Issues setting up remote desktop access on Win 10 through NETGEAR Router

Question

Having some issues connecting a remote laptop to a desktop computer. OS is Windows 10. Windows Defender is disabled; Kaspersky Anti-Virus is enabled. IP Address is Dynamic, so I have a DDNS name and the client is updating properly. The public IP address is current and correct. Router is NETGEAR.

What I’ve done so far:

• Control Panel -> System -> Remote Settings -> System Properties - > Allow Remote Connections to this Computer (does not require Network Level Authentication)

• Set up a DDNS name using dynu.net; Client for updating the public IP address is up and running

• Enabled Port 3389 in Kaspersky, following Kaspersky’s instructions (Kaspersky -> Settings -> Additional -> Network Settings -> Monitor selected ports only -> Add Port with Status Active

• Also in Kaspersky, because it wasn’t working still, I went into Firewall Settings -> Packet Rules, and now have the following settings: Remote Desktop, Local Services TCP and Local Services UDP are all set to Allow.

• Verified in the Registry that the Terminal Services Client --- Terminal Server\Winstations\RDP-Tcp PortNumber Subkey is 3389

• Pulled up services.msc and set the below to Automatic instead of Manual: Remote Access Auto Connection Manager, Remote Access Connection Manager, Remote Desktop Configuration, Remote Desktop Services, Remote Desktop Services Usermode Port Rediretor, and Remote Procedure Call (RPC).

• Port Forwarding is set up in the router – this is where I feel I may have done something wrong?

o Service Type TCP/UDP

o Start and End Port, both External and Internal, are 3389

o Internal IP address is correct, per the ipconfig I ran from the command prompt

• Then I ran the netstat tool --- It shows:

o TCP 0.0.0.0:3389 Info-PC:0 Listening 1416

o PID is 1416 (Process ID) Used by svchost.exe --- TermService

So, I set up all this, and using a Port Checker, it is saying my 3389 port is not open. I disabled both Kaspersky and Windows Defender, and it still listed the Port as closed.

I am not sure what else to do to open the Port 3389. Do I need to set up a different Port? Is this default Port not available for some reason? I am not sure what else I can do to connect Remotely.

Answer 1

Simply enabling remote connections should make it listen on 3389. But that doesn't mean it can hear with the firewall in place so (temporarily) turn off the firewall, just to rule that out. Can you put the other machine on the same network temporarily and use it to connect? This would prove that it can be connected to... then from there add the firewall back in, then once that works add the router back in. Take it one step at a time.