trouble connecting to Remote Desktop

[Jonathan_King]

Hello all,

I have been playing around with RD lately, and so far have successfully connected to my machine from another computer in my LAN. The logical next step is to connect from outside. I followed the instructions here for changing the port my computer listens to. Then I called my ISP, and they informed me that by default, all ports are open on their routers.

I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best, but when I entered my IPort into RD on another machine (in the same LAN), it just thinks a while and errors: "Cannot connect to the remote computer. Try again" (something like that).

I can still connect by entering my computer name.

What more do I have to do to RD from outside my LAN?

 

[hattrik21]

If you changed the port number in your registry, you will need to add that port as an exclusion in your Windows firewall. At least thats what I had to do on my Vista box as I had 2 machines in my network, one on the default port and the other on a diff port.

Also verify that your router if you have one also has that port open.

Also did you reboot after making the port number change?

 

[Jonathan_King]

Thanks Daniel. I just rebooted and checked my firewall (Windows Firewall). It still looks like Windows is listening to port 3389 for RD, but I cannot change it. I also tested connecting through 3389, but it does not work.

 

[hattrik21]

You will need to add a new entry and set it for TCP port to exclude for the firewall and just add your port number to it.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Okay, I added a new rule for my port, and it still won't work. Furthermore, I cannot even connect anymore by typing my username. Should I revert the reg entry back to the default?

 

[hattrik21]

So are you getting connected to the machine and failing to log in? I'm confused when you said your typing your username so I want to be clear.

If you use port 3341 for your RD, then after the registry update and reboot, you add the TCP port exclusion for port 3341 and then connect to it from the remote machine. Anything from a router/firewall/personal software firewall needs to have the port open as well. Are you running any AV software with a firewall in it?

If you do, disable the firewall (one at a time) to track down which is the culprit. I would also disable the Windows one just to make sure that's not the issue.

If you have AIM, feel free to contact me on this as I'll be around for a few hours. The contact info is in my profile.

 

[Jonathan_King]

I could not even connect to the computer.

I just reverted the reg entry back to 3389, now I can connect if I type my computer name (jonathan) instead of my IPort into RD.

I gotta leave, but I will do a little more testing.

 

[hattrik21]

OK I just looked over the windows firewall stuff in Win7 and it's different from Vista so when you setup your rule did you allow for all three options? Public, Domain, and Private.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Okay, I'm back.

I turned off the firewall for the time being.

I wonder if the problem is that the router is blocking the ports. Is there any way to test this?

I can now connect if I type in my computer name, but not if I type in the IPort. I set the port back to 3389 in the registry.

 

[brady]

been a while so forgive me if my info is a bit off:

just use the IP and not the port. The port addition is bypassing forwarding from what I remember.

the reason you can use your machine name is that it's actually forwarding using your router config and windows firewall rules. but when adding your ort, you bypass rules for the RDP thus it's hesitation and eventual failure.

 

[Jonathan_King]

been a while so forgive me if my info is a bit off:

just use the IP and not the port. The port addition is bypassing forwarding from what I remember.

the reason you can use your machine name is that it's actually forwarding using your router config and windows firewall rules. but when adding your ort, you bypass rules for the RDP thus it's hesitation and eventual failure.

Thanks. It doesn't work. Still the same hesitation and then failure.

Did I mention I have 2 machines behind the same router? I changed on of them to a different RD port, and the machine in focus is at the default.

 

[RedBirdDad]

If you have two machines you can still get RDP to work without having to change the ports the machines listen to. The key is to do a redirect.

Let's say your public IP address is 75.23.12.5 and the two PC are 192.168.1.10 and 192.168.1.20:

Make up *two* new port numbers, say 5010 and 5020. These would correspond to 192.168.1.10 and 192.168.1.20 respectively.

Set two rules in your router:

Incoming requests to 75.23.12.5:5010 and redirect to 192.168.1.10:3389.

Incoming requests to 75:23.12.5:5020 and redirect to 192.168.1.20:3389.

The ability to do this depends on the router though. Not all support redirects.

 

[Jonathan_King]

I am starting to wonder if my router is blocking those ports. I will call my ISP tomorrow. They provide the router, and forbid access to the configuration to me. When I call them, I will have them confirm those ports are open, and do as you recommend.

 

[RedBirdDad]

Ouch. Don't you hate it when they try to protect you from yourself?

 

[computersplus]

Port Forward

yes you need to forward those ports from within the router same rule as bittorrent

 

[hattrik21]

Redbirds option is good one. Doing that or having them allow the other port you tried to use through your router would work as well. If you think it is the router, don't forget to turn that Windows firewall back on.