How to connect my school smb server(192.168.18.101) from different network like from my home network

Question

How to connect my school smb server from different network like home network

In android as well as in windows without any error through vpn and without vpn

Kindly help me😣😢😢😩

Answer 1

You'd need a secure way to bridge the two networks since 192.168.x.x is a private IP address and cannot be accessed directly over the internet. Here are a few options:

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1. Set Up a VPN Connection to Your School Network
   • What it Does: A VPN (Virtual Private Network) securely connects your home network to your school's network, allowing you to access internal resources like the SMB server as if you were physically on-campus.
   • Steps:
     1. Contact your school’s IT department to check if they provide VPN access.
     2. Obtain the VPN client software or configuration (e.g., OpenVPN, Cisco AnyConnect, or Windows built-in VPN).
     3. Configure the VPN client on your computer using the credentials and configuration provided by your school.
     4. Once connected to the VPN, you can access the SMB server via its private IP address, 192.168.18.101.
   • Pros: Secure and widely supported.
   • Cons: Requires IT support from your school.

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2. Set Up Port Forwarding (if allowed by your school)
   • What it Does: Allows external access to a specific service (e.g., SMB) on the school network by mapping a public IP/port to the internal IP/port of the SMB server.
   • Steps:
     1. Your school's IT team would need to set up port forwarding on their network router or firewall.
     2. They would assign a public IP address or hostname and port (e.g., school.example.com:445) to forward traffic to the internal SMB server (192.168.18.101).
     3. From your home network, you could then map the SMB share using the public IP or hostname.

                \\school.example.com\share
        

   • Pros: Direct access without additional software.
   • Cons: Insecure if not properly secured (e.g., with IP whitelisting or VPN). May be against school policy.

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3. SSH Tunneling (Secure Shell)
   • What it Does: Creates an encrypted tunnel to securely access the SMB server.
   • Steps:
     1. Ensure the school network has an SSH server you can connect to (e.g., on ssh.school.edu).
     2. Use an SSH client (like PuTTY or OpenSSH) to create a tunnel between your home network and the school's SMB server. Example command:

                ssh -L 445:192.168.18.101:445 ******@ssh.school.edu
        

     3. Map the SMB share on your local machine using localhost:

                \\localhost\share
        

   • Pros: Secure and does not require network-wide changes.
   • Cons: Requires SSH access and some technical knowledge.

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4. RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) to a School PC
   • What it Does: Remotely control a computer on the school network that already has access to the SMB server.
   • Steps:
     1. Use a VPN or public IP (if provided by your school) to connect to a school PC using RDP.
     2. Access the SMB server from the remote PC.
   • Pros: Simple if a PC is already available for remote access.
   • Cons: Limited to the school PC's resources.

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hth

Marcin