatismyip.com which will display the
current IP. He would need to communicate that to you. Also he may need to
have TCP Port 3389 open on the router/firewall.

--

Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...

 

[Tony Williams]

Thanks Al I thought it might be relatively easy.
Cheers
Tony

 

[Rich Raffenetti]

Here's a link where the port forwarding is explained for various routers:
http://www.portforward.com/english/applications/port_forwarding/RemoteDesktop/RemoteDesktopindex.htm

 

[Tony Williams]

Al I have used the site to get his IP Address and I replaced the local IP
Address in the Remote Assistance email attachment with the one identified by
the site. I have checked that the Windows XP firewall has Remote Assistance
as an exception, even trying to add Port 3389 again to confirm this. He has
a standard ADSL modem from talktalk.net so he is not using a router. BUT we
are still getting the same message. Any ideas?
One thing that struck me is that he is running W XP Home with only 256 mb
Ram. Is it possible that the connection is timing our before Windows has had
time to start up Remote Assistance on his machine? I've suggested to him
that he increases his memory anyway.
Thanks
Tony

 

[Sooner Al [MVP]]

Al I have used the site to get his IP Address and I replaced the local IP
Address in the Remote Assistance email attachment with the one identified
by the site. I have checked that the Windows XP firewall has Remote
Assistance as an exception, even trying to add Port 3389 again to confirm
this. He has a standard ADSL modem from talktalk.net so he is not using a
router. BUT we are still getting the same message. Any ideas?
One thing that struck me is that he is running W XP Home with only 256 mb
Ram. Is it possible that the connection is timing our before Windows has
had time to start up Remote Assistance on his machine? I've suggested to
him that he increases his memory anyway.
Thanks
Tony

Is his modem also a router? Some DSL modems are also routers. What happens
if he does an "ipconfig" command from the command line? Is his public IP
address reported back or is it a private IP, ie. 192.168 or 10. or 172? for
example?

--

Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...

 

[Tony Williams]

Al, I've got him to use ipconfig and he gets his local IP address which is
the one that appears in the Remote Assistance attachment ie 192.168.1.3.
Does this mean he has a router?
Thanks
Tony

 

[Sooner Al [MVP]]

Al, I've got him to use ipconfig and he gets his local IP address which is
the one that appears in the Remote Assistance attachment ie 192.168.1.3.
Does this mean he has a router?
Thanks
Tony

Yes, that means his DSL modem is also a router. He would need to open TCP
Port 3389 on the modem or put it into a bridge mode disabling the NAT
function. He needs to check the users manual or talk to the ISP about
that...

If he does get it into a bridge mode make sure he runs a software firewall
on his PC.

--

Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...

 

[Tony Williams]

Thanks Al I'll pursue that with him over the next week.
Thanks for your input
Tony