Setting Up Port Forwarding

If your network uses a router, you need to configure it to forward data sent to the port specified in step 1 to the Remote Desktop host computer. This is port forwarding, and the steps you follow depend on the device.

Connecting Using the IP Address and New Port

You're now ready to make the connection to the Remote Desktop host via the Internet. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Connect to the Internet.
2. Select Start, type remote, and then select Remote Desktop Connection in the search results.
3. In the Computer text box, type the external IP address of the router or remote computer and the alternative port you specified in step 1, separated by a colon.
4. Set up your other Remote Desktop options as needed. For example, click Options, display the Experience tab, and then select the appropriate connection speed, such as Modem (28.8Kbps), Modem (56Kbps), or Broadband (128Kbps-1.5Mbps).
5. Click Connect.

Using Dynamic DNS to Access Your Network

If you want to use Remote Desktop via the Internet regularly, constantly monitoring your dynamic IP address can be a pain, particularly if you forget to check it before heading out of the office. A useful solution is to sign up with a dynamic domain name system DNS (DDNS) service, which supplies you with a static domain name. The service also installs a program on your computer that monitors your IP address and updates the service's DDNS servers to point your domain name to your IP address. Here are some DDNS services to check out:

DynDNS (www.dyndns.org)
TZO (www.tzo.com)
No-IP.com (www.no-ip.com)
D-Link (www.dlinkddns.com)

However, you may not want to rely on a program to keep your network external IP address and your domain name synchronized. For example, you may want to turn off the computer when you're away from home or the office. In that case, most routers offer a DDNS feature that will handle this for you. You specify your DDNS provider, your domain name, and your logon data, and the router does the rest.