FAQ
How to find the Windows computer name
How to find the computers IP address
If you are trying to use WiFi then you need the internal IP address, otherwise you need the external IP address
Internal IP address
Alternatively you can install iTap Receiver. The receiver will show your IP address on the main window.
External IP address
Open the website http://whatismyip.com on the Computer you want to know the external IP of. Do not open this url on the iPhone, the information will be wrong!
How to setup your firewall
The method to configure your firewall depends on the firewall you are using. Please note that Windows XP (since SP3) and Windows Vista have built-in firewalls, so you will have a firewall active even if you never installed such a program. You can reach this firewall through the security center (in control panel).
You have to open "TCP port 3389" in your firewall for RDP to work. Please consult the manual or online help of your firewall for instructions on how to do this.
How to forward RDP ports to the internet
This step depends highly on your network setup. We assume here that you have a DSL or cable modem and a router connecting your modem with your computer. Sometimes the modem and router are combined into a single box.
How to setup port forwarding depends on the make and model of your router. You can use the guides on portforward.com to configure you router to forward RDP traffic. Please select your router/modem from the list, and then select "Remote Desktop" from the following list.Please note that we are not affiliated with nor endorsing any of the sites we refer to in this guide.
I cannot find or connect to my computer
Please make sure that your computer is on. You can either enter your computers IP address (see http://www.home-network-help.com/check-ip.html on how to find your IP Address) or host name. Please note, using the host name requires your network to resolve the host name properly through DNS. In many home network configurations only the IP address will work properly.
Most LAN IP addresses in home networks start either with 192.168 or 10. If you have multiple network adapters (e.g. an internet modem and a LAN network adapter) please make sure to pick the IP address which starts with either of these numbers.
One other reason why iTap RDP cannot connect to your computer can be that you are using an unsupported Windows version. Please note that Windows XP Home, Windows Media Center Edition, Windows Vista Home and Windows 7 Home or Starter are not supported without 3rd party software. This is not a technical limitation of iTap RDP but a limitation of Microsoft for certain consumer Windows versions. Please see the Windows home edition FAQ entry for further details.
If none of these steps help finding the problem please use the automated help wizard. To do so, please open the settings for the bookmark which is causing problems on your iPhone and tap the help text. This should open a webpage which will give you information and help specific to your problem.
Windows versions which are not supported
Windows XP home, Windows Media Center Edition, Windows Vista Home and Windows 7 Home and Starter are capable of using RDP, however Microsoft has hidden and/or limited these features so 3rd party software is necessary for supporting them.
We recommend Thinstuff XP/VS Terminal Server Lite which costs around EUR 29.
How do I enable RDP on my Windows Version?
This FAQ entry only applies to Windows XP Professional, Vista Business, Vista Enterprise, Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate.
I still cannot find or connect to my computer (Firewall issues)
iTap RDP needs to connect to your computer over the network. 3rd party firewall software and also the Windows firewall are the main reason why a connection to your PC is impossible.
To check if the 3rd party or integrated firewall is responsible: Please disable any third-party firewall software and also the Windows internal firewall temporarily. If this causes the problem to disappear you will need to add an exception for iTap RDP to your firewall. iTap RDP needs to be able to receive TCP packets on port 3389.
Please note that Windows XP (since SP3), Windows Vista and Windows 7 have built-in firewalls, so you will have a firewall active even if you never installed such a program. You can reach this firewall through the security center (in control panel).
I can connect to my computer with WiFi, but not with 3G, EDGE, ...
In order to use iTap RDP with 3G networks (or generally from the internet) you computer must be visible from the internet. To do this you need to perform the following three steps:
Step 1: Find out your public IP address
You can find your public IP address by visiting www.whatismyip.com from your desktop computer. Write down the IP address, you need it to connect from your iPhone. Please note that your public IP address can change over time, so you have to look it up from time to time to see what your current IP is. Or alternatively you can use a dynamic IP service like DynDNS to get a name which always points to your current IP address.
Step 2: Forward port 3389 to your LAN computer
This step depends highly on your network setup. We assume here that you have a DSL or cable modem and a router connecting your modem with your computer. Sometimes the modem and router are combined into a single box.
How to setup port forwarding depends on the make and model of your router. You can use the guides on portforward.com to configure you router to forward RDP traffic. Please select your router/modem from the list, and then select "Remote Desktop" from the following list.Step 3: Configure firewall
Your firewall will treat connections from the internet differently than connections from your local WiFi network. Please read the FAQ entry about firewall issues for further details.
How do I show the keyboard / disconnect / right-click / ...
A list of all gestures is visible on the device if you open the "Utility Bar" (with a three finger tap) and tap on "Help". Additionally all gestures are documented in our manual on the device and you can download our gesture quick reference here.
Help, I cannot show the keyboard!
Please make sure that you do not have the "Zoom" accessibility feature enabled (where you can zoom and pan all iPhone/iPad programs using 3 fingers). This system gesture conflicts with all programs which are using 3 finger gestures. If you need to use the "Zoom" feature you can alternatively set the "Utility Bar" in the advanced options to "On". Then you have buttons for keyboard and disconnect on screen.
If this is not the problem, many people have found the following tip helpful:
Some people have reported problems showing the keyboard using the 3-finger swipe gesture. We have improved it very much with version 1.4, but if you still experience problems, this tip was found helpful:
"I got the problem resolved; you may want to include this in the instructions. I was touching the screen with all 3 fingers at the same time then dragging them off the screen and yes closing the app didn't work also. How I resolved it was in one smooth fluid motion I put down my index finger then my middle finger then my ring finger held it for a split second and pulled off the screen. It now works every time as well as closing down the connection. My guess is that the phone saw it as one touch because all fingers made contact at the same time."It still doesn't work, I want to report a bug, or suggest a new feature
Fast and accurate support has always been one of our goals, please do not hesitate to contact us if you have technical problems or suggestions. Our support email address is: support-rdp@itap.mobi