How To Access Remote Desktop In Windows Server 2012

Past default, Windows Remote Desktop volition only work on your local network. To access Remote Desktop over the Internet, you'll need to use a VPN or forward ports on your router.

We've covered several solutions for accessing your desktop remotely over the Cyberspace. However, if you have a Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate edition of Windows, you already take the full Windows Remote Desktop installed. Home versions of Windows only accept the remote desktop customer for letting you connect to machines, just you need one of the pricier editions in social club to connect to your PC. If y'all're using Remote Desktop, getting it set up for access over the cyberspace isn't too difficult, simply you will have to leap through a couple of hoops. Earlier you get started, enable Remote Desktop on the PC you want to access and brand certain you tin reach it from other computers on your local network.

RELATED: Remote Desktop Roundup: TeamViewer vs. Splashtop vs. Windows RDP

Option One: Fix a VPN

RELATED: What Is a VPN, and Why Would I Need One?

If yous create a virtual private network (VPN), you won't have to expose the Remote Desktop server direct to the Cyberspace. Instead, when yous're abroad from home, you can connect to the VPN, and your computer will act like it's function of the same local network as the estimator at home, running the Remote Desktop server. This will allow you to admission Remote Desktop and other services unremarkably only exposed on your local network.

Nosotros've covered a number of ways to set up your ain home VPN server, including a style to create a VPN server in Windows without any extra software or services.

RELATED: How to Ready Your Own Abode VPN Server

Setting up a VPN is by far the more secure option when information technology comes to making Remote Desktop accessible over the internet, and with the correct tools, it's pretty simple to reach. Information technology is non your just option, though.

Option Two: Expose Remote Desktop Directly to the Cyberspace

Y'all can also skip the VPN and expose the Remote Desktop server directly to the Internet past setting your router to forward Remote Desktop traffic to the PC beingness accessed. Obviously, doing this opens yous up to potential attacks over the internet, so if you become this route you'll want to empathize the risks. Malware and automated hacking apps out at that place on the internet are pretty much constantly probing your router for weakness like open TCP ports, particularly commonly used ports similar the i Remote Desktop uses. You lot should at least make sure you accept strong passwords set upwards on your PC, but even and then you're vulnerable to exploits that might accept been discovered but not yet patched. Nevertheless, while we strongly recommend using a VPN, yous can all the same allow RDP traffic in over your router if that's your preference.

Set Up a Single PC for Remote Access

RELATED: How to Forward Ports on Your Router

The procedure is pretty straightforward if you lot just have one PC yous want to make attainable over the cyberspace. The PC on which y'all ready up Remote Desktop is already listening for traffic using the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Y'all'll need to log into your router and accept it frontward all traffic using TCP port 3389 to the IP address of the PC running Remote Desktop. Since routers accept different interfaces, information technology's impossible to give instructions specific to you. Merely for more detailed help, be sure to cheque out our in-depth guide to port forwarding. Here, we're just going to run through a quick instance using a basic router.

First, you'll demand to know the IP address of the PC running Remote Desktop that you want to connect to. The easiest way to exercise this is to fire up the Command Prompt and employ the ipconfig command. In the results, look for the section detailing the network adapter connecting y'all to the Internet (in our example, it's "Ethernet Adapter"). In that section, look for the IPv4 address.

Next, you'll log into your router and locate the Port Forwarding section. Exactly where that is volition depend on what router you're using. In that section, forward TCP port 3389 to the IPv4 accost yous located previously.

You now should exist able to log into Remote Desktop over the internet past connecting to the public IP address your router exposes for your local network.

Remembering that IP address tin can be tough (especially if it changes), so you likewise may want to ready a dynamic DNS service so you lot can always connect with an easy-to-recall domain name. You may also desire to set a static IP address on the calculator running the Remote Desktop server. This volition ensure that the reckoner's internal IP accost won't change—if it does, you lot'll take to change your port forwarding configuration.

RELATED: How To Hands Access Your Home Network From Anywhere With Dynamic DNS

Modify the Port Number or Ready Upwardly Multiple PCs for Remote Access

If y'all have multiple PCs on your local network that you want to be able to access remotely over the internet—or if you take one PC but want to modify the default port used for Remote Desktop—you take a piddling more work cutting out for you. Setting up a VPN is still your better selection here in terms of ease of setup and security, but there is a way to do it through port forwarding if you want. The trick is that you'll need to dive into the Registry on each PC to change the TCP port number it uses to listen for Remote Desktop traffic. Y'all and so forward ports on the router to each of the PCs individually using the port numbers you set up for them. You can besides utilize this pull a fast one on even if you accept just one PC and want to change away from the default, commonly-used port number. This is arguably a flake more secure than than leaving the default port open up.

Before you dive into the Registry, you should besides note that some routers allow y'all to heed for traffic on one external port number, but and so frontward traffic to a different port number and PC internally. For example, you lot could have your router listen for traffic coming from the internet on a port number like 55,000 and so forward that traffic to a specific PC on your local network. Using this method, you wouldn't accept to change the ports each PC uses in the Registry. You could do it all on your router. So, cheque whether your router supports this first. If information technology does, skip the Registry part of these instructions.

Assuming you lot've got Remote Desktop prepare on each of the PCs and it'south working for local access, you'll need to go to each PC in turn and perform the following steps:

Become the IP address for that PC using the procedure we outlined previously.
Use Registry Editor to change the Remote Desktop listening port number on that PC.
Make notes on which port number goes with which IP address.

Here'southward how to do the Registry part of those steps. And our usual standard warning: Registry Editor is a powerful tool and misusing it tin can render your system unstable or even inoperable. This is a pretty simple hack and as long as you stick to the instructions, yous shouldn't have any issues. That said, if you've never worked with it before, consider reading near how to utilize the Registry Editor before you get started. And definitely back up the Registry (and your computer!) before making changes.

RELATED: Learning to Utilize the Registry Editor Similar a Pro

Open the Registry Editor by hitting Starting time and typing "regedit." Printing Enter to open Registry Editor and give it permission to make changes to your PC.

In the Registry Editor, use the left sidebar to navigate to the following central:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Arrangement\CurrentControlSet\Control\Final Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp\PortNumber

On the right side, double-click the PortNumber value to open its backdrop window.

In the properties window, select the "Decimal" option and so type the port number you desire to utilise. What port number yous choose is up to you lot, merely be aware that some port numbers are already in apply. You can check out Wikipedia'south list of common port assignments to come across numbers you shouldn't use, but network apps installed on your PC may use additional ports. Port numbers can become all the way up to 65,535, though, and if you choose port numbers over fifty,000 y'all should be pretty safe. When you lot've entered the port number y'all want to apply, click "OK."

You tin at present close Registry Editor. Brand a annotation of the port number you used, the IP address for that PC, and the name of the PC for good measure out. Then move on to the side by side PC.

When you're done changing port assignments on all your PCs, you can log into your router and first forwarding each of the ports to the associated PC. If your router allows it, you should also enter the name of the PC merely to go on things straight. You lot can always use the "Application" entry that near routers feature for keeping track of what application a port is assigned to. But enter the name of the PC followed by something like "_RDP" to keep thing direct.

Once you're done setting things upwardly, you should be able to log into Remote Desktop over the net by connecting to the public IP address your router exposes for your local network followed by a colon and so the port number for the PC to which you want to connect. For example, if my public IP was 123.45.67.89 and I'd gear up up a PC with the port number 55501, I'd connect to "123.45.67.89:55501."

Of course, you can always save that connection in Remote Desktop by name, so that yous don't accept to type in the IP address and port number every fourth dimension.

It does require a fair fleck of setup to get Remote Desktop working over the cyberspace, especially if you don't use a VPN and fifty-fifty more so if you have multiple computers you want to access. Merely, once you've got the setup done, Remote Desktop provides a pretty powerful and reliable way of accessing your PCs remotely and without requiring whatever additional services.

Source: https://www.howtogeek.com/131961/how-to-access-windows-remote-desktop-over-the-internet/

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