PCTech Forums

I am exploring port forwarding and hosting http site on my desktop and connect to it over internet or even use Remote desktop connection to my desktop. It just does not go thru.
It works flawlessly when ports are forwarded to my laptop IP addr.

Both Desktop & laptop have Win XP Pro SP3. I even disabled the firewall on desktop but no luck.

I use WAN IP of router to connect and ports (e.g. 80 for http, 3389 for RDP etc) are forwarded to the LAN IP of the desktop or laptop. I have even relaxed the firewall on router to endpoint independent setting. What is causing it to work with laptop but not with desktop is a mystery!! Any help would be great. Thanks.

Can you go to a DOS prompt (cmd) and run "ipconfig /all" without the quotes on both mahcines?

Yes, and it shows the usual details. Let me know if I should post any info here.

Yes, please post the details here.

Laptop

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : <hostname>
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : <domain>.com
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : <Domain>.com

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : <MAC ID>
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.x.x
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.x.x
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.x.x
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.x.x
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, July 02, 2012 11:02:14 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, July 09, 2012 11:02:14 PM



Desktop

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : <hostname>
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : <domain>.com

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : <domain>.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : <MAC ID>
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.x.x
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.x.x
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.x.x
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.x.x
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, July 02, 2012 11:29:18 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, July 09, 2012 11:29:18 PM

Above Ipconfig is when both are on router.

Moreover I notice that even bypassing the router, if I am just on net directly, go to canyouseeme.org to check for connection on port 3389 to my pc or laptop, it works with laptop but not with desktop. With desktop it always says connection timed out, even when firewall is disabled.

First, remember that the 192.168.x.x range is private. So if you post the full IP there is no security risk.

Second, you need to find out if those services are running on the problem pc. Can you put both of them on the router and then RDP from the laptop to the PC?

Desktop is 192.168.0.100 & laptop 0.102. DHCP reservation is enabled in router.
yes RDP works fine (either ways) when both are on router.

What I would try is setting the PC to a static IP that is much higher. Try 0.100. Make sure the subnet and gateway are set as well.

Lastly, I would do a "route print" and make sure no static routes are listed.

Thanks PCGuy. Would be great if you could explain how & where do I set the subnet & gateway. Is it in router or somewhere on PC and also how to use route print.

If you go into the network settings of your NIC and change the IP4 settings to something like the attached picture. I am assuming that your router's IP is 192.168.0.1.

To do a route print, simply open a command prompt and type "route print" without the quotes.

Finally I managed to get it working! I completely uninstalled the firewall security app from desktop and restarted the system. This time port forwarding worked! I guess I might not have got full hang of firewall setting & disabling/enabling it, so I might not be disabling it correctly!
I shall now switch to Windows firewall and see how it behaves. Thanks PCguy for your support.

Glad it's sorted dude.