Sign in
Microsoft.com
 
Microsoft
 
 
 

locked
Dynamic IP Address: Able To Get To Server From Afar? RRS feed

 > 

  • Question

  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    Some of my reading on WHS left me with the impression that I could set things up such that I could get a console or even RemoteDesktop to the box from outside of my home LAN - even though my home LAN connects to the internet via a dynamic IP address (Verizon FIOS).

    Truth or fiction?

    If true can somebody give me a dumbed-down version of how?

    No details, just the bottom and I'll take it from there.

    e.g. "Monthly fee, subscribe to xyz service."
    Friday, March 27, 2009 3:18 PM

Answers

  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    1
    Sign in to vote
    You should take a look at the Remote Access technical brief, which answers most of your questions. The one it doesn't answer is regarding Remote Desktop. Using Remote Desktop to access your server is unsupported; in addition using Remote Desktop over the Internet is a potential security risk due to a known "man in the middle" attack against Remote Desktop authentication. You can open port 3389 in your router's firewall, but you do so at your own risk.

    However, Verizon FIOS will normally block access to your server; in most locations they block all incoming ports for residential accounts.
    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Friday, March 27, 2009 3:24 PM
    Moderator

All replies

  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    1
    Sign in to vote
    You should take a look at the Remote Access technical brief, which answers most of your questions. The one it doesn't answer is regarding Remote Desktop. Using Remote Desktop to access your server is unsupported; in addition using Remote Desktop over the Internet is a potential security risk due to a known "man in the middle" attack against Remote Desktop authentication. You can open port 3389 in your router's firewall, but you do so at your own risk.

    However, Verizon FIOS will normally block access to your server; in most locations they block all incoming ports for residential accounts.
    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Friday, March 27, 2009 3:24 PM
    Moderator
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    1
    Sign in to vote
    I'm not sure about using the homeserver web page.  But in a worse case scenerio, you could always use a free Dynamic DNS service like DynDNS.  It requires a small piece of software either on your router or a computer on your local network.  It basically calls "home" and lets them know what your IP address is now.

    My router actually has this built in, so I didn't need to add anything to my computers to make it work.

    Brian
    Friday, March 27, 2009 4:29 PM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    1
    Sign in to vote
    Ken Warren said:

    You can open port 3389 in your router's firewall, but you do so at your own risk.


    if you do so, dont forget also to modify the scope of Remote Desktop exception in the Windows Firewall of Windows Home Server to allow access from all networks (default is local subnet).
    Works usually fine with homeserver.com domain and also with a dyndns account to cover the rare situations, in which the live custom domain services fail or are not registered properly.

    Best greetings from Germany
    Olaf
    Friday, March 27, 2009 10:15 PM
    Moderator
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    1
    Sign in to vote
    Remote Desktop works fine from the WHS server, and the built in DDNS (HomeServer.com) or if you have an HP Home Server the TZO.COM option is there as well.  In either case, this domain name is kept updated if the IP changes, so not only can you use this domain name for connections to the Home Server remote web page, but you can also use this domain name for all other network activites.  If your ISP blocks port 80 and 3389 (doubtful on 3389) you can change the ports.  Make sure you do as Oalf says, change the SCOPE of the remote desktop firewall port to include external networks or it will never work from the outside

    There is also a way to change the port of the server in WHS, you can see MyHomeServer.com and some of the tutorials for that.....they show how to do this on a WHS powered HP MediaSmart server

    good luck!
    Tuesday, March 31, 2009 1:49 PM