How To Setup VNC Remote Access:
Note: This particular option is PAY FOR only and is recommended for users with a high level of expertize and competence.
Start
Run
CMD
Type Ipconfig /all & hit Enter. (note, there is a space between ipconfig and the /all)
Record IP address:
Record Default Gateway: (should look something like 192.168.x.x)
Open your Browser & navigate to Default Gateway address. (e.g. 192.168.x.x) this will take you to your routers Administrator page.
Enter User Name:
Enter Password:
Locate the section for “Port Forward” (This may be under Advanced, Security, or Advanced NAT configuration.) & may also be referred to as, Port Forward, Pinhole or NAT Routing.
Forward port 5900 using the IP address recorded above. You must forward this port for both UDP & TCP
Forward port 5800 using the IP address recorded above. You must forward this port for both UDP & TCP (Use this option if you want to be able to access from a Web browser as opposed to using the VNC viewer software)
Install RealVNC Server (Viewer installation is optional) accept all defaults with the exception of the password option. It would be extremely prudent to set a password for security reasons.
Use your browsers address bar to navigate to mywanip.com or whatismyip.com
or you can download a nice little App called FollowMeIPLite from HERE
This is a tiny FREE Application that runs directly from you PC and does not require installation.
Record your WAN IP (this is your IP for external access)
Record your PASSWORD (if one was set) & keep in a safe place.
That’s it! You’re Done.
You should now be able to access the PC from a remote location using VNC Viewer or a Web Browser by entering the WAN IP (this is your IP for external access) plus PASSWORD if one was set.
Insight to Real VNC:
When you install Real VNC you get the option to install both the "Server" & the "Viewer".
The server must be installed & running on the target machine (Your PC @ home) and the viewer should be installed on your laptop or whatever off site machine you wish to use to connect to the Target Machine.
When you want to connect to a remote PC (your PC @ home) you would type the WAN IP of your home PC into the viewer on the laptop or whatever off site machine you wish to use to connect to the Target Machine.
.
Your PC's IP Address looks something like 192.168.x.x Whereas your WAN IP would be something like 89.100.xxx.xx
TIP:
When you hover your mouse over the VNC icon in the system tray it displays your IP address. This is the internal IP of your machine & not the external WAN IP needed to connect from a remote location.
You also need to know that most Internet providers don't supply you with a "Static IP", They supply a Dynamic IP, because of this your IP can change from time to time or when you restart your modem/router your WAN IP can change too.
It would also be prudent to setup your home PC with a "Static internal IP"
This is not very difficult and you can get all the Info on that from here (I'm assuming that you are using XP) but the procedure is pretty much the same for Vista.
Note: When using static IP addresses on home and other private networks, they should be chosen from within the standard range. This is normally 192.168.0.0 through 192.168.255.255. You really only need to change the last set of digit(s), so if your current Internal IP was 192.168.1.1 you could use something like 192.168.1.3 as your Static IP.
It is also possible to connect to a remote computer via Real VNC using any Web Browser. For example, let's say you were at a remote location where you had access to a PC with Internet access but that Real VNC viewer was not installed, you could use the Web browser to connect to your PC @ home.
For example: If your WAN IP(on your home PC) was 89.100.45.678 that's exactly what you would type into the VNC Viewer to connect.
But if you had no viewer available & wanted to connect using a Web Browser, you would enter the following into the Browsers address bar
http://89.100.45.678:5800
It's not absolutely necessary to include the :5800 in the above url as it will work with or without it, I'm including it to try to impress upon you the difference between the two ports 5800 & 5900
Note: you must have Java installed for the Browser option to work.
Setup:
You need to setup "Port Forwarding" on your router in order to be able to access your machine form a remote location. You also need to forward the relevant ports for both UDP & TCP
Again you can get the Info on this here: Port Forward.com
Real VNC uses ports 5800 & 5900 for remote access.
Port 5900 is the one used for access using the Real VNC Viewer option.
Port 5800 is the one used for access using the Web Browser option.
Some points to note:
Don't confuse your "Internal IP" with you "WAN IP". Your WAN IP is actually your "External IP" & you can find out what your WAN IP is by going to this Website: MyWanIP.com This site also has a neat little download which runs in your system tray & lets you check your WAN IP from there if you want. Your WAN IP can also be found on the Admin page of your router.
You can also download FollowMeIp Lite (Even better) from HERE.
NOTE: If you have a situation where there are more than one machines on a network with the same WAN IP address that you wish to remote connect to, you will need to assign a different port number to the VNC software on each machine.
For example, if you had 3 machines, the first one would be set to 5900, the second to 5902 & the third to 5903 & so on, incrementing the last digit for each additional PC. You will also need to forward these additional ports or if available on your router add the range of ports.
Also remember that when you are trying to connect to any of these machines you must use its relevant port number.
Example: Let's say your WAN IP address was 89.100.xxx.xx
and you wanted to connect to the 5900 machine, you would just enter 89.100.xxx.xx
But if you wanted to connect to the third machine, you would enter 89.100.xxx.xx:5903
I found all this a little confusing at the start, but believe me it's not too hard at all to setup. Once you get it working, it works exceptionally well.
Just as a by the way:
Let's say for argument sake that you were at a remote location & you didn't know your current WAN IP, if you had the little download I mentioned above installed in the system tray, you could phone home & ask someone to click on it & give you the WAN IP.
Even better still, Lets say that due to a power outage or something that your router got restarted & your WAN IP changed? There is a program called IPMailer & it emails you the new WAN IP anytime your current WAN IP changes (Very handy believe me) & if you really wanted to be clever? you could use an email address from a mobile provider such as Vodafone & get it to TEXT you when the email is sent.
Trouble Shooting:
(a) Make sure your Ports are correctly forwarded.
(B) Make sure you have the correct WAN IP Address.
(C) Make sure your Firewall is not blocking you (Check your Windows Firewall, any 3rd party Firewall you may be using & your routers Firewall too)
So, To Recap:
Install RealVNC on your home PC.
Forward ports 5800 & 5900 on your router. (remember to do both for UDP & TCP)
Setup a Static IP on your home PC (Optional).
Install VNC viewer on your laptop (or use your Browser).
Record your WAN IP.
And away you go.
Really & truly though,
the best way to get this up & running is to find someone at a remote location who is willing to help & preferably with both of you using Skype so that you can actually try it out & be fully confident that you have it all working well.
That's how I done it originally & I've never looked back.
Anyway, that's enough waffle from me for now, I hope it gives you a better idea of how it all works.
-
Note: This particular option is PAY FOR only and is recommended for users with a high level of expertize and competence.
Start
Run
CMD
Type Ipconfig /all & hit Enter. (note, there is a space between ipconfig and the /all)
Record IP address:
Record Default Gateway: (should look something like 192.168.x.x)
Open your Browser & navigate to Default Gateway address. (e.g. 192.168.x.x) this will take you to your routers Administrator page.
Enter User Name:
Enter Password:
Locate the section for “Port Forward” (This may be under Advanced, Security, or Advanced NAT configuration.) & may also be referred to as, Port Forward, Pinhole or NAT Routing.
Forward port 5900 using the IP address recorded above. You must forward this port for both UDP & TCP
Forward port 5800 using the IP address recorded above. You must forward this port for both UDP & TCP (Use this option if you want to be able to access from a Web browser as opposed to using the VNC viewer software)
Install RealVNC Server (Viewer installation is optional) accept all defaults with the exception of the password option. It would be extremely prudent to set a password for security reasons.
Use your browsers address bar to navigate to mywanip.com or whatismyip.com
or you can download a nice little App called FollowMeIPLite from HERE
This is a tiny FREE Application that runs directly from you PC and does not require installation.
Record your WAN IP (this is your IP for external access)
Record your PASSWORD (if one was set) & keep in a safe place.
That’s it! You’re Done.
You should now be able to access the PC from a remote location using VNC Viewer or a Web Browser by entering the WAN IP (this is your IP for external access) plus PASSWORD if one was set.
Insight to Real VNC:
When you install Real VNC you get the option to install both the "Server" & the "Viewer".
The server must be installed & running on the target machine (Your PC @ home) and the viewer should be installed on your laptop or whatever off site machine you wish to use to connect to the Target Machine.
When you want to connect to a remote PC (your PC @ home) you would type the WAN IP of your home PC into the viewer on the laptop or whatever off site machine you wish to use to connect to the Target Machine.
.
Your PC's IP Address looks something like 192.168.x.x Whereas your WAN IP would be something like 89.100.xxx.xx
TIP:
When you hover your mouse over the VNC icon in the system tray it displays your IP address. This is the internal IP of your machine & not the external WAN IP needed to connect from a remote location.
You also need to know that most Internet providers don't supply you with a "Static IP", They supply a Dynamic IP, because of this your IP can change from time to time or when you restart your modem/router your WAN IP can change too.
It would also be prudent to setup your home PC with a "Static internal IP"
This is not very difficult and you can get all the Info on that from here (I'm assuming that you are using XP) but the procedure is pretty much the same for Vista.
Note: When using static IP addresses on home and other private networks, they should be chosen from within the standard range. This is normally 192.168.0.0 through 192.168.255.255. You really only need to change the last set of digit(s), so if your current Internal IP was 192.168.1.1 you could use something like 192.168.1.3 as your Static IP.
It is also possible to connect to a remote computer via Real VNC using any Web Browser. For example, let's say you were at a remote location where you had access to a PC with Internet access but that Real VNC viewer was not installed, you could use the Web browser to connect to your PC @ home.
For example: If your WAN IP(on your home PC) was 89.100.45.678 that's exactly what you would type into the VNC Viewer to connect.
But if you had no viewer available & wanted to connect using a Web Browser, you would enter the following into the Browsers address bar
http://89.100.45.678:5800
It's not absolutely necessary to include the :5800 in the above url as it will work with or without it, I'm including it to try to impress upon you the difference between the two ports 5800 & 5900
Note: you must have Java installed for the Browser option to work.
Setup:
You need to setup "Port Forwarding" on your router in order to be able to access your machine form a remote location. You also need to forward the relevant ports for both UDP & TCP
Again you can get the Info on this here: Port Forward.com
Real VNC uses ports 5800 & 5900 for remote access.
Port 5900 is the one used for access using the Real VNC Viewer option.
Port 5800 is the one used for access using the Web Browser option.
Some points to note:
Don't confuse your "Internal IP" with you "WAN IP". Your WAN IP is actually your "External IP" & you can find out what your WAN IP is by going to this Website: MyWanIP.com This site also has a neat little download which runs in your system tray & lets you check your WAN IP from there if you want. Your WAN IP can also be found on the Admin page of your router.
You can also download FollowMeIp Lite (Even better) from HERE.
NOTE: If you have a situation where there are more than one machines on a network with the same WAN IP address that you wish to remote connect to, you will need to assign a different port number to the VNC software on each machine.
For example, if you had 3 machines, the first one would be set to 5900, the second to 5902 & the third to 5903 & so on, incrementing the last digit for each additional PC. You will also need to forward these additional ports or if available on your router add the range of ports.
Also remember that when you are trying to connect to any of these machines you must use its relevant port number.
Example: Let's say your WAN IP address was 89.100.xxx.xx
and you wanted to connect to the 5900 machine, you would just enter 89.100.xxx.xx
But if you wanted to connect to the third machine, you would enter 89.100.xxx.xx:5903
I found all this a little confusing at the start, but believe me it's not too hard at all to setup. Once you get it working, it works exceptionally well.
Just as a by the way:
Let's say for argument sake that you were at a remote location & you didn't know your current WAN IP, if you had the little download I mentioned above installed in the system tray, you could phone home & ask someone to click on it & give you the WAN IP.
Even better still, Lets say that due to a power outage or something that your router got restarted & your WAN IP changed? There is a program called IPMailer & it emails you the new WAN IP anytime your current WAN IP changes (Very handy believe me) & if you really wanted to be clever? you could use an email address from a mobile provider such as Vodafone & get it to TEXT you when the email is sent.
Trouble Shooting:
(a) Make sure your Ports are correctly forwarded.
(B) Make sure you have the correct WAN IP Address.
(C) Make sure your Firewall is not blocking you (Check your Windows Firewall, any 3rd party Firewall you may be using & your routers Firewall too)
So, To Recap:
Install RealVNC on your home PC.
Forward ports 5800 & 5900 on your router. (remember to do both for UDP & TCP)
Setup a Static IP on your home PC (Optional).
Install VNC viewer on your laptop (or use your Browser).
Record your WAN IP.
And away you go.
Really & truly though,
the best way to get this up & running is to find someone at a remote location who is willing to help & preferably with both of you using Skype so that you can actually try it out & be fully confident that you have it all working well.
That's how I done it originally & I've never looked back.
Anyway, that's enough waffle from me for now, I hope it gives you a better idea of how it all works.
-
Last edited: