How to wake up my PC remotely (using Splashtop for example)

Hi James Lee,

I am following up to see if the adjustments to your Network Interface Card and system power settings resolved the remote wake connectivity with Splashtop. The core of the solution involves a three-step dependency chain: enabling "Wake on Magic Packet" within the Advanced driver properties, ensuring the BIOS is configured to accept "Power On By PCI-E" signals, and critically, disabling Windows "Fast Startup" in the Control Panel to prevent the OS from severing power to the network adapter during shutdown.

If you have applied these configurations and the PC still fails to wake, please confirm if you are using a wired Ethernet connection or Wi-Fi, as Wireless Wake-on-LAN (WoWLAN) requires additional specific support for pattern matching and protocol offloads that many consumer Wi-Fi cards do not reliably sustain in low-power states. Additionally, running powercfg /a in a command prompt will tell us if your system uses Modern Standby (S0 Low Power Idle) versus traditional S3 Sleep, which would require a different troubleshooting approach regarding network connectivity during idle.

If the issue has been successfully resolved, please consider accepting the answer as it helps other people sharing the same question benefit too. Thank you!

VP

Hi James Lee,

While your computer is successfully entering a low-power state (Sleep or Hibernation), the Network Interface Card (NIC) is either powered down completely or not listening for the specific "Magic Packet" that Splashtop sends to initiate the wake-up sequence. Unlike keyboard or mouse wake events which operate via USB interrupts, remote waking relies strictly on the network adapter maintaining a link to the router even when the system appears off.

You first need to configure the driver-level power management for your Ethernet adapter. Open the Device Manager (devmgmt.msc), expand "Network adapters," and locate your primary Ethernet controller. Right-click it and select Properties. In the "Advanced" tab, locate the property typically named "Wake on Magic Packet" or "Shutdown Wake-On-Lan" and ensure it is set to "Enabled." Then, navigate to the "Power Management" tab within the same window. It is critical that you check "Allow this device to wake the computer" and I strongly recommend checking "Only allow a magic packet to wake the computer." This ensures the NIC stays active without waking your PC for unrelated network traffic. Please note that this functionality is significantly more reliable on a wired Ethernet connection than on Wi-Fi.

A frequently overlooked setting that overrides both BIOS and Driver configurations is Windows "Fast Startup." Fast Startup puts the computer into a hybrid hibernation state (S4) that often cuts power to the network card to maximize power savings, effectively killing Wake-on-LAN capabilities. To resolve this, open the classic Control Panel and navigate to Hardware and Sound > Power Options > Choose what the power buttons do. You must click "Change settings that are currently unavailable" to unlock the greyed-out options. Uncheck "Turn on fast startup (recommended)" and click Save changes. This ensures that when the computer shuts down or sleeps, it remains in a state capable of receiving the wake signal.

Lastly, ensure the BIOS/UEFI configuration itself allows for PCI/PCIe device power-on. Restart your machine and enter the BIOS setup. You are looking for settings often labeled "Wake on LAN," "Resume on LAN," or "Power On By PCI-E." Enable these options. If you are attempting to wake this computer from outside your local network (over the internet), Splashtop typically requires another device on the same local network to act as a bridge to send the wake command, unless you have configured port forwarding for UDP port 9 on your router, but configuring the Windows and BIOS settings above is the mandatory first step.

I hope you've found something useful here. If it helps you get more insight into the issue, it's appreciated to accept the answer. Should you have more questions, feel free to leave a message. Have a nice day!

VP

To enable your PC to wake up remotely using applications like Splashtop, you need to ensure that certain settings are correctly configured. Here are some steps you can take:

1. Enable Wake on LAN (WOL): This feature allows your PC to be woken up from sleep mode over the network. You can usually find this setting in your PC's BIOS/UEFI settings. Make sure it is enabled.
2. Adjust Power Settings: Ensure that your PC's power settings are configured to prevent it from going into sleep or hibernation mode. You can do this by:
   • Going to Settings > System > Power & sleep.
   • Set the sleep option to Never for both battery and plugged-in modes.
3. Network Adapter Settings: Make sure your network adapter is configured to allow it to wake the computer:
   • Open Device Manager.
   • Expand the Network adapters section, right-click your network adapter, and select Properties.
   • Go to the Power Management tab and check the options that allow the device to wake the computer.
4. Remote Desktop Settings: Ensure that Remote Desktop is enabled on your PC. You can do this by going to Settings > System > Remote Desktop and turning on the Remote Desktop toggle.
5. Firewall Settings: Ensure that your firewall is not blocking the ports used by Splashtop. You may need to allow the application through your firewall settings.
6. Check Sleep and Hibernation Settings: As mentioned, ensure that your PC is not set to sleep or hibernate when idle. You can also check advanced power settings for any additional configurations related to sleep and hibernation.

By following these steps, you should be able to wake your PC remotely using Splashtop or similar applications.

References:

• Frequently asked questions about the Remote Desktop clients
• Unwanted wake-up events occur when you enable the Wake On LAN feature