Remote Desktop Connection Through Access point?

March 17, 2019 5:27 AM

Put my Desktop on an access point and now Remote Desktop Connection fails. Halp?

I used to access a desktop computer in my home office (Win10 PRO) - from other places in my home (laundry room, bedroom, living room) - though laptop on the same router using Remote Desktop Connection. No problem.

Remote Desktop Connection
> Computer name + Password
>> Yay! connected.
Worked for years.

I moved the desktop to another location on my property (outbuilding) 1) on the same router 2) connected with a Cat7 cable to an access point which is 3) connected by a dedicated Cat7 cable to the existing router. The name of the desktop has not changed.

Now Remote Desktop Connection fails every time.

Other than physically moving the desktop machine to a new location and giving it network access through an access point, I have made no other changes to either machine.

How can I get my Remote Desktop Connection back?

posted by sandra_s to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

Check to see i if the computer thinks it's on a public network now. Go to settings, network and internet, and in the little graphic at the top, make sure it says private network below that. If it doesn't, click on the words "change connection properties" below that graphic, and set the network to private. If it's already private there, I'll have to do some thinking, but it's likely that your computer isn't on the same network subnet anymore.
posted by deezil at 5:34 AM on March 17, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Is the wireless access point in "bridge" mode or "router" mode?

Bridge mode means the access point is simply providing a pass-through for wireless clients to connect to the existing network. Router mode means the access point has created its own (separate) network for wireless clients.

I think there's a good chance your access point is in "router" mode.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:42 AM on March 17, 2019 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: @deezil Its already private :-)
posted by sandra_s at 5:43 AM on March 17, 2019

I moved the desktop to another location on my property (outbuilding) 1) on the same router 2) connected with a Cat7 cable to an access point which is 3) connected by a dedicated Cat7 cable to the existing router. The name of the desktop has not changed.

What make and model is the access point?
posted by flabdablet at 6:21 AM on March 17, 2019

1.) Has the desktop machine changed it's IP address on the network? To find the IP address on Windows 10, without using the command prompt:
Click the Start icon and select Settings.
Click the Network & Internet icon.
To view the IP address of a wired connection, select Ethernet on the left menu pane and select your network connection, your IP address will appear next to "IPv4 Address".

2.) Does your Access Point "protect" wired resources from wired ones and not route between them? I have had problems with printing to ethernet printers from wireless laptops due to this on some budget AP's. Look under the security settings of the AP
posted by nickggully at 7:28 AM on March 17, 2019

Was it on wifi previously? Perhaps there are router rules that differ for wireless and wired? Log on to the router and review the configurations.
posted by sammyo at 8:33 AM on March 17, 2019

Nthing IP address change, I think that's a good hunch.
posted by getawaysticks at 3:48 PM on March 20, 2019