Remote Access and DSL

[jpw2ch]

I am having trouble connecting remotely to a clients computer using DSL. It is behind a Westel modem and a wired Linksys router. I have opened up and fowarded port 3389 to the ip of the computer (192.168.1.101) in the router. When I run whatsmyip on that computer is gives me an ip but I can not even ping that ip remotely. Is there something I have to do with the modem?

[Tuttle]

If the modem is just a modem, no. If it's a modem/router combo, you'll need to do port forwarding on it as well as the Linksys.

Make sure you've enabled Remote Desktop on the PC, and allowed it through any software firewall running on that computer.

Note that forwarding a port like 3389 often still won't make the router respond to pings. That's usually a separate setting, if it's manageable at all.

It might be worth checking http://www.lagado.com/proxy-test to see if the machine you're trying to connect to is using a proxy to access the web. That won't stop you connecting, but it can throw off sites that try to show you your public IP address.

[jpw2ch]

Thanks for the response Tuttle. Isn't it the modem that I am trying to ping and not the router? When I run whatsmyip, isn't that the modem ip? I also remember changing the ip of the modem because it was the same as the router but I forgot to write it down. How can I find out the local ip of the modem in order to access the configuration? It used to be 192.168.1.1 but that is the router ip now.

[ua549]

Modems do not have IP addresses unless it has another function such as routing. Your public IP address is assigned by your ISP either as a static IP or a dynamic IP. Your router's public IP address can be seen via the management screens usually accessed via a browser. From your private network connect to http://192.168.1.1 to log in and view the configuration. You will need to forward port 3389 to the PC on your private network that you wish to access from the public network.

[jpw2ch]

I have already gone to the Linksys router configuration at 192.168.1.1 and fowarded 3389 to the local computer ip but still can not connect from outside the network. That's why I was thinking it was something in the modem that was blocking access. Shouldn't I be able to ping something (modem, router) from outside the network? Dosen't whatsmyip give me the public ip of the router?

[Tuttle]

Shouldn't I be able to ping something (modem, router) from outside the network?

Only if it wants to respond.

Dosen't whatsmyip give me the public ip of the router?

Only if you're connecting directly to it -- if there's a web proxy server in the way there's a good chance you'll see the proxy's IP address instead.

[Train]

And some IPs do use the hardware type proxy's.

Comcast did for a while up in this area.

[jpw2ch]

So I am back to my original question. How do you think I can use remote desktop in this type of environment?