Unable to Remotely Access a PC on a Network

[Airwolf3103]

At home, I have a network set up, with my Sony desktop connected to the router. A Dell laptop connects to this network wirelessly for internet access and file/printer sharing etc. If I am offered “Remote Assistance” from the laptop, I can accept and help my wife out by remotely taking over it.

120 miles away, my wife's family have their own network which I set up and when she stays with her parents she uses that network to access the internet. However, when I am “asked” to remotely offer assistance, and I always accept, I get a pop up box which says something like “Attempting to connect to …..” (or sometimes nothing at all). However, I always get the error message “Remote assistance connection could not be established because the remote host name could not be resolved. Please try again”. I always get this whether it is done by MSN, windows messenger, or email (but emails take hours to be received by me, from the time they are sent). Both networks have Belkin routers which have a firewall (but doesn’t appear to be of much use) and all PCs on all networks either have Norton Internet Security 2005 or 2006 (both fully updated). All PCs operate with Windows XP Service pack 2. Mine is Home edition, the other main PC on the other network is professional. I have tried to get round this by disabling the hardware firewall, the software firewall and both at the same time, to no avail. On forums, I have noticed a lot of people have the same problems. Please can you help? Both Belkin and Symantec say its nothing to do with them!!

I have remotely accessed a friends PC who lives a few miles away so I guess the problem can't be at this side! I've asked on other forums, emailed magazines etc but no help as yet. Any ideas anyone? Thank you

 

[Serbtastic]

Do they use a home router on your wife's family's network? If so, you'll need to forward port 3389 to the computer on the network requesting remote assistance.

 

[Airwolf3103]

Thank you for replying - yes they do have their own router on their network. How do I "forward port 3389?". Someone suggested it may be a port issue but were unable to advise in further detail.

 

[JJDiver]

You also need to ensure both networks are using a different subnet. In other words, if your network uses 192.168.0.x, then your in-laws network must have a network other than 192.168.0.x, they could use 192.168.1.x.

If both routers are from the same manufacture, then there is a strong probability they are using the same network.

If you are unsure how to check the subnet's, reading the router manuals may help. You can also click start, run enter CMD, and type ipconfig.

Good luck,

Jeff

 

[Serbtastic]

There is no need to have them on different subnets. They can both use 192.168.0.x without a problem.

 

[Airwolf3103]

So, how do I "port forward" please?

Thanks

 

[Serbtastic]

Detailed instruction can be found in the user manual for their router. If you post the exact make/model router that they're using, someone can look it up for you on the manuafacturer's site.

 

[Airwolf3103]

Ok. Thanks for your help so far. I shall get the information.