Windows remote desktop with software VPN

Question

Hi I have been able to connect to my home PC with microsoft remote desktop from work with out any problem using 1.2.3.4 as a WAN ip address using port 3389 which connects to my pc on 5.6.7.8 LAN port forwarding must be working on the router as I can connect. however the issue arrises when I activate a piece VPN software to have my PC appear in another country for certain applications as soon as I do this I loose remote desktop connection and cannot log back in until I get home. I can still log on from home from another computer on the same 5.6.7.x network but not from outside however 1.2.3.4 is still the IP address. Any ideas

Answer 1

Just so you know, if you have a system that is on the internet the way you're doing right now, it can be hacked. RDP is no exception and you're exposing yourself to the internet, which is full of lots of horrible things that will do terrible things to your computer.

To answer your question, what you're doing when you connect to the VPN is telling your computer that ALL of your traffic should flow through the VPN. Since all of it is trying to go through the VPN, the RDP traffic can't return to your system since your router/firewall is blocking it, (that is a good thing since it sees it as coming from a different computer now). If you want to remote in and VPN to your system, your best bet would be to get that system off of the internet all together and keep it behind the firewall. Secondly, use a remote control service, (such as TeamViewer, ScreenConnect, Bomgar, LogMeIn, or some other such service), to access the system. When you have one set up, you should be able to log into the desktop and start the VPN. It will probably disconnect you and lock your computer, (this is a good thing). After a few seconds/minutes, you should be able to log back into the desktop again.