Remote Desktop - Puzzled

[Steve Cohen]

When I want to connect my remote computer to the host computer, I must type
in the computer name. In my case it is "winxp".

These are not unique names on the Internet.

So how does Remote Desktop find the correct computer name?

This works fine when I am connecting to this computer from another on the
same LAN. But what happens if the host is elsewhere?

Steve

 

[Stu]

Use the external ip address of the Host Computer

 

[Shenan Stanley]

When I want to connect my remote computer to the host computer, I
must type in the computer name. In my case it is "winxp".

These are not unique names on the Internet.

So how does Remote Desktop find the correct computer name?

This works fine when I am connecting to this computer from another
on the same LAN. But what happens if the host is elsewhere?

You use the actual Internet IP address (which may require you to learn about
a router and properly configure port forwarding on it to your computer)
and/or you use a dynamic DNS system like dyndns.org to point a specific
domain name to your PC.

 

[Steve Cohen]

Thanks guys. I understand now.