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Setting up a Home Network

Working Remotely

I have used the same techniques for the past few years to access my work PC from remote location bypassing the work firewall, however I notice several new tools for doing the same that perhaps in the future I will investigate:

Here are the steps to setup the work PC, all of these tools work with Vista:

  1. Install Hamachi (Now called LogMeIn)
  2. Setup your own Hamachi Network (Click here for more information)
  3. Install UltraVNC as a service (If you don't install as a service if the PC is restarted you can't connect)
  4. Install the Video Driver for added speed
  5. Setup with a password and make sure mouse and keyboard input is enabled
  6. Test from another PC using the Java viewer from a web browser to make sure the PC firewall is configured (http://pc-name:5800)
  7. If you have Ultravnc installed on a home PC use the viewer client if not use the Java viewer
In addition to allow me to access my complete photos collection remotely I have install a FTP server and WAMP (web server)
  1. Download and install one of the more popular WAMPs (WAMPserver or XAMPP) 
  2. Normally these are self contained packages, so running the exe starts the webserver
  3. To test normally you would access the local site using http://localhost:85) or through Hamachi via http://hamchi-ip:85
  4. Follow their instructions to install as a service 
  5. Install a photo gallery such as TWG that auto indexes photos
  6. I also install zFTPServer so that I can easily up and download large files
  7. Remember to setup a user and point their profile to the photo directory
The disadvantage to this setup is that you need Hamchi installed to access my photo gallery, however this does make it more secure as you need to be part of my Hamchi VPN network to see my work PC. Both Hamachi and LogMeIn now have similar products that provide the same services as the two separate comfiguration I have setup, however, I have not had time to evaluate these and from their webistes it still looks like my setup offers the best option for me.

Sharing a Music collection

I have also discovered recently that you can share you music collection remotely using WInAmp Remote. You create an account with WinAmp after installing the product then to access your music collection from another PC connect to http://www.winamp.com from a web browser and enter your newly created username and password. Libraries etc can be created and configured from WinAmp and the Remote client.

Media Centre

To watch downloaded movies I have connected a laptop to my Plasma TV via the PC input port. I then use the TV as a projector and switch to the external display from the laptop to view laptop content. I have connected the headphones output to my HiFi amplifer. The laptop can also be used to play music or view my photos from the remote setup above.