Open port 3389 for Remote Desktop

How to Open a Remote Desktop Port

Remote Desktop allows you to access your computer from a different computer. You can open the Remote Desktop port only on your computer to allow it to be accessed only on your local network or open it also on your router to use the computer over the Internet. Before you open the remote desktop port on a router or firewall program, you will need to enable your user account to have Remote Desktop privileges on the computer you want to access.

Open the Port on the Computer

1

Click "Start," right-click "Computer" and select "Properties." Click "Remote settings." Approve the User Account Control window if it appears.

2

Click on the circle to the left of "Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication [more secure]." Click "Select Users..." if you want to enable users other than the current one that you are logged on to your computer with to remotely access the computer. Otherwise, skip to step 4.

3

Click "Add," type the name of the user you want to enable to use the computer remotely and click "OK" twice.

4

Click "OK" to save the changes. Click the "Windows" icon on the desktop, type "Firewall" without quotes and click "Allow a program through Windows Firewall."

5

Scroll down until you find "Remote Desktop" -- not to be confused with "Remote Desktop - RemoteFX" -- in the list of programs that opened. Check the box for "Home/Work [Private]" if it is not already checked. Enabling Remote Desktop should have already done this for you, but this helps ensure that the program will not be blocked by Windows Firewall when you try to access your computer.

6

Open any other firewall program that you have on your computer. If you do not have an additional firewall program installed, skip to the next step. Enable port number 3389 to be able to pass through your firewall. Refer to the documentation for your firewall program, as the steps are different for each, if you are unsure of how to do this.

Open the Port on the Router

1

Open your Web browser on the computer on which you have enabled Remote Desktop connections on. Go to the IP address of your router. Enter the user name and password for the router to log on. This information can be found in the router's documentation.

2

Find a section with a name similar to "Virtual Servers" or "Port forwarding" and open it. Enter the port number 3389 for the internal and external ports. Select the protocol "TCP."

3

Enter the IP address of the computer that you enabled Remote Desktop connections on. Press the "Windows" and "R" keys simultaneously and release them if you need to find the IP address on the computer. Otherwise, skip to step 5.

4

Type "cmd" and click "OK." Type "ipconfig" without quotes and press the "Enter" key. Find the value for "IPv4 Address" for the network adapter that connects your computer to the Internet. This is the IP address to use when opening the port on your router.

5

Find the "WAN" or "Internet" IP on your router's configuration page. Write down this information for later.

6

Save the changes to the router and then close your Web browser. Click the "Windows" icon from the desktop on a second computer. Type "remote" and click "Remote Desktop Connection."

7

Type in the Internet IP that you recorded from your router earlier and click "Connect." Enter the username and password for the remote computer and click "OK." A successful connection confirms that the port was opened properly.

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