DIY: Remote Start
Before you are able to access your computer from a remote location, it needs to be powered on first. In the past this meant that someone had to physically turn on your machine. With a Wake on LAN capable network card, you can turn your computer on with a signal through the Internet.
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Things You'll Need
- Computer with Wake on LAN capable motherboard
- Remote access software
- Broadband Internet Connection
- Broadband modem with port forwarding capabilities
- Wake On LAN software
Instructions
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Check if your computer is Wake on LAN capable. As of 2010, most network interface cards are integrated with the motherboard. Check your motherboard's documentation to verify whether it is Wake on LAN capable.
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Enable Wake on LAN. This will involve booting your computer into BIOS, finding the Wake on LAN setting, enabling it and saving it before exiting BIOS and rebooting again. The exact procedure will vary depending on the type of motherboard you have, so check your motherboard's documentation before proceeding.
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Assign static IP to your computer. On a Windows machine, this can be done by clicking on "Start," then "Control Panel," then "Network and Internet," and "Network and Sharing Center." Choose the "Change adapter settings" option and right click on your Local Area Connection. Choose Properties and click on the line that reads "Internet Protocol Version 4" and click the Properties button. Under the General tab, click the "Use the following IP address:" radio button and enter an IP address, subnet mask and default gateway. Click OK to continue.
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Find and record the hardware address of your network card. The hardware address is also called the MAC address or the physical address.
On a Windows machine, this can be done by going to "Start," then "Run" and entering "cmd" in the Run text box. This will open a Command window. In the Command window, type "ipconfig /all" to list all the information about the network devices currently installed on your computer. Look for the Physical Address under the "Ethernet adapter" header. Record the physical address for future use.
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Open a port on your broadband router's firewall to allow outside traffic to your computer using the IP address you just assigned. The exact procedure will vary depending the broadband router. Write down the port you assigned as this will be used to send the command to start your computer from the Internet.
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Confirm your external IP address. This can be found in your broadband browser settings or via external website tools such as WhatIsMyIP.com
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Send a "smart packet" command to your computer via the Internet when you want to start your computer. The easiest way to do this is to use a GUI Wake on LAN tool such as Wake on LAN from MatCode or Wake on LAN from Despicus. These applications require an IP address, subnet mask and port number of the computer you want to connect to. Enter the information as required and the application will send a "smart packet" which will tell your computer to power on.
Once your computer is powered on, you should be able to connect to your computer via your preferred remote connection method.
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Tips & Warnings
Tasks such as opening up ports on your firewall to allow connections to computers inside your network can pose a threat to your home network security.
Wake on LAN only works for wired Ethernet connections. Wireless cards do not have Wake On LAN options.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit LAN image by Volker from Fotolia.com
