What is port forwarding?

Port Forwarding, VNC, Remote PC .. assistance needed

• I've been trying for a week to come up with a way so that I can set up a VNC server on my home pc so that I can connect to it while I am at work. I have tried everything under the sun and nothing. Maybe someone here can help. INFO: I am using RealVNC. (Supposedly runs on port 5800) I have a brand new Linksys WRT54GS Wireless G router at home (I thought my old router was unable to port forward due to a bug I read while googling it so I bought a new one) My ISP is Comcast. Things I've tried already: Followed port forward.com's guide to port forward for this specific router. (I have port forwarded on several networks before, but for some reason this one is giving me huge issues) I have in the router's page (192.168.1.1) set TCP protocol to forward port 5800 to this specific machine (192.168.1.101) says enabled and successful. I also forward port 5700 so the java app will work. - When I start the RealVNC server on my home pc it says the service is only connected to 192.168.1.101 when I hover over the tray icon (not my external IP.. SEE http://www.realvnc.com/support/portforward.html to see what I mean) - I go to http://canyouseeme.org/ to test the port FAILED. Instead of Port Forwarding I decide to enable DMZ (the more extreme solution) on this machine 192.168.1.101 and disable the port forwarding. - Same results as above I then discovered through IP CONFIG /ALL that I have a Dynamic IP - I have registered a dynamic dns host at DynDNS (myexample.dnsalias.net) to make my dynamic IP sort-o-static. - I'm not sure what to do with this though. I leave my realVNC server running on my PC (even though it doesnt forward correctly) and try to go to myexample.dnsalias.net:5700 (5700 is the java app for realVNC) and it times out. However localhost:5700 brings up the java client correctly. I am NOT using service pack 2 I do have ZoneAlarm installed but I've been trying to get this to work without having it turned on so I dont think that is an issue. Anyone have any ideas what I can do so I can VNC to my PC from outside my local network? Or any other way I could get to my home pc, without going through websites that are probably already filtered by my companys filter such as gotomypc.com

• Answer:

  Hello rob_sipko, Thank you for your question. First of all, I would check to make sure that Comcast ALLOWS you to have servers running on their network. Some ISPs do not allow this and will block your access. Secondly, make sure the VNC server is working on your local network. Do you have another machine available that you can use to connect to the VNC server on your LAN? This will show you if it is working locally. If that does not work, check to see if you have the Windows firewall installed and running. Remove all the firewall products you use. Remove ZoneAlarm and just see if things get better. Looking at what you have previously said, this could be a shot in the dark but you never know. Check for updated firmware for your device. Go to this website: Linksys http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Content_C1&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1115416835852&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper Choose the model of the router you have and find an update. Before applying an update, make sure you back up your config. Now I would set about applying a STATIC IP on your local PC. To do that, do the following: Click START -> Control Panel (or settings) -> Network Connections right click the network connection that is connected to the network and choose Properties. Now, highlight TCP/IP and choose properties. Change your PC from using "Obtain an address automatically" to "Use the following IP address". Enter the same credentials into there as you receive from your ipconfig /all. This will give you a static IP (i would advise you use the same IP address as you have set up for the port forwarding). A dynamic to Static host conversion will only set your EXTERNAL IP address to a pseudo static address; it will do NOTHING for your internal address. Once this is done, use VNC Viewer to connect to "myexample.dnsalias.net" and see if it works. If you are targeting the correct external IP address, on the right port, the port is forwarding onto the right port and IP address of the desktop machine and the desktop machine has NO firewall software installed then there is NO reason at all why you cannot connect using RealVNC. An alternative method, if you use Windows XP, is to install Service Pack 2 and start to use Remote Desktop, as it is a lot nicer and more elegant. I use it a lot for connections to my home machines and i find it a lot better and faster to use than the VNC products. Remote Desktop uses port 3389 so it could be a good place to start as I can certainly confirm that port! If you need any additional clarification, let me know and I'll be glad to assist you. --keystroke-ga