One common practice for many remote users is to connect to your PC or laptop at the office using your business RDP or VPN solution but what if you are at the office or in a hotel and you would like to access your computer at home or laptop?
*Note that some businesses and some hotel might disallow using the RDP service or port.
Step 1- Public IP Address and DDNS provider
All residential internet plans come with a Dynamic Public IP address which means that your IP address of your internet, for example 72.100.100.5, is not static or not a "set in stone" ip. That address will change after reboots or a set period of time defined by your internet service provider.
What is your public IP address?
Whats My IP Address - IP Address, Whois & IP Tracing
*You will also need a free or paid Dynamic DNS provider to help you with updating your IP address automatically and attach it to something easier to remember like example.ddns.net or to your domain like example.domain.com.
Step 2- Find out how to connect to your modem/routers management webpage and your home computer's internal IP address.
Example of common address used is http://192.168.2.1.
-Use the command "ipconfig" in a command prompt window. The IPv4 in most "home" cases should be the IP address needed to access your PC's when you are at home, example 192.168.2.15
-Use the command "ipconfig" in a command prompt window. The Default Gateway in most "home" cases should be the IP address needed to access your router's management portal, example 192.168.2.1
-Using the instructions manual that came with your router is another excellent way to get started with managing your router settings.
Step 3- Port forwarding
Once you have the information from Step 1 and Step 2 you may proceed.
The configuration here depends on your modem/router, you may want to lookup your router's model and do some searching on how-to instructions but I'll give you a brief step by step.
In your Port Forwarding rules. There is most likely nothing configured if this is your first time. If there is, please make sure whatever is setup there that it is still needed. If something is configured there, it may be that you have UPnP enabled and you may want to look into that. (UPnP is a whole different topic)
-For the purpose of this guide, create a new rule that you can name "RDP home".
-External port 3389, Internal port 3389. (RDP can be changed to a different port number but lets stick to the defaults for now)
-Choose which device, in this case your home PC's device name or the "internal" IP address of your home PC.
Make sure to save these settings.
Step 4- RDP Client and testing.
On windows: Use your windows "Search" on your taskbar to look for the keyword rdp or using "Run" enter "mstsc". This is the default built-in client for all Windows computers. "Remote Desktop Connection".
Once open, in this client, you will need your external IP address at home or more conveniently the name you associated your IP address with using your DDNS provider.
On Mac: In the Appstore, look for Microsoft Remote Desktop or Remote desktop Client.
The idea here is the same as Windows for the configuration.
If you've made a successful connection, you will be prompter to enter your Username and Password for your computer at home. This will be either your local account Username and Password or if you are using a MicrosoftAccount to connect, this will be your MicrosoftAccount\emailaddress + Password.
See Remote desktop not working with microsoft account - Microsoft Community if your MicrosoftAccount\ login fails.
Have a great day!