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Does anyone know if this is even possible and if so, how to set it up?

I have a wireless network at home with a Linksys router using a DSL
connection. I do NOT have a static IP address. I'm wondering if I can
somehow use remote desktop to access various PC's on my network. I use
remote desktop all the time but only to access PC's with known IP addresses.
Can this be done?

Thanks for the help.

If you mean the public IP of your router is not static then look at using a
free dynamic naming service like No-IP.com that maps a fully qualified
domain name (FQDN) to your ISPs assigned IP. You then call using the FQDN
versus the public IP of the router. I use No-IP.com to reach my home LAN so
I can access it remotely using Secure Shell (SSH) and run Remote Desktop
through the secure tunnel...

http://www.no-ip.com

Otherwise if you mean hosts on you internal private home LAN use dynamic IP
addressing then generally its best to use a static IP on your network
particularly when it comes down to port forwarding through a
firewall/router. Otherwise the RDP host PCs local IP may change which
negates any port forwarding scheme.

If you enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP on each PC you can generally access them
using their network name while on the local LAN...

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/...hoot/netbt.htm

You could also use this registry hack on each of your PCs so they advertise
their presence as far as Remote Desktop is concerned...

Reboot each PC after making the change...
READ THESE TWO KB ARTICLE FIRST!!!!!!

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;EN-US;256986


http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;EN-US;322756


The hack...


http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;281307

All those strategies will probably not help when it comes down to port
forwarding through a firewall/router.

You might look at the alternate addressing scheme to assign a static IP at
home and use a DHCP IP elsewhere... That may work for you...

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...utoconfig.mspx

....or NetSwitcher..

http://www.netswitcher.com/

Lastly some wireless access points allow you to assign a DHCP IP address to
a specific client MAC address. A pseudo static IP if you will. I can do that
with my Buffalo WBR-G54. That way everytime a wireless client of mine
accesses my home LAN it gets assigned the same IP address.

See this page for general help with Remote Desktop...

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

--
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...


"Tom" <> wrote in message
news:13ECA80F-6DD5-43A7-BC1A-...
> Does anyone know if this is even possible and if so, how to set it up?
>
> I have a wireless network at home with a Linksys router using a DSL
> connection. I do NOT have a static IP address. I'm wondering if I can
> somehow use remote desktop to access various PC's on my network. I use
> remote desktop all the time but only to access PC's with known IP
> addresses.
> Can this be done?
>
> Thanks for the help.

Thanks so much for the information. It looks like I need the "no-ip"
solution. My router's public IP is dynamically generated.

If I use this solution and come up with a FQDN from no-ip, then my issue
will be setting up each PC (3 of them) on the network for remote access. Do
you know of any how-to document of some sort?

Thanks again for all the help.


"Sooner Al [MVP]" wrote:

> If you mean the public IP of your router is not static then look at using a
> free dynamic naming service like No-IP.com that maps a fully qualified
> domain name (FQDN) to your ISPs assigned IP. You then call using the FQDN
> versus the public IP of the router. I use No-IP.com to reach my home LAN so
> I can access it remotely using Secure Shell (SSH) and run Remote Desktop
> through the secure tunnel...
>
> http://www.no-ip.com
>
> Otherwise if you mean hosts on you internal private home LAN use dynamic IP
> addressing then generally its best to use a static IP on your network
> particularly when it comes down to port forwarding through a
> firewall/router. Otherwise the RDP host PCs local IP may change which
> negates any port forwarding scheme.
>
> If you enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP on each PC you can generally access them
> using their network name while on the local LAN...
>
> http://www.practicallynetworked.com/...hoot/netbt.htm
>
> You could also use this registry hack on each of your PCs so they advertise
> their presence as far as Remote Desktop is concerned...
>
> Reboot each PC after making the change...
> READ THESE TWO KB ARTICLE FIRST!!!!!!
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;EN-US;256986
>
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;EN-US;322756
>
>
> The hack...
>
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;281307
>
> All those strategies will probably not help when it comes down to port
> forwarding through a firewall/router.
>
> You might look at the alternate addressing scheme to assign a static IP at
> home and use a DHCP IP elsewhere... That may work for you...
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...utoconfig.mspx
>
> ....or NetSwitcher..
>
> http://www.netswitcher.com/
>
> Lastly some wireless access points allow you to assign a DHCP IP address to
> a specific client MAC address. A pseudo static IP if you will. I can do that
> with my Buffalo WBR-G54. That way everytime a wireless client of mine
> accesses my home LAN it gets assigned the same IP address.
>
> See this page for general help with Remote Desktop...
>
> http://theillustratednetwork.mvps.or...d_Network.html
>
> --
> 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...
>
>
> "Tom" <> wrote in message
> news:13ECA80F-6DD5-43A7-BC1A-...
> > Does anyone know if this is even possible and if so, how to set it up?
> >
> > I have a wireless network at home with a Linksys router using a DSL
> > connection. I do NOT have a static IP address. I'm wondering if I can
> > somehow use remote desktop to access various PC's on my network. I use
> > remote desktop all the time but only to access PC's with known IP
> > addresses.
> > Can this be done?
> >
> > Thanks for the help.
>
>
>

You can open multiple ports on your router, ie. one for each PC...

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

....or run multiple RDP sessions through a VPN or Secure Shell (SSH) tunnel.
The advantage of this is you only have one port open on our router.
Personally I use SSH...

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

VPN help...

http://www.onecomputerguy.com/networ...vpn_server.htm
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/networking/xp_vpn.htm

Lastly you could access one PC, ie. PC1, then from that desktop access PC2,
then from PC2 access PC3...a "daisy chain" so to speak.

IMHO the VPN or SSH tunnel method is best. In all cases use *STRONG*
passwords or in the case of SSH you could use a private/public key pair for
authentication...

--
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...


"Tom" <> wrote in message
news:29CA7690-1124-4988-BBF0-...
> Thanks so much for the information. It looks like I need the "no-ip"
> solution. My router's public IP is dynamically generated.
>
> If I use this solution and come up with a FQDN from no-ip, then my issue
> will be setting up each PC (3 of them) on the network for remote access.
> Do
> you know of any how-to document of some sort?
>
> Thanks again for all the help.
>

That's very helpful. Thanks again for all the great info.
-Tom

"Sooner Al [MVP]" wrote:

> You can open multiple ports on your router, ie. one for each PC...
>
> http://theillustratednetwork.mvps.or...ple_PC_RD.html
>
> ....or run multiple RDP sessions through a VPN or Secure Shell (SSH) tunnel.
> The advantage of this is you only have one port open on our router.
> Personally I use SSH...
>
> http://theillustratednetwork.mvps.or...esktopSSH.html
>
> VPN help...
>
> http://www.onecomputerguy.com/networ...vpn_server.htm
> http://www.onecomputerguy.com/networking/xp_vpn.htm
>
> Lastly you could access one PC, ie. PC1, then from that desktop access PC2,
> then from PC2 access PC3...a "daisy chain" so to speak.
>
> IMHO the VPN or SSH tunnel method is best. In all cases use *STRONG*
> passwords or in the case of SSH you could use a private/public key pair for
> authentication...
>
> --
> 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...
>
>
> "Tom" <> wrote in message
> news:29CA7690-1124-4988-BBF0-...
> > Thanks so much for the information. It looks like I need the "no-ip"
> > solution. My router's public IP is dynamically generated.
> >
> > If I use this solution and come up with a FQDN from no-ip, then my issue
> > will be setting up each PC (3 of them) on the network for remote access.
> > Do
> > you know of any how-to document of some sort?
> >
> > Thanks again for all the help.
> >
>
>
>