How can I remotely connect to computers on my home's network from a different network?

My house has a Windows PC and Mac mini that both connect to my Linksys WRT54G wireless router. When I'm at home on the network, I can connect to any of the computers using Chicken of the VNC on my own Mac. When I'm away from home I want to be able to remotely fix any problems with the computers because explaining it over the phone is usually too tough. I think this involves DNS updating (so I don't need to memorize IP address), setting fixed IP addresses for the computers so that I always know which one I am connecting to, setting different ports for each one for creating an SSH tunnel (I don't know how to do that), and setting up VNC server programs on each host computer. Any help is appreciated鈥攖hank you very much!

How can I remotely connect to computers on my home's network from a different network?hp

Basically, you'll need to have either a fixed ip or have dynamic IP resolution setup. Check out www.dyndns.org. By doing this, you can reach your firewall/router.

From there.... you'll have to tell your firewall/router that if the connection to certain port comes in, let it through for certain protocols and forward it to your PC or MAC.

Then, when you get to your PC or Mac, you have to have something listening. It can be VPN, SSH, or other (preferably) secure protocols.

Once you get that far, you are inside your network. You can launch a client software to get to any of your systems.