Sometimes you need a remote player, a remote desktop client, or just a way to transfer data from your phone to your computer. Here you will find tips on how to securely connect to your PC desktop and launch the apps you want right from your Android phone.
Necessary
telephone, computer
Instructions
Step 1
Training.
The phone and computer must be connected to the same router, and the computer on the network must be assigned a static IP address, i.e. it gets the same local address (192.168.x.x) every time it is turned on. Each router has its own characteristics, so it is impossible to give any specific recommendations at this stage. But, in general, the process should proceed something like this.
1. Find the hardware MAC address of the connection you are using (wired or wireless). On Windows, this can be done by opening a Command Prompt window and entering the ipconfig –all command. On a Linux or Mac OS machine, open a terminal and enter the command ifconfig –a. Scroll until you see the configuration information for your router. The MAC address, usually represented in the Physical Address line, looks something like a2: b9: 34: 54: cc: 10 (see image).
2. Go to the router's configuration page by opening a browser and typing 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 in the address bar. If that doesn't work, look for the correct address in the instructions or on the manufacturer's website. On the router configuration page, find the static IP address definition section. Enter the MAC address of your computer, its name and the IP address that will now be assigned to the router (192.168.1.100, for example, is usually quite secure). Having done this, you can move on.
Step 2
Installing Unified Remote.
Go to the Unified Remoute website (www.unifiedremoute.com), download the PC server application from there, and start the installation procedure. The password you enter should be strong enough, everything else can be left at the default. If the system asks if you should open a firewall for this application, answer yes. Then you need to download the Android app from the Play Store or the Unified Remote website. Those who prefer Windows phones will also find the Windows Phone app there (see image).
Launch the mobile application, and if the Unified Remote server on the computer is also running and the network is okay, it will try to automatically configure its configuration. If it fails to do this in automatic mode, you will have to add the server manually by entering the IP address of your PC.
Once connected to the server, go to the Remotes section of the application. There are many parameters here to experiment with. Most useful are basic input, which allows you to use your phone's touchscreen as an intuitive PC mouse, and media, which displays play / stop / volume keys similar to those found on a physical keyboard.
If the network connection is stable, there will be little or no latency.
Obviously, remote control only makes sense when the mobile device is literally used as a remote control. When controlling the cursor or multimedia keys, you should be in close proximity to the computer and see what is happening on the screen.
Step 3
VLC
If you want an application that acts both as a remote control and a channel for transferring multimedia content from PC to phone at the same time, the VLC player is exactly what you need.
Launch the VLC app and select Options from the Tools drop-down menu. Switch the "Show settings" switch in the lower left corner to the "All" position, in the "Interface" section on the left pane, select the "Main interfaces" item and check the Web box. Then close the settings window. The player itself must remain on the screen (see image).
Then it follows from the Google Play store to download the Android VLC Direct Pro Free application. By default, it will try to find a running VLC server on the network. As a rule, if the VLC player is open, everything happens automatically, if it fails to detect the PC, as in the case of the Unified Remote, the application will ask you to enter its IP address.
After the connection is established, you will see the main interface of the program in front of you. In the TARGET section in the upper left corner, you are asked to choose what you will do: manage multimedia content directly on your PC (VLC conical icon) or stream it to your phone (Android icon). The play / pause / stop controls and volume control are at the top of the screen. The list of available files is represented by four icons, which are lined up and allow you to access (from left to right): local video on the phone, local audio files on the phone, multimedia content on the PC, and the last files opened on the PC. If you start playing something on your computer, a timeline will appear at the bottom of the screen, with which you can move forward and backward through the recording. Just what you need!
There are three things you should know about VLC.
Firstly, the phone may not be able to play all the files, when opened on the computer, the player starts by default. In this case, you can try using the beta version of the VLC for Android app, which allows you to define the default associations with video files.
Secondly, another computer can be connected to the same VLC remote control interface via a network via a browser (for example, if you want to connect to a multimedia PC from a laptop without getting up from the couch). Just type 192.168.1.100:8080 in the address bar of your browser (if you are using a different static IP address, enter it).
Third, in order to connect to the VLC player, it must already be running on another computer. And since VLC is not a typical background application, you will have to add it to your startup list yourself. From time to time, a situation arises when you need to close and reopen the application in order to switch from viewing the file directly on the PC to viewing it in streaming mode. Unfortunately, there is no really convenient solution here. The only suggestion is to open the player with, say, Unified Remote, and then launch the VLC remote control program. But you don't have to get up from the couch.
Step 4
VNC
VNC (Virtual Network Computing) is a great multimedia content remote control system that you've probably never heard of before. At its basic level, VNC is an alternative to Unified Remote and allows you to move the cursor around the screen, but it doesn't stop there. With it, you can, for example, scan a document on your office PC, convert files to PDF, send documents by mail, and at the same time watch a movie on a computer in another room.
Deploying a VNC server on a computer is easy - Windows users just need to download the server part of the RealVNC program from the RealVNC website (www.realvnc.com), install it on a PC and run it by entering a strong password (see image).
Ubuntu Linux users need to install the x11vnc program from the Ubuntu Software Center, open the Startup Applications menu and add the following command there: x11vnc -forever -passwd xyzzy -rfbport 5900 -bg, where xyzzy is the chosen password.
So, from the PC side, everything is ready. Now you need to install the VNC app on your phone. There are quite a few VNC applications of varying quality for the Android operating system, but the one I liked the most was Free bVNC. There is nothing difficult in setting it up. All you need to do is enter your PC name, IP address, selected password and click the Connect button. Then you can enter the menu and select the Simulated Touchpad as the input mode.
Step 5
Wake-on-LAN: wake up a computer over the network
let's say you want to manage torrents and stream multimedia information from your PC. The computer is put into sleep mode during idle mode, and at the same time you are out of the house, or you are simply too lazy to go to another room to turn it on. If all this is so, then you have something to please. Most machines for many years have supported the Wake-on-LAN feature, which allows a network card to wake up a computer when it receives a message sent over the network.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to give specific instructions here, because each PC has its own distinctive features. If the network components are integrated directly into the motherboard, you need to check the Wake-on-LAN settings in the BIOS, otherwise you should look for them in the advanced parameters of the network card in Device Manager.
Any network adapter, except for wireless adapters connected via the USB interface, supports the Wake-on-LAN function. Activate this function.
Next, you should download the Android application of the same name. As with VNC, there are several options to choose from. One option is the Android Wake on LAN app. This time, you won't have to install anything on your PC, but instead, when setting up Wake on LAN, you will need to enter the MAC address of your computer and its IP address. After specifying all the necessary data, put the machine into sleep mode and give a signal that should bring it back to life. Just think of the possibilities this app opens up for you! Now you can wake up your computer, open VLC, and stream your movie to your phone without getting out of bed.
Step 6
Carry your PC with you in your pocket
The address 192.168.1.100 assigned to the machine is only valid within our own network (which is why anyone can assign their computer the address 192.168.1.100). And in order to connect from the outside, you need to specify your global IP address, which can be found by typing in the Google search bar: "What is my IP address?"
Please note that some ISPs will assign a new global IP address each time your modem is connected, therefore, you need to check it after any power outage (contact your ISP first, as it is likely that it is possible to assign you a static IP address). In addition, you need to configure your router to forward external requests to your home network at 192.168.1.100. Once you switch to the global IP address, you will no longer be able to determine which computer to access remotely. You connect to the router, and it should already know which PC is being accessed.
Once again, we repeat that each router has its own characteristics, and here it is impossible to give precise instructions for all occasions. Look for the corresponding settings in the Port Forwarding section. The necessary ports (if you are asked to choose between TCP and UDP, choose both options at once) should be added to the PC with the IP address 192.168.1.100. The programs we have considered use the following ports:
- Wake-on-LAN: 9;
- VNC: 5900;
- VLC: 8080;
- Unified Remote: 9512.
Save the specified settings, move your phone away from home and try to connect to your computer using various programs and specifying its global address. If everything worked out, the remote PC is in your pocket.
