Dumb question about VNC

[sellis]

OK, here's a question I haven't seen a good answer to...

 

Like many people I am unpaid tech support for my parents. It would be good to be able to use VNC to control their machine remotely, instead of having do describe iconsto them down the phone.

 

("No, the one that looks like a printer." "There isn't one." "The second one along." "That doesn't look like my printer." "Click on it anyway." Sigh.)

 

Anyway, both they and I have dynamic IP addresses - a consequence of the ISPs we are connected to. I'm also behind a wireless router, so my IP address is always 192.168.1.100, which isn't really visible to the outside.

 

So, how do I go about setting up VNC connection between these machines? Can I do it at all?

 

Apologies for rank ignorance - IP routing isn't an area I have studied in any great detail.

 

 

 

Moved from Software to Networking - Artificial Intelligence

[papaschtroumpf]

1) dynamic IP:

 

- call them on the phone, ask them to run ifconfig if their box is kinux, ipconfig if it's Windows and it will tell you waht the current IP is and you can enter that in your VNC client.

 

- the other ("right") way of doing it is to set up your parents with dynamic DNS. Look at dyndns.org, there are other providers for free dynamic DNS too. You will have to install a dynamic DNS client on your parent's computer (unless yourt router is dyndns aware, I think my linksys one is), that client will basically tell the dyndns server every time the IP address of your parent's computer changes,

Dyndns gives you a "domain name", for example momandpop.sellis.dyndns.org, and you can enter that as the server address in your vnc client (basically works just like "normal" dns).

Google for dynamic DNS to learn more about it, I would advise going with the free services, they work just fine. There are "clients" for windows. MACs and linux

 

2) router

you need to set port forwarding in your parents' router (also called virtual server on some routers). If your parents' PC behind the router is always at 192.168.1.105, then you need to forward TCP port 5900 to that machine in your router. Look at the manual for your router on how to do that.

 

hope this helps

Edited February 1, 2005 by papaschtroumpf

[sellis]

Thanks, Papaschtroumpf. I am currently waiting for my registration e-mail from DynDNS.org to work its way through our spam filters at work - I will let everyone know how I got on.

 

Edit: well, as mentioned in another thread, my motherboard went "pzzt" yesterday, so I'm waiting for a replacement - further updates on the Dynamic DNS problem may therefore be delayed...

Edited February 3, 2005 by sellis

[sellis]

Registration and setup of DynDNS was a piece of cake - I'd recommend it to others.

 

Since I have a WRT54G wireless router, I just entered the appropriate registration information in the router setup page, it manages it all for me, and off we go.

 

Add port forwarding for SSH and I can connect from work to home, and work from home when I'm at work. (Which is not quite as stupid as it sounds, in point of fact.)

[SoulSe]

I also use DynDNS - my router updates the dyndns servers with my current IP at home, I forward the ports I want to use through my router (usually just ssh) and it works like a dream.

[Sherpa]

im planing on doing this to but i will be using a linksys wireless VPN router... hope it works too. ( its just another option)

[SoulSe]

im planing on doing this to but i will be using a linksys wireless VPN router... hope it works too. ( its just another option)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So long as it does port forwarding you're in the green, and I'm yet to find a router that doesn't.