Home LAN setup

[abrogard]

First day - first few minutes - all this 'behind NAT' and this option, that option... surely there's a simple straightforward setup for that most common of all non-commercial home user setup, the home LAN? A setup wholly contained within the LAN?


How do I setup in quickest simplest fashion so's I can access, from any one computer in my (5 machine) LAN, any other computer on the LAN?

The LAN is, of course, behind a broadband modem/router running NAT.

[B]

Sure. Just install the full UltraVNC package on each machine. Install UltraVNC server as a service on each machine. Set a VNC password on each machine.

If you know the IP address of each machine (it helps if they're statically assigned) then you just run the VNC Viewer, specify the IP address or host name of the machine to which you want to connect, and you're there.

You might have to enable Windows Firewall or other software firewall pass-through, but that should do it. No port forwarding or NAT issues, reverse connecting, DSM plugins, or exposure to the outside world involved.

[abrogard]

Not often I get a reply as succinct and complete as that, never mind as quickly as that!

Thanks a heap.



p.s.

did it, it worked fine.

Now that's what I call minimum hassles.

And when I was teaching computing that's the way I'd introduce a prog - straight to the simplest and then elaborate.

And that's how I tried to write my user manuals when I was programming.

Following that line of reasoning I wonder what would be the next logical, easy step? It'd be in the direction of looking outside the LAN I guess.

And I remember reading a blurb that said Ultravnc was good for file sharing but I don't see how it could be any better than Windows Explorer.. what was that about I wonder...

[B]

You're welcome. Glad it worked out!

The next baby step might be forwarding a port at your router to ONE of the machines; it gets a little more complicated if you need remote access to more than one. I'd suggest a different port other than the default of 5900 (something in the high thousands) for a bit of "obscurity" -- there are lots of trojans out scanning for open VNC ports -- and a good password and/or DSM plugin.

I assume by "file sharing" you mean UltraVNC's file transfer feature. It works fine as long as the viewer and server are the same version. When crossing networks across the Internet you normally won't (and shouldn't!) have normal Windows file sharing available, unless you set up a VPN connection. And that's another story.

[abrogard]

Aah, yes, file sharing outside the LAN is what must have been meant - shows you how insular my thinking is, I"m entirely within our little nuclear family LAN.

Thanks again for your help. I'll explore using UVNC for a while..