21 May How to turn on pc remotely?

It is possible to turn on the PC remotely through devices such as PCs and smartphones, after installing some simple programs, some for a fee, others free. Remote access to the PC is possible thanks to the particular Wake-On-LAN technology, a function of the network cards that allows you to intercept information passing through the router and use it to wake up the PC. The only constraint is that the PC must not be completely shut down but must be on standby. Find out what are the methods to access the PC remotely.

Turn on the PC remotely: how to do it

As has already been saying, several methods can be used to turn on a PC remotely, but the wol technology must be available. It can be found on many Ethernet network cards but also some Wi-Fi cards. This technology allows you to receive a particular signal from the router where the PC is connected and then turn it on.

If you have a PC with a Windows operating system, to enable the wol, you will need to check if this technology is enabled in the BIOS first. After entering the BIOS panel and after restarting the PC, you will have to get to the part dedicated to the configuration of the BIOS, which is usually called “Config”, or enter the “Advanced settings” of the PC and look for the wol options. These options can have different names: Magic Packet Wake Up, Wake-on-LAN, Power ON by PCIE / PCI, WOL by Magic Packet, Remote / Event Wake Up or similar. Once you’ve found it, you’ll need to activate it and then save your changes. Finally, restart your PC.

When the PC has restarted, you will have to check again that the software wol is also active. From the menu, look for the item “Device Manager” and then open “Network adapters”. Now you will need to find the name of the card you use to connect to the internet, click on the name and open the device’s properties. Choose the “Advanced” option and under “Properties” search for “Magic packet for reactivation”. Now you will have to check from the drop-down menu that “Enabled” is active. Otherwise you will have to activate it manually.

Check if these entries are present, proceed with the same operations for “Wake on magic packet” and “Wake on magic packet when system is…” (In the S0ix power state). The process is almost finished, now you will have to go from the main menu to the “Power management” tab if it is available on your computer and check the “Allow the device to wake the computer” item. To finish, save all the changes you have made.

Suppose you want to use the wol through apps or programs that are able to independently send the Magic Packet. In that case, you may need to add an exception to the firewall and have to unblock port 9 of the router with the UDM protocol to make the data transit optimally. If you are using Windows Defender, open a PowerShell window using administrator mode. Now assign the following commands, always followed by the “enter” key.

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name = “WoL_UDP” dir = in

action = allow profile = any localport = 9 protocol = UDP edge = yes

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name = “WoL_TCP” dir = in

action = allow profile = any localport = 9 protocol = TCP edge = yes

If you are using a third-party firewall, you will need to add an exception to unblock port 9, following the procedures best suited to the software you are using.

In some cases, it may be useful to know the physical address of the network card (the mac address), with which the PC connects to the internet. To know the mac address, you will have to click on the Windows network icon, which can be in the shape of a computer or be in the shape of cleats, at the bottom right. Then click on “Properties” corresponding to the name of the internet line you are using and what you are looking for, you will find it by searching for the item “Physical MAC address”.

Everything is simpler if we want to do the same procedure on macOS. If you want to turn on the computer remotely always through wol, just go to the gear symbol and then open the “System Preferences”. Now click on “Energy Saver”, and to finish, you will have to check the “Reactivate for accessing the Ethernet network” box. Returning to the “System Preferences” screen, you will be able to find the mac address of the network card.

Click on the “Network” icon and choose the card with which the PC is connected to the internet. Continue by selecting the “Advanced” item you will find at the top right, and then select the “Hardware” tab. So you will be able to see your mac address. But be aware that not all Wi-Fi cards can support wol technology. In this case, it will be necessary to connect the PC to the router through the Ethernet cable.

Now that your PC is configured to be turned on remotely thanks to wol technology, you can turn it on through some programs. However, switching on can only take place if the devices are connected to the same network.

Switch on the PC remotely with TeamViewer

One of the most popular remote control programs is TeamViewerand this program must be installed on the standby PC and on the one from which to send the Magic Packet. If you don’t have TeamViewer, download it for free from the official website and start the download. During the installation, if you have Windows, you will need to check the “Install to remotely control this computer later” option and press the “Accept” button to finish.

If you have a Mac, download the program and click twice on the “Install TeamViewer” icon, then on “Continue” and finally on “Accept” and “Install”. Finish by entering your Mac password and then click “Install Software”. Once the setup is finished, follow the instructions that will be indicated to you, give the authorization to make the program work correctly and open “System Preferences”. Look for the entry “Accessibility” and check each entry related to TeamViewer. Follow the same procedure for the “Screen Recording” section.

Now go to the PC from which you want to send the Magic Packet to remotely turn on the other one on which you have just installed TeamViewer and open TeamViewer. Look for the “Remote control” section that you will find in the left bar and write the interlocutor ID. You will need it shortly. You will then need to create a TeamViewer account.

If you do not have a TeamViewer account, you must register and fill in the form, to make the association between the account and the PC. You will receive the link for activating your account via email. This operation must be repeated on all the PCs that will be used to wake up the standby PCs. If you already have an account, just enter your details and log in. Now go to the PC that needs to be turned on remotely and open TeamViewer. Go to “Options”, and then on the program settings, choose “General”. Now click on “Assign to account” and enter your TeamViewer account credentials to log in.

On Windows, look for the entry wol and then click on “Configure”. Then check the item “Other TeamViewer in your local network” and enter the partner ID in the section “TeamViewer ID” that you got earlier from the PC that you will need to wake up the one in standby. On Mac, you have to click on the drop-down menu on “ID TeamViewer in your network” located in the centre of the window and then click on “+” to enter the IDs of the control PC.

The procedure is finished and now we can remotely turn on our PCin standby. From your control PC, enter TeamViewer and open the “My Computers” section. Click on the name of the PC you want to turn on, which should be offline among the results and click on “Reactivate”, which you will find to the right of your control window. After these simple steps, your PC should start up without any problems.

Turn on the PC remotely with the smartphone.

After setting up your PC, you will find several smartphone applications that allow you to wake it up. One application is called Wake On Lan, available for Android devices but also for iOS devices. The PC and the smartphone must use the same internet network. After downloading it, open it and on the home screen, click on “+” and enter the PC’s name in the list (a nickname and the mac address). After adding the device, open the app and click on its name to allow you to wake it up through wol.

Also for iPhone devices, there are many free applications, but the important thing is that wol is active on the PC and connected to the same PC and smartphone network. A free iPhone application is called Swol. After installing it, you will be prompted for authentication. For authentication, you will use the touch ID or face ID you have already configured on your device. After installation, start the app and click on “Ok” to authorize the permissions to use the service. Click on “+” to enter the name of the PC to wake up, the local IP address of the PC and its mac address. To finish, click on “Done” at the top. Now to turn on the PC, go to the “Device” section and click on the name of the sleeping PC. Click on “Yes”