Remote desktop connection from outside the network

Since you don’t have a static public IP, you can use Dynamic DNS (DDNS) with Cloudflare to update your public IP automatically. Here’s a step-by-step guide to setting up RDP via port forwarding with Cloudflare DDNS.

Step 1: Set Up Port Forwarding for RDP (3389)

1. Log in to your router (usually 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1).
2. Find Port Forwarding / NAT settings.
3. Create a new rule:
   • Protocol: TCP
   • External Port: 3389
   • Internal IP: 192.168.x.x (your shop computer’s local IP)
   • Internal Port: 3389
4. Save the settings and restart the router.

Step 2: Get a Cloudflare Domain & API Key

1. If you don’t have a domain, get one and add it to Cloudflare.
2. In Cloudflare Dashboard:
   • Go to My Profile → API Tokens.
   • Click Create Token → Use Edit DNS Zone Template.
   • Select your domain and Create API Token.
   • Copy the API Token (you will need this in the script).

Step 3: Install a Cloudflare DDNS Updater on Your Shop PC

You need a script that updates Cloudflare A Record with your dynamic public IP.

Option 1: PowerShell Script (Windows)

1. Open PowerShell as Administrator.
2. Create a new script file: $domain = "yourdomain.com" $subdomain = "rdp" # Change to what you want (e.g., rdp.yourdomain.com) $email = "your-cloudflare-email" $apiKey = "your-cloudflare-api-key" $zoneId = "your-cloudflare-zone-id" $recordId = (Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/$zoneId/dns_records?type=A&name=$subdomain.$domain" -Method GET -Headers @{ "X-Auth-Email" = $email "X-Auth-Key" = $apiKey "Content-Type" = "application/json" }).result.id $publicIP = (Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://api64.ipify.org").Content $update = @{ type = "A" name = "$subdomain" content = "$publicIP" ttl = 120 proxied = $false } | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 1 Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/$zoneId/dns_records/$recordId" -Method PUT -Headers @{ "X-Auth-Email" = $email "X-Auth-Key" = $apiKey "Content-Type" = "application/json" } -Body $update
3. Save it as update-cloudflare.ps1.
4. Schedule it to run every 5 minutes:
   • Open Task Scheduler → Create a new task.
   • Set Trigger: Every 5 minutes.
   • Set Action: Run powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File C:\path\to\update-cloudflare.ps1.

Step 4: Connect from the Remote PC

1. On the remote PC, open Remote Desktop Connection (mstsc.exe).
2. Type: rdp.yourdomain.com:3389
3. Enter the username & password of the shop PC.
4. Connect! 🎉

Security Enhancements

• Change the default RDP port to something like 3390 (Edit registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp\PortNumber).
• Enable Network Level Authentication (NLA) for extra security.
• Use a strong password for the RDP user.
• Consider using VPN in the future for better security.

Some ref: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXUTEKsroSo