Assistance needed with setting up pcAnywhere

[H.B. Elkins]

Hello all...

I'm new to the world of networking and most of my computer experience is on a
Mac.

I want to be able to access my home computer from my work location.

My home computer is running XP Home with SP 2. I have a DSL connection and it is
networked through
a Linksys WRT54G router. I have established a dyndns.org account and have
enabled that function in
the router.

The work computer runs XP Pro and is behind a firewall and other content
management regulators that
severely monitor or restrict Web access. (I work for a state agency and we are
even blocked from
reaching the site of our state high school athletics association, which is an
arm of our state education
department).

Remote Desktop seems to be not an option since it does not seem to be a part of
XP Home.

I had been using the GoToMyPC service, which worked pretty well despite the fact
that you can't play
streaming audio on the home computer and hear it on the work computer. I was
willing to pay for the
service after a free trial. However, the folks at work told me that it's raised
all kinds of security red flags
and strongly suggested that I not use it anymore. They implied that pcAnywhere
would be an
appropriate solution and I went out and got a copy.

However, i cannot get it to set up properly. I must not be setting up something
properly at home. I
installed the full version and opened up the appropriate ports on the router.
However when i try to
connect from work, using either my dyndns.org address or the IP address, it
won't connect.

Any suggestions on how to get pcAnywhere set up, or any other ideas on how i can
access the home PC
from work?

i'd be most grateful!

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I'm new to the world of networking and most of my computer experience
is on a Mac.

I want to be able to access my home computer from my work location.

My home computer is running XP Home with SP 2. I have a DSL
connection and it is networked through
a Linksys WRT54G router. I have established a dyndns.org account and
have enabled that function in
the router.

The work computer runs XP Pro and is behind a firewall and other
content management regulators that
severely monitor or restrict Web access. (I work for a state agency
and we are even blocked from
reaching the site of our state high school athletics association,
which is an arm of our state education
department).

Remote Desktop seems to be not an option since it does not seem to be
a part of XP Home.

I had been using the GoToMyPC service, which worked pretty well
despite the fact that you can't play
streaming audio on the home computer and hear it on the work
computer. I was willing to pay for the
service after a free trial. However, the folks at work told me that
it's raised all kinds of security red flags
and strongly suggested that I not use it anymore. They implied that
pcAnywhere would be an
appropriate solution and I went out and got a copy.

However, i cannot get it to set up properly. I must not be setting up
something properly at home. I
installed the full version and opened up the appropriate ports on the
router. However when i try to
connect from work, using either my dyndns.org address or the IP
address, it won't connect.

Any suggestions on how to get pcAnywhere set up, or any other ideas
on how i can access the home PC
from work?

i'd be most grateful!

UltraVNC..

 

[Ron]

On the home side, did you forward the open port on the router to your home
PC's correct IP address? When I set up my PCAnywhere connection, I
mistakenly used the number I got from IPCONFIG the first time I ran it.
However, since the IP address was set to automatically be given out by the
router, that number varied depending on who started up their computer first.
So, either a static number is needed for the PC you want to control, or you
can "reserve" the same number for that PC.

Just my 2 cents from having set up a PC with PCAnywhere in the past...

Hang in
ron

 

[H.B. Elkins]

On the home side, did you forward the open port on the router to your home
PC's correct IP address? When I set up my PCAnywhere connection, I
mistakenly used the number I got from IPCONFIG the first time I ran it.
However, since the IP address was set to automatically be given out by the
router, that number varied depending on who started up their computer first.
So, either a static number is needed for the PC you want to control, or you
can "reserve" the same number for that PC.

Yes, I did ... or at least I thought I did. On my router the port settings are
under "Applications & Gaming" and I made it a point to look at the docs to see
which ports pcAnywhere uses, and I did route them to the PC in question.

My router does assign dynamic IPs but this PC is pretty much always on and
always has a 196.168.1.103 address.

I must not be holding my mouth right when I set it up. ;-) It's frustrating,
especially since I am not well-versed in networking.

 

[H.B. Elkins]

UltraVNC..

Downloaded Ultra VNC.

Installed the full version at home and attempted to configure it.

Installed the viewer portion at work.

Tried to connect via both dyndns.org address and known IP address of the router.

Didn't work.

Beat up a co-worker in the next office in frustration and slashed the tires on
another co-worker's car.

(Well, I'm just kidding on that last. ;-) )

I must not be setting up my port forwarding right, since I can't get either
pcAnywhere or Ultra VNC to work.

 

[Robin Walker [MVP]]

Downloaded Ultra VNC.
Tried to connect via both dyndns.org address and known IP address of
the router.
Didn't work.

You've got to forward the relevant ports for UltraVNC in the router to your
LAN PC.

 

[John]

Yes, I did ... or at least I thought I did. On my router the port settings
are
under "Applications & Gaming" and I made it a point to look at the docs to
see
which ports pcAnywhere uses, and I did route them to the PC in question.

My router does assign dynamic IPs but this PC is pretty much always on and
always has a 196.168.1.103 address.

I must not be holding my mouth right when I set it up. ;-) It's
frustrating,
especially since I am not well-versed in networking.

You need to forward port 5631 TCP and port 5632 UDP in your router.
You also need to configure the XP firewall to allow those ports through.
Make sure your work firewall is not blocking those ports on outbound
transmissions although since they suggested pcAnywhere I would hope
that they aren't blocking them.

 

[H.B. Elkins]

You've got to forward the relevant ports for UltraVNC in the router to your
LAN PC.

I did that. Best I can tell, the ports used by UltraVNC are 5800 to 5900, and
they are selected to be
forwarded.

 

[Guest]

Have you tried VNCScan? http://www.vncscan.com

You need to forward port 5631 TCP and port 5632 UDP in your router.
You also need to configure the XP firewall to allow those ports through.
Make sure your work firewall is not blocking those ports on outbound
transmissions although since they suggested pcAnywhere I would hope
that they aren't blocking them.