Connect to a network computer

Hi,
I've got the following problem so let see if you can help me

I have my internet connection at home with a router, connected via USB to a PC and via wi-fi to my laptop.

Now, I have installed RealVNC (a remote desktop application) on my desktop pc to control it from my workplace.

And here's the question.

Say my IP address is 123.123.123.123
my internal IP address for the desktop pc is 192.168.0.1

I can reach the VNC server from my laptop typing the network address 192.168.0.1, but I can't reach it typing the IP address (that is connected to the router, I suppose).

So my question is how can I reach that particular machine from outside, what's the address I should type?

NOTE: I can reach the server from the laptop also typing the windows computer name.

Thank you very much for your help

 

Well in short you can't do it directly however it isn't impossible.

You could setup port forwarding on your router and forward the necessary ports from your external IP to the internal IP however this will only work for one internal computer.

If your router supports VPN you could use this.
Funnily enough I've just written the first draft of a basic intro to VPN :
www.dbnetsolutions.co.uk/Articles/VirtualPrivateNetworks.aspx
using VPN will allow you to access your LAN as if you were there although it will be slow over broadband.

Be very careful when using VNC especially over the internet. It's a security risk to say the least. I'd certainly opt for VPN that way the VPN adds a layer of security and separation from the internet.