Velocity Reviews - Connect to home network from external PC

"Cron" <cronoklee@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1194870386.897045.210160@o3g2000hsb.googlegro ups.com...
Hi does anyone know if this is possible using windows XP or even
vista? Is there no way you can just lookup the IP and input the router
password?

Thanks
Ciarán

******************************
What are you trying to do, ie. remote access of shared files, remote
access/control of a desktop with Remote Desktop or VNC?

If its the latter and the home PC is running Vista Ultimate/Business or XP
Pro/MCE you can use Remote Desktop. Here is some help for that...

http://theillustratednetwork.mvps.or...endations.html
http://theillustratednetwork.mvps.or...eshooting.html
http://theillustratednetwork.mvps.or...ple_PC_RD.html

If the home PC is running Vista Home (Premium or Basic) or XP Home then look
at using VNC (any flavor). I always recommend UltraVNC with its encryption
plug-in and mirror video driver.

http://www.uvnc.com/

If you want access to shared files on the home network you can setup a PPTP
VPN server on Vista or XP.

http://theillustratednetwork.mvps.or...P/PPTPVPN.html
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/networ...vpn_server.htm
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/networking/xp_vpn.htm

....or use something like Secure Shell (SSH), which is my personal favorite.

http://theillustratednetwork.mvps.or...cureShell.html

Other solutions include SSL-Explorer, OpenVPN or you could either flash a
supported router with third-party firmware like DD-WRT or purchase a VPN
end-point type router.

Another solution, and one that I now use, is to setup a Windows Home Server
so my remote family and I can access shared photos, files, etc via a SSL
connection.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...r/default.mspx

In all cases to call the home network/server you can use the public IP of
your router. An easy way to do this is to use a free dynamic name service
from DynDNS or No-IP.com (or a similar service) that maps your home public
IP (generally dynamically assigned by ISPs if your on a residential account)
that maps a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) to your public IP. You then
call home using the FQDN.

http://www.dyndns.com
http://www.no-ip.com

Some home routers, like the current Belkin F5D7230-4 I use, include built-in
support for DynDNS or No-IP.com. You just sign up for an account and
configure the router for your login information. If your router does not
support that then you can download and install a small program on one of
your PCs that will contact the DynDNS or No-IP.com servers on a time
scheduled basis. The server then know what your current IP is and map that
to your FQDN. It works very well...

So, if your specific as to what you want to do, your type if ISP (ie. cable,
DSL, etc), what router you have (make and model) and what OS's your server
and clients will run on others will be able to help you better...

--

Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...