Remote access...?

[Kenneth]

Howdy,

I was intrigued by a product called "Real VNC." It's an open
source remote access system.

one aspect of such a system has me perplexed, and before I
do any further experimentation I thought I'd ask...

The system that I would want to access is my desktop. I
would like to access the desktop box using my laptop when I
travel.

In our small office, we have six systems that are behind a
router, and we reach the Internet through a cable modem.

The cable company assigns an IP address to the router
dynamically.

Given that dynamic assignment of the router, how would I
tell the Real VNC software (or any other remote access
software for that matter) how to locate my desktop machine,
that is, what IP address would I tell the software to look
for?

Thanks for any insight on this,

 

[BobC]

Howdy,

I was intrigued by a product called "Real VNC." It's an open
source remote access system.

one aspect of such a system has me perplexed, and before I
do any further experimentation I thought I'd ask...

The system that I would want to access is my desktop. I
would like to access the desktop box using my laptop when I
travel.

In our small office, we have six systems that are behind a
router, and we reach the Internet through a cable modem.

The cable company assigns an IP address to the router
dynamically.

Given that dynamic assignment of the router, how would I
tell the Real VNC software (or any other remote access
software for that matter) how to locate my desktop machine,
that is, what IP address would I tell the software to look
for?

Thanks for any insight on this,

Dynamic DNS. Many of these services are free. Some routers suport this and
include auto update to the dynamic dns provider when its public address
changes. Search google for dynamic dns. One good site id http://no-ip.com.

 

[Galen]

In Kenneth had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Howdy,

I was intrigued by a product called "Real VNC." It's an open
source remote access system.

one aspect of such a system has me perplexed, and before I
do any further experimentation I thought I'd ask...

The system that I would want to access is my desktop. I
would like to access the desktop box using my laptop when I
travel.

In our small office, we have six systems that are behind a
router, and we reach the Internet through a cable modem.

The cable company assigns an IP address to the router
dynamically.

Given that dynamic assignment of the router, how would I
tell the Real VNC software (or any other remote access
software for that matter) how to locate my desktop machine,
that is, what IP address would I tell the software to look
for?

Thanks for any insight on this,

Actually you can open them up like:

Say this PC's name is Minotaur

http:\\Minotaur:5800

That works.

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/
http://kgiii.info/

"I am glad of all details, whether they seem to you to be relevant or
not." - Sherlock Holmes

 

[Kenneth]

Actually you can open them up like:

Say this PC's name is Minotaur

http:\\Minotaur:5800

That works.

Hi Galen,

A few things...

First, am I correct to assume the "5800" to be a port
number?

But also, suppose there are a few million other systems
named "Minotaur" out there on the Internet, how could my
laptop possibly know which one to connect to?

The aspect of this that has me confused is that the IP
address of my router is dynamically assigned, so when I
travel, I would not know its address, and, it would seem,
would not know the address of any system behind it.

Can you clarify this for me?

Thanks,

 

[Kenneth]

Dynamic DNS. Many of these services are free. Some routers suport this and
include auto update to the dynamic dns provider when its public address
changes. Search google for dynamic dns. One good site id http://no-ip.com.

Hello again,

I will look into the Dynamic DNS idea, but can you amplify a
bit?

In newbie terms, what would that do to allow me to contact a
particular machine that is behind a router that has a
dynamically assigned IP address?

Thanks for any further thoughts,

 

[BobC]

Hello again,

I will look into the Dynamic DNS idea, but can you amplify a
bit?

In newbie terms, what would that do to allow me to contact a
particular machine that is behind a router that has a
dynamically assigned IP address?

Thanks for any further thoughts,

Dynamic DNS is specifically used in the situation of a dynamic address,
hence the name Dynamic DNS. You need to read the write-ups at the sites
that provide this service. You choose a domain name for your system,
dynamic dns assigns that name to your router address. When your router
address changes the service automatically reassigns the new address to your
system name. Dynamic DNS has been around for years and is an accepted means
of providing name services to changing (dynamic) ip addresses.

 

[Kenneth]

Dynamic DNS is specifically used in the situation of a dynamic address,
hence the name Dynamic DNS. You need to read the write-ups at the sites
that provide this service. You choose a domain name for your system,
dynamic dns assigns that name to your router address. When your router
address changes the service automatically reassigns the new address to your
system name. Dynamic DNS has been around for years and is an accepted means
of providing name services to changing (dynamic) ip addresses.

Hi again,

Please accept my sincere thanks,

 

[BobC]

Hi Galen,

A few things...

First, am I correct to assume the "5800" to be a port
number?

But also, suppose there are a few million other systems
named "Minotaur" out there on the Internet, how could my
laptop possibly know which one to connect to?

You need to pick a unique name and register that with the Dynamic DNS
service.

The aspect of this that has me confused is that the IP
address of my router is dynamically assigned, so when I
travel, I would not know its address, and, it would seem,
would not know the address of any system behind it.

Can you clarify this for me?

Thanks,

You don't need to know the address of your router if you use Dynamic DNS.
That is the whole point. You assign a name to your router and the Dynamic
DNS service maps that name to your router IP address automatically if and
when it changes.
The router knows the address of every computer "behind" it. So that never
changes.
Go to one of the Dynamic DNS sites and read about it.

 

[Galen]

In Kenneth had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Hi Galen,

A few things...

First, am I correct to assume the "5800" to be a port
number?

But also, suppose there are a few million other systems
named "Minotaur" out there on the Internet, how could my
laptop possibly know which one to connect to?

The aspect of this that has me confused is that the IP
address of my router is dynamically assigned, so when I
travel, I would not know its address, and, it would seem,
would not know the address of any system behind it.

Can you clarify this for me?

Thanks,

Ah, I re-read and saw more when I read it this time. Yes you'd probably
need to configure a dynamic IP address site with software if your business
doesn't have a static IP address. I was under the impression (from what I'd
read earlier) that there were computers, in an office, behind a router. Or,
alternatively, you can look for VPN solutions where you'd configure both the
router to accept credentials and forward the request to the proper internal
IP address. If that doesn't make any sense to you then a) you probably
shouldn't try to do this on your own as it's a huge security risk and b)
it's going to be a difficult process configuring it. I'd consider your IT
staff (if you have one) or outsourcing it to a local geek.

If you're going to be the only person to use the VNC software then you can
likely forward port 5800 and/or 5900 (that's the default) to the internal IP
address of your desktop at work. It would be easier if your router itself
was connected to a static IP address.

Some information on that:

http://www.realvnc.com/support/portforward.html

One thing you can check is:

www.whatismyip.com which might (should really) give you the external address
of your actual connection if you do not know it. Check it again tomorrow and
the day after and see if it's the same. If it is then you're good to go.
You, or someone else, should be able to logon to the router, configure it to
forward ports(s) that you'll use to your PCs name. You'd then start RealVNC
and assign it a strong password just in case.You'd then configure your
firewall to allow application based rules to allow RealVNC to connect (both
ways) on that port.

Note that encryption is only supported in the paid versions of RealVNC so
any information sent to/from your PC to any other PC can potentially be
grabbed in with a man-in-the-middle hack.

Anyhow, you'd then be able to connect to the PC from the road by going to
http:\\<your IP address>:<port> which would bring up the Java applet, you'd
login with a password, and control the PC from there.

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/
http://kgiii.info/

"I am glad of all details, whether they seem to you to be relevant or
not." - Sherlock Holmes