How do I connect to more than 1 PC at my home using remote desktop

[jbmanz]

How do I connect to more than 1 PC at my home using remote desktop?

I have a Netgear MR814V2 router with 3 PC's (pc1, pc2, pc3) - each have
static ip's.

Router is forwarding port 3389 to IP for PC1 - all my local computers are
able to connect to PC1 with no problem. I can also connect to PC1 from the
internet with no problem from anywhere.

However, if I want to connect from PC1 to PC2 (inside my home network) i can
not do this; furthermore, I can not access PC2 or PC3 from the internet.

I have seen the option (which I hope I do not have to use!) to change the
RDP listening port (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306759), but I know there
must be another method!

(The example I want to duplicate:
I work for company XYZ - I can log into my computers Citrix site from any
internet enabled pc [citrix.xyz.com] - launch the "Remote Desktop"
application, then type in the IP address of ANY of dozens of PC's on my XYZ's
network [10.10.10.1 - 10.10.10.50] and connect to them using the remote
desktop application - WITHOUT having to enter a port # or name, just the
"Internal" IP address !

Yes, Remote access is enabled on all my PC's.

I've been told that the router I use may be the limiting factor;
- However - Once I have this new router, how does it know (or how do I tell
it) which one of my home PC's I want to connect to?
(e.g. I have PC1 and PC2 on the new router at home, but I'm at work and want
to look at a file at home..
I open remote desktop from my work/office - type in my home IP address <say,
1.2.3.4> - the router will see the connection coming in looking for port 3389
- how does it know if I want to try to log into PC1 or PC2 ?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

How do I connect to more than 1 PC at my home using remote desktop?

I have a Netgear MR814V2 router with 3 PC's (pc1, pc2, pc3) - each have
static ip's.

Router is forwarding port 3389 to IP for PC1 - all my local computers are
able to connect to PC1 with no problem. I can also connect to PC1 from the
internet with no problem from anywhere.

However, if I want to connect from PC1 to PC2 (inside my home network) i
can
not do this; furthermore, I can not access PC2 or PC3 from the internet.

I have seen the option (which I hope I do not have to use!) to change the
RDP listening port (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306759), but I know
there
must be another method!

(The example I want to duplicate:
I work for company XYZ - I can log into my computers Citrix site from any
internet enabled pc [citrix.xyz.com] - launch the "Remote Desktop"
application, then type in the IP address of ANY of dozens of PC's on my
XYZ's
network [10.10.10.1 - 10.10.10.50] and connect to them using the remote
desktop application - WITHOUT having to enter a port # or name, just the
"Internal" IP address !

Yes, Remote access is enabled on all my PC's.

I've been told that the router I use may be the limiting factor;
- However - Once I have this new router, how does it know (or how do I
tell
it) which one of my home PC's I want to connect to?
(e.g. I have PC1 and PC2 on the new router at home, but I'm at work and
want
to look at a file at home..
I open remote desktop from my work/office - type in my home IP address
<say,
1.2.3.4> - the router will see the connection coming in looking for port
3389
- how does it know if I want to try to log into PC1 or PC2 ?

You have a couple of options:
a) You set up a VPN so that you have access to your home network. You can
then launch your Remote Desktop sessions by specifying the computer name or
its IP address.
b) You set a different port number for each PC, e.g. 3391 for PC1, 3392 for
PC2 and 3393 for PC3. At the same time you give each PC a fixed IP address
instead of using DHCP. Lastly you create three port forwarding rules in your
router so that port 3392 packets (for example) are forwarded to the IP
address used by PC2. When building up a connection from the outside, you
specify port 3392 when you wish to reach PC2.

Since most routers have facilities for port forwarding, you may not need to
buy a new one.