I'm trying to figure out the most practical way to reach my Windows PC when I'm not at home. Sometimes I might need a file, a specific application, or complete desktop access. What setups work well in practice—remote desktop apps, a VPN, SSH, Wake-on-LAN, or something else? I'm especially curious how people handle a computer that's asleep or powered off, and which parts of their setup are frustrating or overly complicated.
2 Answers
The simplest option is to keep the PC awake or set it not to sleep, then connect with a remote-access tool such as AnyDesk. For a more security-focused setup, connect to the home network through a properly configured firewall or VPN and use Windows Remote Desktop from there. That avoids relying on a third-party remote desktop service, but it takes more setup.
A common setup is to enable Wake-on-LAN in the PC’s BIOS and Windows, then configure the router to wake it remotely. Once it’s running, you can use Microsoft Remote Desktop from the Windows App. It works, but exposing Remote Desktop directly through port forwarding isn’t ideal; using a VPN to access your home network is safer than opening the RDP port to the internet.
That’s the approach I use too, except I connect through a VPN first so the only exposed service is the VPN itself. Then I use Remote Desktop internally.