But, in addition, just as we can turn off the PC with our mobile, we also have the possibility of turning it on when we need to access content, applications or files that it stores. We can carry out this process both in Windows 10 and in Windows 11, whether we use a Microsoft account associated with Windows or a local account.
Use a mobile to turn on and pay for a PC
To carry out this process we must activate certain functional accounts in the BIOS and in Windows in addition to using an application for our smartphone.
Enable Wake on LAN feature in BIOS
In order to turn our mobile on and off, we will use the function Wake up on Lanalso known as WoLa feature that has worked for almost 3 decades and allows us to ask the network card to turn on remotely.
The first thing we need to do is make sure that our BIOS includes the function and that it is enabled. This function is found in the Network, LAN section or in the advanced options and we can identify it as WoL or Wake on Lan. Once we activate it, we save the changes and start Windows.
Activate WoL and Windows
In the next step we need to enable this feature in Windows. To do this, we need to access the device Manager by right-clicking on the Start menu. Then we click on Network adapters and we access the properties of our network card with the right mouse button.
Next we access the Advanced Options tab. In the Properties section we look for the option Wake up to the magic packageand in Value we define Enabled. Once we activate this function, we restart the PC so that it starts working.
What data do we need?
Before downloading the application, once we have activated the Wake on LAN function in BIOS and in Windows, we must know the data from our PC that we are going to use to configure the application: the MAC of our network card and the IP address of our router.
To find out the MAC we must open CMD (this is not necessary with administrator permissions) and use the command “ipconfig /all” without the quotes. The MAC address is displayed in the section Physical direction. If we want to carry out this process from our local network, instead of the IP of our router, we need the local address of our equipment, information that is displayed in the section IPv4 address.
To find out the IP of our router (not to be confused with the IP of our equipment which starts with 192), the quickest and easiest way is to use the Speed Test site. The IP address is shown at the bottom left with the name of our Internet provider and consists of 4 blocks of numbers separated by dots.
With this information we can configure the application to access our router and turn on the computer with the MAC we entered. The router IP (not to be confused with the local IP), like the MAC, is unique for each device, so we will not find two identical on any other device.
Download the application for our mobile
Both in the App Store and in the Play Store we can find different applications that allow us to turn on and charge our PC remotely. Unfortunately, there is no application that allows us to carry out both processes together.
Turn on the PC from a mobile
To turn on the PC from any smartphone we can use the application Wake on LAN for Android and Wake me up – Wake-on-LAN in the App Store for iOS.
In both applications, you must first click on the plus sign to add the team and, in the tab of each team, establish the Mac address and the IP adress of our router or the physical address of our equipment on the local network.
Once the application is configured, from the main screen, click Wake up.
Turn off a PC from your mobile
The Wake on LAN function allows us to wake up our PC from the outside. If we want to turn off our computer remotely, we must install an application on our PC, an application that communicates with the corresponding application that we must also install on our mobile. Of all the applications available to perform this function, the most complete is Unified Remote, an application whose mobile version allows us to perform this task for free.
The first thing we need to do is download the Unified Remote application for Windows from this link and install it on our PC and allow it to create an exception in the firewall because otherwise it will not be able to not connect to the Internet to receive the instructions from the application on our mobile. The application runs in the background, so there is no need to configure it. Next, we download the application for iOS and Android through the following links.
The first time we open the application on our mobile we must select the server, that is, the computer on which we have installed the application. Then from the main screen click on Power to display the two options that we can use for free and which are Reboot (to restart the PC) and Close (to turn off the PC). By clicking on this option, Windows will close all open applications and turn off the PC.
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