Remote Desktop access issue when remote PC connected to LAN rather than wifi

Question

Hi,

I am trying to connect to a desktop PC from my laptop, both running windows. When both are connected to wifi (192.168.30.x), i can access remote PC. However, when remote PC is connected to LAN (192.168.10.x) and laptop on wifi (192.168.30.x), I am not able to connect to remote PC.

I tried installing RD client on iphone connected to wifi (192.168.30.x) and connected to remote desktop PC and remote connection works whether remote desktop PC is connected to wifi or LAN.

Can anyone help me solve this strange issue? In summary i am facing below

laptop (wifi) + remote desktop PC (wifi) = works

laptop (wifi) + remote desktop (LAN)= dont work

iphone (wifi) + remote desktop PC (LAN/wifi)= works

***Move from Windows / Windows 11 / Internet and connectivity ***

Answer 1

Hello,

Depending on the environment you provide, when both the laptop client and the remote host are connected to the same WiFi network (192.168.30.x), they are on the same subnet, and this communication process is relatively simple.

When the remote host is connected to the LAN subnet (192.168.10.x) and the laptop client is still on the WiFi subnet (192.168.30.x), you are actually trying to communicate across subnets. In this case, you often need to further configure network connectivity, such as enabling port forwarding on the router to allow RDP traffic through. After the configuration is complete, you can open a command prompt on the remote PC and type the 'ipconfig' command to test the connectivity.

Please refer to this article for more information: Remote Desktop - Allow access to your PC from outside your network | Microsoft Learn

I hope this helps.

Best regards

Jacen