Inquiry about setting up a remote desktop connection
Inquiry about setting up a remote desktop connection
Hi everyone, here’s the situation. I’m currently working from home with my PC and connected to City Cables internet. My friend lives nearby but uses a separate network. We both need to access his laptop remotely for work. Normally we can set up remote desktop when we’re on the same network, but now it doesn’t work across different networks. I’ve turned on remote desktop settings before, but it fails when connecting from different ISPs. Are there other options besides remote desktop that could help us link our machines in this case? Thanks.
Even if you shared the same ISP, each network operated independently. It functioned only where both devices were connected to the identical local network. (Same subnet, same router.) RDP connections are intercepted on both devices. Don’t just enable ports for remote access on both modems—this opens you up to security risks. Also, local and remote desktop accounts can’t coexist in the same non-server Windows installation at once. Logging in will cause them to disconnect, and re-entry will result in being blocked. Consider using a zero-config remote tool like TeamViewer or establishing a VPN between locations. TeamViewer works out of the box, while a VPN tunnel lets you access RDP as if the machine were on your network.
consider alternatives to RDP such as teamviewer or other internet-based solutions. set up a VPN server on your network so he can join from anywhere, or use radmin to create a peer-to-peer link between the two devices and then connect via RDP. port forwarding for the RDP port is possible but not strongly advised.
The simplest setup I've encountered is LogMeIn Hamachi. https://www.vpn.net/ You might prefer TeamViewer if you need features beyond basic remote access, such as LAN-only multiplayer gaming.
So essentially in my initial message I made the problem easier to understand so I could explain it clearly and find a solution quickly. Here’s what I faced:
1. I work from home this Sunday because my office is closed. I use a Windows 11 PC at home.
2. I need to link to a server running Windows Server 2012 at the office for work.
3. The office server has several user IDs—one is an Administrator and another is Employee1.
4. With Chrome Remote Desktop, I can only access either the Administrator or Employee1 account.
5. Other colleagues also connect to the same server and use different accounts.
6. Typically, I use Employee1 for me while others use the Administrator account.
7. Chrome Remote Desktop restricts connections to one user at a time. When another user joins, the existing session ends, and I have to log in as Administrator again.
8. Teamviewer works but is slow and causes the same issue of multiple users trying to connect simultaneously.
9. Using Remote Desktop Connection requires entering credentials manually, which can be cumbersome.
10. Previously, I used similar steps for a while, but one internet service on the server stopped working, affecting remote connections.
11. I’m trying to find an alternative solution so I can regain access without IT help right now.
12. Someone might suggest contacting IT, but that’s not feasible at the moment due to certain constraints.
I’m aiming for a workaround that lets me connect directly to Employee1 or Administrator without disruptions.