This tutorial mainly guides users on how to find the IP address of the computer, and how to use IP remotely control PC over the Windows 10 built-in program RDP. Besides, the free remote control software for Windows is also introduced.
When I was at school, I tried to use RDP to remotely control my computer in the dormitory from the laboratory in order to save time. But I failed. Recently, I did some research on RDP at home, which made me understand why I failed is because the laboratory computer and dormitory computer aren’t on the same network. The IP address of my dormitory computer assigned by the campus network is the intranet IP, while the laboratory computer has an extranet IP address. Thus, it is naturally impossible to connect the two computers which are under different networks.”
- Question from Microsoft Forum
The above case just demonstrates a key point. If you want to remotely control the computer through IP, you need to know whether the IP addresses of the two computers are under the same network. We know it is easy to remotely connect computers on the same network, but how to use IP remotely control PC that is on different networks?
Here in this post, we’ll show you how to remotely access a computer over the Internet using IP address when the two computers are on the same network and on different networks respectively. But first, you must know how to accurately find the IP address.
Windows RDP requires the IP address to achieve remote control, so it is necessary to ensure the accuracy of the IP address. Here are two ways to find the IP address of your computer.
Press Windows key + R to invoke the Run dialog box. Type in “cmd” and press OK. Then type “ipconfig” and press Enter. Now you can see a group of IP addresses, of which the IPv4 address is the one you need.
Step 1. Click Start and then click Settings. Find Network & Internet and then click it.
Step 2. On the Network & Internet interface, find Advanced network settings, click Change adapter options below.
Step 3. In the automatically pop-up Network Connections window, find your network and double-click it.
Step 4. On the General tab, find Details.
Step 5. In the Network Connection Details, find IPv4 Address.
Then how to get remote access to another computer with IP address? RDP allows users to remotely control a computer through IP address. But we should notice, the steps to connect two computers that are on the same network or in different network are different. Next, we will introduce the specific operation steps of the two situations in detail.
Part 1. Set up the host computer
Step 1. Navigate here: Start > Settings > System > Remote Desktop, and turn on Enable Remote Desktop.
Step 2. Find User accounts and click Select users that can remotely access this PC.
Step 3. After opening the Remote Desktop Users window, click Add to add users who are allowed to access this computer (you need to add already existing users to realize remote desktop). And then click OK.
Step 4. In addition to the IP address, we also need the PC name to achieve remote control over RDP. Press Win + R to invoke the Run dialog box. Type in “cmd” and press OK. Then type “query user” to see the PC rname.
Part 2. Start remote control on the client computer
Step 1. The client computer doesn’t need any configuration. Just search for Remote Desktop Connection in the Search box. And then open it.
Step 2. Enter the IP address and user name in the Remote Desktop Connection interface to achieve connection.
When the two computers that you want to connect are not on the same network, you need to set up the intranet computer first. There are three steps: get a static IP address, find the public IP address, then port forward.
Part 1. Get a static IP address
Step 1. Click Start and then click Settings. Find Network & Internet and then click it. On the Network & Internet interface, find Advanced network settings, click Change adapter options below.
Step 2. Right-click your network and then click Properties.
Step 3. Tick Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4), and then click Properties.
Step 4. Turn on Use the following IP address in the General tab, change the IP address to a valid local IP address outside the scope of the local DHCP, set the Subnet mask, and set the Default gateway. Then turn on Use the following DNS server addresses, set the corresponding address in the Preferred DNS server, and click OK.
Part 2. Find the public IP address
After setting the static IP, we need to get the external IP address (that is, the public IP address). First, open the Chrome browser, enter “what is my IP” in the search box, and then you can see the public IP address (remember not to share your public IP address with anyone to avoid security issues).
Part 3. Port Forwarding
Step 1. Press Windows key + R to invoke the Run dialog box. Type in “cmd” and press OK. Then type “ipconfig” and press Enter to check the IPv4 Address and Default Gateway.
Step 2. Enter a name for your device in the Port Forwarding interface, and enter the port you want to forward in the port field (if you are not sure of the protocol used, please select “TCP/UDP” or Both under Service Type). Then enter the intranet IP address of the device you want to port forward, and then click Apply to save the changes.
Part 4. Use IP remotely control PC over Windows 10 RDP
Open Remote Desktop Connection, enter the public IP address and the PC name to achieve connection.
When using IP remotely control PC over Windows 10 RDP, you need to notice whether the two computers are under the same network. If they are, then the connection process is relatively simple. But if not, then the process is more complicated, which is not very friendly to novice users. Therefore, the free third-party remote desktop software for Windows AnyViewer would be more practical.
Compared with RDP, AnyViewer has obvious advantages. When connecting remotely, there is no need to find the computer IP addresses of the computers. Even if the two computers are in different networks, they can achieve remote control over AnyViewer directly, without any configurations.
In addition, AnyViewer is the professional remote desktop software for Windows. It supports multiple Windows versions, including Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 and Windows Server 2022/2019/2016/2012 R2.
Step 1. Download, install and launch AnyViewer on both computers.
Step 2. Go to Log in, and then click Sign up. (If you already have signed up on its official website, you can log in directly.)
Step 3. Fill in the signup information.
Step 4. Then you can see you successfully logged in to AnyViewer. Your device will automatically be assigned to the account you've logged in to.
Step 5. Log in to the same AnyViewer account on the two devices, then you can achieve a direct connection by clicking One-click control.
When using IP remotely control PC over RDP, it is pretty convenient if two computers are on the same network. Otherwise, the connection process will be much more complicated. In contrast, AnyViewer does not need to the networks of the two computers, nor does it need to find their IP addresses. The two computers can be connected as long as they are connected to the Internet.
Besides, RDP has several problems. For example, RDP shift key not working. Therefore, users are advised to use its alternative AnyViewer to achieve remote control easily.
