"VPN End-Point Router": Simplify VPN-ing between desktop PCs behind broadband?

[(PeteCresswell)]

On-and-off for over a month, I've been trying to set up something
where I can take over the PC of a family member about 100 miles
away in order to troubleshoot whatever PC-related problems
they're calling me about - hoping to mitigate the time sink
aspect of those situations.

I can get both Remote Desktop and RealVNC working locally, no
problem.


Where I'm stumbling is establishing the VPN tunnel.


My home PC is on a router hooked into Verizon's FIOS.

The remote PC is hooked into a DSL modem on Verizon's
"High-Speed" service. No router, but currently moot bc I'm only
working with two of my own PCs.

For testing/development across the internet, I connect a
WiFi-enabled laptop into a cooperating neighbor's wireless router
so it's on a different IP address.

RealVNC seems tb the ticket if I would just resolve the VPN
issue.

The whole things tb more complicated by virtue of IP addresses.
Neither mine nor the remote's is static and the address (per
IpChicken) seems tb something other than the address of the PC
(I'm guessing the router...). Somebody somewhere said something
about the two LANs having tb on different subnets to get VPN to
work. Sounded local on the surface, but I didn't go any deeper.

I spent a couple of hours with OpenVPN, but couldn't even get to
first base.

Went through a couple of "how-to" articles on setting up Windows
XP "Network Connections", but couldn't even get it off the ground
locally.


Bottom line: can I throw some money at this and make the VPN
issues go away by buying a couple of "VPN End-Point" routers?


We've tried the Remote Assistance thing in Windows XP, and gotten
it to work one way (from the remote to my PC)... but not the way
we need it to work (from my PC to the remote) - so we abandoned
that approach, figuring it was some built-in constraint on the
remote's DSL modem setup.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

On-and-off for over a month, I've been trying to set up something
where I can take over the PC of a family member about 100 miles
away in order to troubleshoot whatever PC-related problems
they're calling me about - hoping to mitigate the time sink
aspect of those situations.

I can get both Remote Desktop and RealVNC working locally, no
problem.


Where I'm stumbling is establishing the VPN tunnel.

I never have to set up VPN tunnels with remote desktop or RealVNC.

I do, however, have to forward ports at the router and tell firewalls that
the data traffic is authorized.

A DDNS client running on the target machine is also a very helpful thing for
RealVNC.

You can set up a free DDNS account and get the client at places like
www.dyndns.org.

My home PC is on a router hooked into Verizon's FIOS.

The remote PC

And the remote PC is running what OS? This does matter.

is hooked into a DSL modem on Verizon's
"High-Speed" service. No router, but currently moot bc I'm only
working with two of my own PCs.

You're going to need to get them one, I expect. Set it up first.

For testing/development across the internet, I connect a
WiFi-enabled laptop into a cooperating neighbor's wireless router
so it's on a different IP address.

And have you forwarded the appropriate ports at the router?

Have you set up a DDNS client on the laptop, or used their router's DDNS
feature?

RealVNC seems tb the ticket if I would just resolve the VPN
issue.

There may actually not *be* a VPN issue wrt RealVNC. You may simply be
confusing several technologies, and with VPN, confusion isn't a difficult
state to attain.

The whole things tb more complicated by virtue of IP addresses.
Neither mine nor the remote's is static and the address (per
IpChicken) seems tb something other than the address of the PC
(I'm guessing the router...). Somebody somewhere said something
about the two LANs having tb on different subnets to get VPN to
work. Sounded local on the surface, but I didn't go any deeper.

VPNs are far more complex than what you're trying to do.

And a VPN may not give you the remote control you're actually looking for,
and so be inappropriate.

I spent a couple of hours with OpenVPN, but couldn't even get to
first base.

Went through a couple of "how-to" articles on setting up Windows
XP "Network Connections", but couldn't even get it off the ground
locally.


Bottom line: can I throw some money at this and make the VPN
issues go away by buying a couple of "VPN End-Point" routers?

Frankly they aren't needed for either RealVNC or Remote Desktop.

We've tried the Remote Assistance thing in Windows XP, and gotten
it to work one way (from the remote to my PC)... but not the way
we need it to work (from my PC to the remote) - so we abandoned
that approach, figuring it was some built-in constraint on the
remote's DSL modem setup.

That's less likely. Do keep in mind that while XP Home does support
Remote Assistance and may well have just been misconfigured, there are other
issues like Firewalls that you couldn't see from the remote location.

You may find it easier if you get them a router and pre-configure it, and
deliver it and install a DDNS client, and adjust whatever firewall they are
using. Do give them an easy way to disable RealVNC for the times when it
isn't you calling.

HTH
-pk

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Patrick Keenan:

I never have to set up VPN tunnels with remote desktop or RealVNC.

Even between PCs that are not on the same LAN or WAN?

I do, however, have to forward ports at the router and tell firewalls that
the data traffic is authorized.

A DDNS client running on the target machine is also a very helpful thing for
RealVNC.

You can set up a free DDNS account and get the client at places like
www.dyndns.org.

And have you forwarded the appropriate ports at the router?

What is a port? -)

Just kidding... No I will have to look into that - finding out
what the appropriate ports are, how to forward them, and what to
forward them to.

Have you set up a DDNS client on the laptop, or used their router's DDNS
feature?

What is DDNS?.... -)

There may actually not *be* a VPN issue wrt RealVNC. You may simply be
confusing several technologies, and with VPN, confusion isn't a difficult
state to attain.

VPNs are far more complex than what you're trying to do.

And a VPN may not give you the remote control you're actually looking for,
and so be inappropriate.

That sounds encouraging.... but are we still talking across the
internet and not across a LAN/WAN? RealVNC seems tb a snap on
my local LAN. Where I'm stuck is getting it to work across the
internet - and I'd been assuming that establishing a VPN was a
basic requirement.

Frankly they aren't needed for either RealVNC or Remote Desktop.

I'm probably beating a dead horse by asking again... but do you
mean over the internet? (where "over the internet" means between
two PCs that are not connected to the same LAN or WAN - all they
share is a connection to the internet via two different ISPs.)

That's less likely. Do keep in mind that while XP Home does support
Remote Assistance and may well have just been misconfigured, there are other
issues like Firewalls that you couldn't see from the remote location.

I'm running XP Pro on all machines concerned.

You may find it easier if you get them a router and pre-configure it, and
deliver it and install a DDNS client, and adjust whatever firewall they are
using. Do give them an easy way to disable RealVNC for the times when it
isn't you calling.

I've got a couple of routers in the drawer behind me. No problem
there. I think I have to do a little Google-ing on DDNS.

Your last sentence leads me to believe that you really are
talking about RealVNC "across the internet" and not just between
two PCs on the same LAN/WAN bco the "isn't you calling.." part.
I'm guessing that's what the VPN would guard against.

RealVNC comes in two flavors: Service and User. Seems like if I
install the User version and the remote user has to explicitly
start RealVNC.... and we both remember to have them explicitly
stop it when we're done ... that should be sufficient.

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per (PeteCresswell):

I think I have to do a little Google-ing on DDNS.

Starting to look to me like it stands for something like "Dynamic
Domain Name Server".... maybe some kind of workaround for people
whose ISP changes their IP address..