How can I monitor my 2nd computer?

[Volnaiskra]

I have two PCs, both folding, both on a home network (win7 Home). I'd like to monitor both on my main PC.

This is what I've done so far:
-installed and running f@h on both PCs
-tried to find my 2nd PC's IP address by typing "ipconfig" in cmd, looking for the "Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection" area and finding "IPv4 Address" (It's 10.1.1.3)
-on main PC, fAHcontrol, hit "add" in client panel
-give client a name, enter 10.1.1.3 into hostname or IP, leave Port as 36330, press Save
.....now it just keeps saying "connecting", but it never connects.

(I turned off firewall on both PCs but no dice)

What am I doing wrong?

[billford]

Try re-starting the remote client.

[bollix47]

https://fah-web.stanford.edu/projects/F ... oteClients

Basically you need to add your network IP range to both computers under the Remote Access tab in the two Allow boxes so they look something like:

Code: Select all

127.0.0.1,192.168.2.100-192.168.2.149 

but using your network's range of IPs. My guess would be something like:

Code: Select all

127.0.0.1,10.1.1.0-10.1.1.10

And, as billford said, you will probably have to restart the remote before your main computer will connect to it.

You can leave the other boxes at their default unless you have a special need for using passwords etc.

[billford]

Also, on the remote client. you'll need to start FAHControl, go to the Configure => Remote Access tab and add the IP address of the monitoring computer (scroll to the end). If you're not bothered about password restrictions just add it after the 127.0.0.1 entry in both field (separate the addresses by a space).

Save, then restart the client.


@bollix47- I nearly forgot those entries- you beat me to it!

[Volnaiskra]

Ok, I've done all that and got them connected. Now, the other computer says "online" in green in the client panel. But when I click on it, the green "online" changes to "updating", which sits there indefinitely. The same happens on the other computer (I've added this computer over there, and it can see it and calls it "online', but when I click it it just says "updating" for ever.

[billford]

Are the firewalls still off?

If they are then I'm stuck and you'll need one of the experts to advise… one of my remote clients often takes a few seconds to update, but no more than that.

(I can't help with firewall settings, all my machines are Macs)

[bollix47]

Try pausing and stopping both clients and rebooting both computers. Start both clients if they don't start automatically and test again.

[PantherX]

Can you please ensure that Network Discovery (http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/t ... Num-5.html) and File Sharing (http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/h ... 12279.html) are both enabled? A quick test would be that you set-up a dummy Share folder and see if other systems can access it. If all systems can access that shared folder, it means that Windows is configured properly for sharing.

How are the IP address assigned, manually configured (static) or DHCP (dynamic)? If it is Static, then you can use the IP address and ensure that all systems are rebooted. If it is Dynamic, then the IP address would change and you will have to keep track of it and update it accordingly in FAHControl.

In a Dynamic IP environment, I suggest that you use the hostnames (http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/15821/ho ... nd-prompt/) of the PC instead of the IP address, thus, no matter what IP address is assigned, you are always able to connect to remote FAHClients easily from FAHControl.

[bruce]

On most home networks, the properties of the Network Adapter will be set to "Automatic" which means that DHCP will be assigning IP addresses. It follows that after restarting, your address might still be 10.1.1.3 but it also might change to a different address. I always identify each computer by its hostname instead of the IP address, since that will not change. You can test that method of identification using ping before setting it up in FAH.

You also need to establish the proper password permissions, either by allowing passwordless connections in the appropriate range of addresses or by assigning a password under the Remote Access tab and a matching password under the Identity tab of the other computer.... and then reboot again so that FAH learns to use those new settings.

[7im]

Passwordless is a bit of a misnomer. It will use your Passkey as the password if you do not specify a custom password.

[billford]

Passwordless is a bit of a misnomer. It will use your Passkey as the password if you do not specify a custom password.

As far as I can see there's nothing to prevent the two clients having different passkeys (eg the user may have set it up so that they can identify the contribution from each client as a member of a personal "team"), or that the monitoring machine may not even have a client installed (inadequate hardware, another CPU-intensive task, whatever).

Under those circumstances it would seem that remote monitoring wouldn't be possible without specifying a password, is this the case?

[Volnaiskra]

Thanks a lot for your help, guys.

I tried/checked everything suggested, but nothing worked until I created a password and opted to use the password method. Now it works fine. Cheers.

[Volnaiskra]

Both clients use the same passkey though, with the same username and team

[billford]

Both clients use the same passkey though, with the same username and team

That could possibly be explained if the machines use DHCP to get their LAN IP addresses- FAHControl could "see" them as clients (I think) if you've referred to them by hostnames, but the passwordless access permission for remote monitoring and configuration appears to require IP addresses. Which can change…

Does that fit your scenario?

I think it could be got around by using an IP range (corresponding to your router's DHCP pool) rather than a single address, but if it's working it's probably not worth the bother.

[Volnaiskra]

I'm not sure. Just in case, I've been using 10.1.1.0-10.1.1.10, as someone suggested. Though every time I've checked ipconfig, the IP has been 10.1.1.3 for the 2nd PC, 10.1.1.2 for my main PC, and 10.1.1.1 for the modem.