Remote Desktop -- Cannot Connect Using MI424WR Rev. I

We are gradually moving from one house to another, both having Fios, and have successfully set up our Windows 11 Pro, with all needed applications, at the new house, so that I can remote to it from almost anywhere using our Dynamic DNS address.

There is no problem when I use my Google FI phone as a hotspot in the old house. I can remote in to the new house using my phone, or my iPad, or (this is what I really want to do) my Windows 10 Home laptop. However, I am running out of hopspot data and want to use my old-house WiFi, which going through the MI424WR Rev. I. And whenever I do that, I get an 0x204 error. Doesn't matter it I am using the laptop or the phone or the iPad -- all that matters is whether I am using Fios to get the WiFi signal. I have tried a bunch of ideas for changing WiFi settting on my old-house router, including hard-coding the new-house public IP address, but am out of ideas. Any advice appreciated.

Accepted answers

Cang_Household

Sending a MI424WR is not advisable. You should negotiate a G1100 from the official support. Nonetheless, you could get a second hand G1100 for under $40 on Ebay. Just making sure the unit is not a not-returned rental unit, or having the Frontier firmware.

Using TeamViewer opens doors to other issues. First, since built-in remote desktop server is a feature of the professional license, you might as well use that. TeamViewer can be installed on a Home license computer, then there is no point of paying extra for a Professional license unless you were looking for other features.

TeamViewer use a firewall-traversal technology similar to NAT slipstreaming, which carries a negative-connotation. NAT slipstreaming is technically a malware that can bypass firewalls to launch attacks to your other devices on the network. Unless you trust TeamViewer, or you believe their servers would never be compromised, then go ahead and use TeamViewer. Otherwise, you are routing traffic to a third-party, which may or may not be trustworthy.

All comments

Cang_Household

Several security problems:

1) Still using an EOL router that has ceased to receive security updates.

2) Are you using Port Forwarding to open the ports, if so, that's insecure. There are bots on the Internet looking for common service ports and will hack it non-stop when you are not noticing.

The more secure way to do site to site connection is to configure a site-to-site VPN.

Or subscribe to VZ's layer 2 switching service, which costs more than thousands per month.

SE16

I didn't follow your good advice, but your reply broadened my thinking so I could obtain desired functionality.

Today I set up TeamViewer "Easy Access," on the new-house Windows 11 PC (remote? local? client? server? -- the words can confuse me), in unattended mode. I set this up, on the new-house computer, using my phone hotspot and Microsoft Remote Desktop. Now I can use TeamViewer via FIOS and with no hotspot.

I plan to carefully remove the port forwarding changes on the new-house router. As for the MI424WR Rev. I, we'll risk not incurring the short-term old-house expense of upgrading that.

By the way, Verizon sent us the MI424WR Rev. I as a "free" upgrade for the original FIOS router. My 75/50 broadband billing says that we own the router. While there does not seem to be a no-additional-cost router upgrade available, there is a no-additional-cost set-top box upgrade available on our account. Unless there is some tremendous reason otherwise, we will pass on that.

If someone in Verizon management reads these threads, maybe they should again mail out a cheap basic router accepting security upgrades.

Thank you.

Cang_Household