This should be easy!

[Paul Mazaika]

All I want to do is access shared files on my home network from my laptop
away from home.
Should be easy, no?
I have the ip address of the router.
I can access the router from outside the network, but no files.
Laptop running Vista Home and the PCs in the home network are running XP.
So what the easy way to do this? Thanks!

 

[Robert L. \(MS-MVP\)]

You may want to use VPN or RDC. These how to may help.

How to setup VPNIf your VPN client cannot find servers or cannot ping
computernmae, you may need to add DNS and WINS into your VPN server. For
example, to add DNS and WINS ...
www.howtonetworking.com/Windows/vpnsetup.htm

remote desktopTo use Remote Desktop, you need a WinXP Pro as the host
and a remote computer running Win9x or a more recent version of Windows as
the client that must have ...
www.howtonetworking.com/rdesktop.htm



--
Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on
http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on
http://www.HowToNetworking.com

 

[Jack \(MVP-Networking\).]

Hi
While you can access the Router from the Internet, the Router does not know
where to go inside the LAN.
A port open through the Router pointing to the IP of the computer directs
the traffic to the computer.
Example, if running an ftp server on port 21, opening port 21 to the IP of
the computer would direct the traffic from the outside toward the ftp
server.
However opening the directly the general file access creates a sever
security problem. Use Remote Desktop, or set a secure ftp server to access
your files.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/mobility/getstarted/remoteintro.mspx
Jack (MVP-Networking).