How can I remote access my desktop computer?

Owned by Marc Miller
Last updated: May 30, 2018
3 min read

Issue

You are either Staff or Faculty for the College of Engineering and you wish to connect to your desktop on campus from home.

How to...

A couple of things need to be in place to allow this...

  1. The Campus VPN client is installed on your remote computer.
  2. You know the IP of your desktop computer.
  3. Your desktop computer is on a wired connection and set to allow for remote connection. (Windows) (Mac)

or using a third party software, like GoToMyPC or LogMeIn as alternatives.

Important Note with regards to Third Party Remote Control Programs

Third Party Programs such as GoToMyPC, LogMeIn and the like will often times show what is happening on the screen to anyone sitting at the remote machine.


Important Note

It is important that the remote connection is secured and limited as this can leave your computer vulnerable to hackers if not done correctly.

Remote Access provisioning should only be done under absolutely necessary reasons.

It is advisable that you first speak with the ECI Support (help@engineering.ucsb.edu) due to the necessary Network Security precautions that is required.

Campus VPN

The Campus VPN client can be gotten here:

http://www.ets.ucsb.edu/services/campus-vpn/get-connected

You will need to have this installed onto your computer.

Getting your IP of your desktop computer

The fastest, easiest way to get your IP is from this website:

http://www.whatsmyip.org/

You should do this from your Desktop computer on campus and write it down for when you are trying to connect to your computer.

For Windows Desktops...

You will need to enable Remote Desktop to allow remote connections if you are not using one of the third party programs listed above.

To do this, you will need to

  1. Go Start and type Allow remote access to your computer and hit Enter,
  2. This will bring up a System Properties window.
  3. Under Remote Desktop you will want to click on Allow remote connections to this computer (or Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authenticiation).
  4. Make sure that Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication is checked if you see the option.


From your home computer,

  1. Run the Campus VPN client and connect to the campus.
  2. Use Remote Desktop Connection if you are using Windows, or Microsoft Remote Desktop app from the App Store if you are on a Mac.
  3. The server you will connect to will be the IP of your desktop machine on campus.


Note

Remote Desktop Connection can only have one person on the computer at any given time.

You cannot use Remote Desktop Connection to do Screen Sharing or try to have two people on one computer.

For Macs...

You will need to enable Screen Sharing on the Mac if you are not using one of the third party programs mentioned above.

To do this

  • Go to the Apple icon in the upper left hand corner and go to System Preferences on the desktop computer you wish to connect to remotely.
  • From System Preferences, you will need to click on Sharing.
  • You will need to click on the checkbox next to Screen Sharing.  This will enable being able to connect to the mac using Screen Sharing on the mac.


In order to connect to the computer, you can only connect to it with another mac.

  1. Connect to the Campus with the Campus VPN client.
  2. Open the Screen Sharing app, which you can get to via Spotlight (The magnifying glass in the upper right hand corner).
  3. In the Connect To: box, type in the IP of of your desktop you are connecting to.


Note

The Mac Screen Sharing is designed to show what is happening on the screen to anyone in front of the computer you are connecting to.

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