Windows Remote Desktop Working One Way: Troubleshooting Solutions

Windows Remote Desktop Working One Way: Troubleshooting Solutions

In some cases, you might encounter an issue where your Windows Remote Desktop is working one way, meaning you can connect to a remote machine, but the remote machine cannot connect back to your local machine. This article will provide you with troubleshooting solutions to overcome this problem, mainly focusing on a company using approximately 20 PCs with local Windows 10 users and having a Storm Shield VPN configured for occasional home use.

Checking Basic Configuration

Initially, ensure that your Remote Desktop is enabled on both local and remote machines:

• Local machine: Settings > System > Remote Desktop > Enable Remote Desktop
• Remote machine: System Properties (Win + Pause) > Remote > Allow remote connections to this computer

Firewall Settings

The primary issue for the one-way Remote Desktop might be related to the Firewall settings:

Local Machine

Confirm that Remote Desktop inbound rule is enabled on the local machine's Firewall:

1. Go to Windows Defender Firewall > Allow an app through Firewall
2. Click Change settings
3. Find and check the box for Remote Desktop under Private and Public columns

Remote Machine

Add an inbound rule for the local machine on the remote machine's Firewall:

1. In the remote machine, go to Windows Defender Firewall > Advanced settings
2. In the 'Inbound Rules,' click New Rule
3. Choose Port
4. For the protocol, select TCP and enter 3389 as the specific local port
5. For the 'Action,' select Allow the connection
6. Set profiles according to the network type and click Finish

Storm Shield VPN Configuration

Based on the provided information, your organization uses Storm Shield VPN configured on the local machines. You may need to configure the VPN settings to allow Remote Desktop traffic:

1. Go to Network and Sharing Center > Change adapter settings
2. Right-click on your VPN connection and select Properties
3. Go to Sharing
4. Check the box for 'Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection'
5. Under the 'Home networking connection:' dropdown, select the existing active network (usually, Ethernet or Wi-Fi) for Remote Desktop traffic forwarding

Adding Exceptions for the VPN Software

Add exceptions to the VPN software Firewall settings if required by the VPN provider to allow Remote Desktop traffic.

Network Level Authentication

Disable Network Level Authentication (NLA) on the remote machine's Remote Desktop settings if it creates issues with the VPN connection:

1. Remote machine: System Properties (Win + Pause) > Remote > Select 'Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop (less secure).'

• Confirm Remote Desktop is enabled on both machines
• Check local and remote Firewall settings
• Configure Storm Shield VPN for Remote Desktop traffic
• Add exceptions to VPN software Firewall settings if required
• Disable Network Level Authentication on the remote machine if necessary

References

• Mastering Windows Server 2019, Mark Minasi. Sybex, 2019.

• "Troubleshoot Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) connections.", Microsoft Support.

• "Stormshield Network Security Help.", Stormshield.