[ITwannabee]

I'm trying to connect my work computer to my house computer using VNC. I'm double checking if i use whatismyip.com to find the IP address of my house computer or do i use ipconfig/all. i think i should use whatismyip.com because this is the IP that the outside world "sees" my home computer with right?

[office politics]

correct.

if your home network is implementing NAT, then you'll need to setup port forwarding on your router.

[ITwannabee]

One more thing that i don't understand. just now, my workstation at work can connect to other computers at work. BUT other computers cannot connect to my computer. All computers here at work have the same Outside IP so i was using the ipconfig/all to find out the IPs. hmmm, could it be user access? any ideas?

When i hover over the VNC icon, it shows that i have viewer. Could this be why? i would need to install the VNC server instead?

i'm trying to learn how to use this program so please explain to me the viewer and server section.

Thanks!

[office politics]

the server is the app that provides access to the pc; its the host app. the veiwer is the app that you use to connect and control the host pc; this is the client app.

when you are on the same lan, you must use the private ip to connect to a host pc; you would use ipconfig /all to see the private ip.

by default, the server installs a http daemon that allows access as well. to connect you must browse to http://*machinenameorip*:5800 . this will provide access without a client install.

[ITwannabee]

i installed real VNC server/viewer at my home PC and i got the outside IP, however, i couldn't connect to my home PC from my work PC. could it be a firewall setup? here at work, i'm able to connect to all of the computers within my LAN but when trying to connect to another LAN, it doesn't seem to work. any ideas?

[ITwannabee]

i guess i have to create a rule on the firewall/router that allows VNC to go through.

[mikesgroovin]

thats correct. just like csamuels stated above. you will be able to view anyone on a lan but typically not outside of the lan to another lan over the internet unless you setup port forwarding on your home gateway/router.

[DJ-CHRIS]

If you are behind a router, their is no way you can connect to your PC from outside your network. This is a limitation of the program.

However, DNS management makes connections possible

[ITwannabee]

So, for VNC, the setup is similar to all computers except for the router/firewall part? does all routers have a firewall feature? does a broadband modem have a firewall? does XP come with a firewall? if so, would i have to open that one as well? Sorry for the many question but i'm trying to really understand this program.

Thanks!!!

[office politics]

configurable options for vnc are which port numbers to use, when/what to refresh on the screen, mouse pointer tracking, http daemon (web access), what encryption to use, image compression and scaling.

Typically, I leave all the defaults except I set a password for the server/host.

do all routers have a firewall feature? most soho routers are labeled to have a integrated firewall. I think this should be described as a hardware firewall instead of a software firwall like we're all use to implementing. I don't think these firewalls allow you to permit/block in/out traffic specified by port. Check your documentation.

broadband modem firewall? check docs.

Xp does come with a firewall. pre-SP2 the firewall is turned off by default. In SP2, MS turned on the firewall by default. The settings are located in the network connection properties; this is the same place you can find a list of installed protocols for the connection. I think the xp firewall blocks all incoming connections except for a certain list of ports for commonly used apps. You should add VNC to the xp firewall exception list; found in the firewall settings.