Divide By Zero - a blog by Kamran Ayub

If you’re like me, your computer at home or work constantly changes its IP address. You have to either email yourself your new IP address or sign up for something like DynDNS.org. There’s an easier, free way!

I’ve talked a bit about Hamachi before and while it was primarily conceived for games it works well for work environments, too. Hamachi is a free VPN network tool that allows users to join a network and create a VPN.

The idea here is to create your own little VPN so that you can remote desktop to your Hamachi address instead of your own IP that changes frequently.

Home Computer / Server / Always-On Computer

1. Go and download LogMeIn Hamachi
2. Install Hamachi, you may need to restart.
3. Close the wizard by clicking the little X in the corner.
4. Power On Hamachi by clicking the Power button.
   
   
5. You may need to enter a “nickname� which is just an ID for this computer.
   
   
6. Click the Network button and click “Create a new network�
   
   
7. Enter a network name you’ll remember like “MyHomeNetwork�
8. Enter a secure password, don’t forget it!
   
   
9. Hamachi will assign you its own IP address
   
   
10. Your home computer is done.

Work Computer / Clients

1. Repeat steps 1-5 above.
2. Click the Network button and click “Join an existing network�
   
   
3. Enter the appropriate details.
   
   
4. Hamachi should successfully establish a connection to the server
5. Start up the Remote Desktop Client
   
   
6. Open Hamachi and right-click your server computer, choose Copy Address
   
   
7. Paste the address into the RDC address input.
   
   
8. Connect and enjoy!

Now whenever both computers are running Hamachi you can Remote Desktop to either of them, assuming you have Remote Desktop set-up correctly. If you’re behind a firewall or router, make sure to forward port 3389 to the proper computer.