Remote Desktop App

[ARosch]

Is there a good App for remote desktop? I would like to use the surface to control my desktop when I am not sitting at my desk. I know on Android I always used splashtop because it came free with my Asus Transformer.

Also, is there a terminal app that I could use to ssh into the computers at the lab in my school?

Thanks.

 

[jnjroach]

The Remote Desktop Modern App works really well, I use it for Desktops and Servers all the time, full screen very responsive, if the Desktop is Windows 8 touch works just as it would on a tablet or touchscreen device.

I use my Surface RT as the touch interface for my desktop.

 

[ARosch]

Awesome, thank you!

 

[mrasmussen]

Is this an app from the app store? I don't have a Surface yet but I've used one for a few hours. I went to the metro UI, started typing remote desktop and the RDP app that comes with windows showed up. I assume it works as it should...

 

[jnjroach]

I've used both the desktop and Modern App, the desktop (mstsc.exe) works just like it x86 cousin, the Modern App is cleaner and is available from the Store.

 

[mrasmussen]

I've used both the desktop and Modern App, the desktop (mstsc.exe) works just like it x86 cousin, the Modern App is cleaner and is available from the Store.

cool, didn't know that.

 

[Br1an_g]

do the remote desktop apps only work when both devices are on the same lan? or could I set up to my home pc from anywhere over my mobile connections.

few pointers if you can would be great

 

[mrasmussen]

do the remote desktop apps only work when both devices are on the same lan? or could I set up to my home pc from anywhere over my mobile connections.

few pointers if you can would be great

Most home routers have a feature called port forwarding. remote desktop by default uses 3389 so you would log into your home router (linksys, netgear, etc..) go into the settings page and look for port forwarding, it is different on different routers. You would forward port 3389 to your home PC that you want to remote desktop to. You then need to grab the external IP of your router which would be the IP given to the router by your cable modem. This again should be in the router interface. Once you setup port forwarding and have the ip, you would open remote desktop on your surface, enter the external IP, you should then see your desktop show up. You then enter your credentials to get in.

Note:
You need a password on your home PC
When you log in, use the format machineName\username in the name column unless you have a domain
To log into your router interface to change settings, open your PC or surface, go to the command prompt and type ipconfig, this will give you your current IP. The default gateway should be the IP of your router. For example, if your pc is 192.168.1.100, your default gateway is most lilely 192.168.1.1 which is the ip of your router. So with that knowledge, open internet explorer and enter http://192.168.1.1 to get to the login page of your router. Enter the password and away you go.

 

[jnjroach]

I remote into Servers that are located in our CoLo, I use the Public IP Address and specific port that I set up to receive the RDP session, I also remote into my Windows 8 desktop at work through a VPN connection. So the only way is to have the Public IP address or VPN, it doesn't run like the old Live Mesh that used a client.

The Store has TeamViewer Touch that uses a client, but I found the experience slow and buggy and required additional licensing for commercial use.

 

[Br1an_g]

Most home routers have a feature called port forwarding. remote desktop by default uses 3389 so you would log into your home router (linksys, netgear, etc..) go into the settings page and look for port forwarding, it is different on different routers. You would forward port 3389 to your home PC that you want to remote desktop to. You then need to grab the external IP of your router which would be the IP given to the router by your cable modem. This again should be in the router interface. Once you setup port forwarding and have the ip, you would open remote desktop on your surface, enter the external IP, you should then see your desktop show up. You then enter your credentials to get in.

Note:
You need a password on your home PC
When you log in, use the format machineName\username in the name column unless you have a domain
To log into your router interface to change settings, open your PC or surface, go to the command prompt and type ipconfig, this will give you your current IP. The default gateway should be the IP of your router. For example, if your pc is 192.168.1.100, your default gateway is most lilely 192.168.1.1 which is the ip of your router. So with that knowledge, open internet explorer and enter http://192.168.1.1 to get to the login page of your router. Enter the password and away you go.

ok, did all this today and still unable to connect to my home pc. ports forwarded, remote connections enabled on home laptop, but cant find the pc.

 

[jnjroach]

The connection string should look something like the XXX.XXX.XXX.XXXort Number, so if your external IP was 111.111.111.111 and you were using the default RDP port of 3389, your connection string that you enter into the RDP client would 111.111.111.111:3389 that should get you to your remote host.

 

[ARosch]

This would be a great idea for a guide, if someone had the spare time. Just make a detailed explanation (with pictures) on how to set up a desktop computer with port forwarding so that you could use remote desktop to connect to it.