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My problem seems very simple: I have a laptop that has close to no internal storage, but a home PC that has tons. I want to be able to use the HDs on my home PC (which are shared across the local network), remotely - just as if I were at home.

Of course, the catch is doing this securely and reliably. I've looked at VPN (specifically Hamachi/LogMeIn) which works great so long as my PC is on, but I can't connect to it in sleep mode. The internet says that I can either leave it on 24/7 or need to set up port forwarding to use Wake on LAN. But the whole point of using a VPN is security, and I would hate to throw that away by opening my ports. (DISCLAIMER: I have only a basic knowledge of how VPN works)

I just feel like there must be a better way, and have a hunch that if there is, someone on here will know it! I would prefer not having to purchase additional hardware, but if setting up an always on Raspberry Pi or something will save me headaches, I'm open to that.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Additional (possibly useful) information:

  • I'm running Windows 7
  • Comcast is my provider (I have one of those combo routers)
Kevin Panko
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Nick
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1 Answers1

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I don't think you should consider a security problem opening ports for Wake on LAN.
You only need to open (redirect to your sleeping computer) UDP port 9, what can not easily become a "door to enter your computer".

The rest of your method seems correct: any kind of VPN (OpenVPN, PPTP-VPN, Hamachi or whatever) for both computers, and you will have a somewhat acceptable security in your data transfers.

Sopalajo de Arrierez
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