Connecting a home computer to an office computer

[yachting]

I am having a connection problem. I am not a technician when it comes to computers (I need simple detailed instructions), please go easy on me. Here is my situation. My home computer is behind a Linksys router (hard wired) and my office computer is hard wired to a SMC router. Both computers use windows xp pro (no service pack upgrades) & run ultra vnc RC18 v1.0.0 (just installed). I have openned the required ports on both home & office routers. I can connect from office to home (the connection is to my router's IP address) but I can not connect from home to office. I noticed the DNS Server # on my home computer are different from my DNS Server # on my Linsys router. My home router is connected to another PC (windows XP & running same version of ultravnc w/same problems) & a Macintosh. I do not know what to do to get the connection from home to the office to work. I suspect it could be a problem with the Linksys router. Please help!!!!!!!!!!

[Sir Nigel]

Well, if the connection from office to home works, it seems that the necessary ports are fine, so your home router should no be an issue for outgoing connections. Do you have the right ip for your office? Also, if you just use an ip address for connecting to your office, your DNS settings should not matter. So maybe take another look at how your office's network is setup. Maybe you can talk to a system admin?

[yachting]

Thank you for your assistance. I can not figure this problem. My office is simply a cable internet line comes into the building and connects with a SMC modem/router conbination. I am hard wired into the SMC modem/router & have configured the ports (forwarding & trigerring) as well as an attempt to enable DMZ without success. Do I need a static IP address? My home pc is not static. Thanks for answering.

[EricCartman]

Make sure you have the proper IP address for your office router. Since it isn't static, you have to stay on top of it. Use DYNDNS.org or something. With DSL they change the IP address often. With cable you'll change when they renew it also but not usually so often. I've found that 90% of my connection problems are because the IP address of the server (router) has changed.

Testing is difficult if you have to run home everytime to test. If you can use another computer near your office computer (with a different internet connection) it makes testing the connection easier. Double check your router's port forwarding to your office computer....the 192.168.... IP addresses assigned to your office computer by your router can change also. Then double check your routers IP address .. on an SMC you can see that IP address on your "status" page. Don't use the the "gateway" IP address, use the "WAN IP" address. Once you have double checked everything then test the connection QUICKLY.

You wouldnt believe the number of times I set up an office connection in the afternoon, then get to the remote site the next day and the dynamic IP address at the office (assigned by the internet provider) had changed.

Double checking the IP addresses and testing quickly solves most of these type problems.

[Guest]

Success! The office router had ports open but were reported as "stealth" (pcflank.com). I reconfigured the router to send to my office pc. Case closed.