PORT FORWARDING FOR RDP

LGLDSR73-6492 1,190 Reputation points
2026-06-30T13:28:39.69+00:00

I recently had a posted titled "RDP Into Win-11 Pro from Win-11 Home" and accepted the answer. Unfortunately I overlooked the following statement:

*"Since you’re connecting across locations, you’ll also need to enable VPN or forward port 3389 on the Massachusetts router to reach the system over the internet."

The original thread is located here.*

When I was a Network Administrator at Qualcomm I had many off-site End Users that I had to remote into. At no time did I have to setup Port Forwarding for them or use VPN. However, their systems were all using Windows-10 Professional and I left in 2019, well before Windows-11 was released.

Is this Port Forwarding requirement specific to Windows-11? Or because I will be using Windows-11 Home to remote into a system using Windows-11 Pro?

I am in Michigan, the Target system is in Massachusetts.

I apologize for the inappropriate Tag but nothing generated for RDP.

Thank you,

LGLDSR73

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Internet and connectivity

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  1. LGLDSR73-6492 1,190 Reputation points
    2026-07-01T11:37:30.6933333+00:00

    IP assigned via DHCP from Router.

    So this should work fine, correct?:

    Step 1: Configure the Windows 11 Pro Computer (Host)

    Before connecting, ensure the target Pro machine is permitted to receive remote connections.

    On the Windows 11 Pro PC, press Windows Key + I to open Settings.

    Click on System in the left menu, then select Remote Desktop.

    Toggle the Remote Desktop switch to On.

    Toggle the Remote Desktop switch to On.

    Click Confirm on the pop-up window.

    Look for the PC Name under the settings menu—you will need this exact name to connect later.

    Step 2: Connect from the Windows 11 Home Computer (Client)

     

    With Remote Desktop enabled on the Pro machine, you can now connect to it from your Home PC

    On your Windows 11 Home PC, type Remote Desktop Connection in the taskbar search box and open it.

    In the Computer field, type the PC Name or the IP Address of the Windows 11 Pro machine.

    Click Connect.

    When prompted for credentials, enter the username and password you use to sign in to the Windows 11 Pro computer.

    Accept any certificate warnings that may appear, and your remote desktop session will launch

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