Start Windows XP from anywhere via internet.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Hongyi Zhao
  • Start date Start date
Yes, if the machine is on a LAN you can VPN into the network and if the
network adapter (of the sleeping machine) supports Wake On Lan you can
send a "magic packet" to the adapter and wake up the computer. Most
network adapters support WOL.

John
 
Yes, if the machine is on a LAN you can VPN into the network and if the
network adapter (of the sleeping machine) supports Wake On Lan you can
send a "magic packet" to the adapter and wake up the computer. Most
network adapters support WOL.
Click to expand...

What do you mean by _Wake On Lan_? Do you mean I can only do that
thing for a pc in the same subnet?
 
Hongyi said:
What do you mean by _Wake On Lan_? Do you mean I can only do that
thing for a pc in the same subnet?
Click to expand...

This covers the basics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake_on_lan

Look for another article, that addresses port forwarding
of whatever port is necessary, to make Wake On LAN work.
One example of an article, here.

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/wol/all#9388

If your computer is sleeping in S3 Suspend To RAM, this
might work quite nicely. But if the power goes off while
you're away, you could lose touch with the computer (the
LAN chip may not be set up right when power is restored).
Similarly, if the power on your router is cycled, it
may not be in a state to talk to the high speed modem
or whatever. The setup is inherently unreliable, for
operation for long periods of time, while you're a long
distance from the equipment. If you were using this
while you were at work in the same city, then it would
be an easy drive, to go home and fix your setup. If
you're half way around the world, and WOL doesn't work
for some reason, it is going to be harder to fix.
A lot of component parts of this operation, all have
to work properly, which is why I don't rate it as a
reliable method.

Whether an item like the following might help you, is
debatable. It depends on whether your Internet connection
is reliable enough, such that once the computer is
turned on, the computer will be reachable from the
Internet. So even with a telephone remote, it might
still be difficult to reach the computer over the
Internet. You need an Internet setup that restores
itself after a power failure.

http://www.remotepowerswitch.com/rps2.htm

Paul
 
Hongyi said:
What do you mean by _Wake On Lan_? Do you mean I can only do that
thing for a pc in the same subnet?
Click to expand...

No, but you are not likely connected directly into the internet so you
will have to punch a hole through the router by port forwarding... or
you will have to VPN into your home network. If you are connected right
into the internet without a router (modem only) I think that you should
be able to send the packet to the ethernet card's mac address at your IP
address but that is something that I have never tried so I'm not sure
how well it would work.

Something that you also need to consider is that your IP address may be
changing frequently enough to make this a bit difficult to keep up with.
For starters you probably don't have a static IP address at home so
you will need to know what your IP address is to send the packet at the
right place. If the computer is turned off you don't really have a way
of checking the IP address unless you have a router/VPN appliance that
is turned on and that relays any changes to a DNS service. If your IP
address is stable this may not be too big a deal, if it changes often it
may be a bit of a hassle. The only other way that I know around this
unknown IP address problem is to use the good old fashion way and wake
up the computer with a dial-up modem, the phone numbers usually don't
change unless you move! After the computer is started you can even
Remote Desktop into the machine by dial-up and get the IP address and
then hang up and connect to the machine by other usual and faster means.
Or you can have the computer run machine scripts when it starts or
have it autologon to your account and have it start client software that
automatically communicates with a DNS service.

John
 
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