Comments for My work and home computers have the same IP address, how do I fix that?

Comment from Chris on 2009-02-04

2009-02-05T04:11:30Z

Think of it like this. The internet is a Wide Area Network (WAN). Your little home network on your router is a Local Area Network (LAN). The WAN itself is just a bunch of LANs connected to each other using commercial routers. Your router at home is just adding to that WAN, but in a more secure way as it uses Network Address Translation (NAT). NAT simply protect your home computers by, not giving each computer on your network a unique WAN that everyone on the internet can see, but rather a smaller version of the bigger picture--A LAN address which ONLY the computers on your Local Area Network can see.

If you go to start -> run -> cmd -> ipconfig /all, you can see your LAN IP address which is hidden to the internet because of Network Address Translation. If you go to www.whatismyip.com, you will see your WAN address which is public on the internet. Only computers on the internet see this address and each address is unique across the WAN.

If you're at home, you can connect to your work computers using your work's WAN IP. A LAN IP will not work as it doesn't exist on the WAN....only on the separate local networks/LANs, protected by NAT routers.

Easy right? :)

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A comment on: My work and home computers have the same IP address, how do I fix that?

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Comment from Fred Scott on 2009-02-04

2009-02-04T17:53:19Z

I would like to get VPM router on my second computer. Sure would speed things up here.

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A comment on: My work and home computers have the same IP address, how do I fix that?

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Comment from KPTECH on 2009-02-01

2009-02-01T22:20:48Z

These days, most router manufacturers have at least one VPN router in their product line. Just purchase a router for each location and configure them to establish a secure VPN tunnel between them. I'd recommend the same mfg/model for both locations. This way you avoid potential compatibility issues. You can then access systems on both networks from either site. Instructions are provided in the user's guide and it's not too difficult.

If you work for someone else, they probably won't let you do this. In fact, most large companies prohibit connecting any device to their network without first obtaining permission from the I/T department, so please discuss with them first. However, if you run your own business, this is a simple and secure solution.

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A comment on: My work and home computers have the same IP address, how do I fix that?

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Comment from Rahul Mehta on 2009-01-31

2009-02-01T02:21:29Z

Another approach is a remote log-in facility like LogMeIn. Go to www.logmein.com and open a free account. Then when you are on your workplace computer, login to your account and add that computer to it. From that point on, you will be able to access that computer from anywhere and any computer on Internet. Just log in to your account and "connect" to any computer that is added to your list.

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A comment on: My work and home computers have the same IP address, how do I fix that?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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