can i connect to my home networked pc's from the net?

[weebroonieuk]

is there a way to do this? i want to connect to my home network as if i was still on it ive got a linksys wag54g speedbooster piece of nonsense wifi router ive enabled it for remote managemet but that i imagine will only let me connect to the routers setup pages

i was hoping i could just connect through and access my shared folders as normal by just logging into router or something ?

is there away without having to instal software on all the pc's in the house to do this

im well aware of the likes of remote admin etc but im sure there is a simpler way!

and some of the networking gods in here will no doubt have some solutions ......fingers crossed

[Splash]

What OS are you running? You could forward the RDP port (3389) to one of your LAN PCs and use it like that if you have XP Pro? Be aware that if you do this it's a pretty hefty security risk. Another possibility is to use Hamachi which has been pimped around these parts pretty heavily - I haven't used it myself (VPN into my Draytek Vigor 2600 and do stuff that way) but a quick Google search should help.

[Moby-Dick]

www.logmein.com

[Splash]

...and there's that oft-pimped service too!

[weebroonieuk]

im on xp pro sometimes visa , other comps are all xp mce and one xp tablet!

dont want logmein that requires software installed does it not ?

[Moby-Dick]

it requires some software on the host PC , but you can connect to it from any browser (I think it loads a little activex plugin for it )

[Moby-Dick]

...and there's that oft-pimped service too!

I always pimp it for a good reason as ever

It doesn't' require me to open up any firewall ports and I can generally connect to my home machine from anywhere.

[weebroonieuk]

but i want to connect as if i was normally there, without a particular machine being on i have media and data on several machines, i was hoping i could just open up my computer and map drives etc the way i normally would whilst in the physical network ?

[Splash]

Wasn't criticising Moby, more pointing out that it's often recommended and as such is likely a good piece of kit.

XP Pro will allow remote connection once enabled (right click My Computer>Properties>Remote>tick the bottom box) and the relevant services/ports are allowed through the firewall. You can connect from any machine capable of running the RDP client.

EDIT - just read your post - sounds like you need some sort of VPN - Hamachi may well be what you're after.

[Moby-Dick]

Mapping drives across a VPN will be dog slow

[Splash]

Indeed it will, but it sounds like it's something weebroonieuk wants...

[weebroonieuk]

is it easy to make a vpn? can i do it just on my laptop and leave the rest of the pc's as is?

yeh i know it wll be slow would only be to have access to one of my many obscure files ive hoarded over the years or whatever

will it pop up with the user nd password etc if i login from the web as i dont want to disturb the media centers or it wll be pointless!

[Splash]

I think you need to decide exactly what you hope to achieve and give us a little more info - are you looking to have your laptop connected effectively to the same network as your PCs at home, or are you looking to take remote control of your home machines? What exactly are you wanting to do?

[weebroonieuk]

no not remote control them as i would just use remote admin or one of its ilk , just access to the pc's really nothing spectacular aslong as it doesnt fire up pop up boxes while someones watchin the tv or a film !