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Remote computer wake-up

Remote computer wake-up configuration

Weezo let you remotely turn your computer on and off.

Remote wake-up requires compatible hardware, and configuration may be somewhat tricky.


How does remote wake-up works?

  • Connect to your Weezo account and enter your personal address (http://weezo.net/my_account)
  • Select remote wake-up and type in your password
  • Weezo server sends a "magic packet" to your known IP address (see below)
  • Your modem receives the message and route it to your computer or broadcast it on your LAN
  • The network adapter receives the packet and turns the computer on

Hardware requirements

  • Network adapter and motherboard must support Wake-On-LAN (recent hardware usually does)
  • modem/router must be able to route a messages from Internet to a turned-off computer or to broadcast it on LAN
  • the computer must be connected to modem/router with an Ethernet cable (no Wifi)
  • your should have a static IP address or a modem embedding a dynamic DNS client (such as DynDNS). It might work anyway if those requirements are not met, as most ISP doesn't renew IP addresses frequently

The computer must of course be plugged, and must not be in "Mechanical Off" state (turned off using the switch usually located on power block).
You may read Wikipedia's article to get more information about computer's states.


Configuration

Network adapter/motherboard

« Wake On LAN » must be turned on. This option is usually toggled in your computer's BIOS.
When properly set, most hardware keep a LED lit (on the motherboard or network card) when the computer is turned off.

Weezo

You must have a weezo.net account.

Remote computer wake-up can be configured through weezo.net account configuration ("Edit registration button on the lower right side of the interface").

URL or IP address
Select « Use IP address » if your ISP provides you a static IP address.

If your IP is dynamic - and thus periodically changes -, you have to create/use a Dynamic DNS account (http://dyndns.org for example) and configure your modem properly.
If your modem doesn't embed a dynamic DNS client, you may still use remote wake-up by checking the "Use IP address" box. Remote wake-up will work as long as your IP address is not renewed by your ISP...

Port
This option sets the UDP port used to receive the wake-up message.
By default, the port is set to use the same port as the server.
If remote wake-up fails, you may try to use port 7 or port 9, which are generally used for this type of service.

Network adapter
Select your adapter in drop-down list.
If you can't find your adapter, just enter manually your MAC address.

Simple Test
This test will ask Weezo server to send a magic packet and check the computer receives it.
This test is used to check router configuration.

Full test
Full test is a real-life remote computer wake-up test: the computer is shut down, and a wake-up request is sent 3 minutes later by weezo.net server.

If everything is OK, the computer should turn on...

Router

The configuration is similar to the one made for the server port routing: incoming UDP messages on specified port must be routed to the computer hosting Weezo. Weezo also uses UPnP to configure the router.

Unfortunately, router configuration might be partially reset on computer shutdown.
  • If your router is able to « broadcast » incoming messages - that is to say it is capable of sending the messages to all computers on the LAN - broadcast address should be used instead of actual computer's LAN IP: this address can usually be obtained by replacing the last number constituting the LAN IP address of your PC by 255. For example if the IP address of LAN PC is 192.168.1.20, the broadcast address is 192.168.1.255.
    Use simple test (see above) to validate broadcast support.
  • If the router does not support "broadcast", you must ensure your computer's LAN IP won't change when the computer will shut down. This can be done by setting a static IP for your computer, based on it's network adapter's MAC address (see above). This is usually done through the DHCP configuration.

    • NB: no software firewall configuration is required, as software firewall is launched after computer start-up.


    Troubleshooting

    Simple test failure

    Possible causes:
    • Messages to the selected port are redirected to the broadcast address, but the router does not support this feature
    • Software firewall blocks messages on selected UDP port. This will actually not prevent the computer wake-up. You should try a full test
    • Router has not been properly configured...

    Full test failure (simple test is OK)

    Possible causes:
    • Router has not been properly configured. The simple test has worked thanks to UPnP configuration, but these settings are no longer applied once the computer is off
    • If the broadcast address is not used for routing: some routers are not able to keep the IP address of a turned off PC. Message can therefore not be routed to the computer. Depending on routers, the loss of information is instantaneous or may take up to several minutes.

    Finding help

    If despite these explanations your computer still refuses to start, you might find usefull information on the web:
    xlife.zuavra.net
    Wikipedia
    Smallnetbuilder