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Connecting Your Raspberry Pi - Behind A Windows Firewall

Leanne Stanton II

Setting up your Raspberry Pi is a pretty cool thing, but getting it to talk to you when it's tucked away behind a Windows firewall can feel a bit like trying to whisper secrets through a thick wall. It's almost as if your little computer is there, doing its thing, yet it feels out of reach from your main machine. This is where a little bit of know-how comes in handy, helping you bridge that gap.

A lot of folks, you know, find themselves wanting to reach their little computer from another spot in the house, or even from far away, and that often means dealing with a firewall that's just doing its job, keeping things safe. It's a bit like having a security guard who's very good at their work, perhaps a little too good sometimes, especially when you're trying to let something specific through.

This guide is going to walk you through some simple steps, helping you make that connection happen, so you can manage your Raspberry Pi without too much fuss, even with that Windows firewall in place. You'll find it's not as tricky as it might seem at first, and pretty soon, you'll be giving commands to your Pi from your Windows computer, just like that.

Table of Contents

Getting Started - What You'll Need for your Raspberry Pi?

Before we get too far along, it helps to get a good idea of what you'll want to have on hand. A Raspberry Pi, you know, is like a tiny, credit-card-sized computer, pretty much ready for all sorts of projects. It runs a version of Linux, which is a different kind of operating system than Windows, but it's very capable. For our purposes, we're going to treat it as a small server you want to talk to remotely, in a way.

The whole point of using SSH, or Secure Shell, is that it lets you control your Pi from another computer without needing a screen, keyboard, or mouse directly attached to the Pi itself. It's like having a secret remote control that lets you type commands and see what's happening on your Pi's screen, but through a text window on your Windows machine. This is very handy for projects where the Pi is hidden away or just not convenient to access directly.

You'll naturally need a Windows computer for this setup, as that's where your firewall lives and where you'll be sending your commands from. This Windows machine is your control center, so to speak. It's where you'll type the instructions to get your Pi to do things, and it's also the machine that has the firewall we need to adjust, basically.

An SSH client is another tool you'll want. Think of this as the special program on your Windows computer that knows how to speak the SSH language. Windows 10 and 11 actually come with a built-in SSH client, which is quite convenient, meaning you might not need to install anything extra. If you prefer a program with a visual interface, PuTTY is a very popular choice that many people use, and it's pretty easy to get the hang of, too.

Finally, knowing your Pi's unique address on your home network is pretty important. This is its IP address, a string of numbers that helps your Windows computer find it. It's like knowing the street address of a friend's house so you can send them a letter. We'll go over how to find this address on your Pi, so you're ready to make that connection.

Understanding Your Windows Firewall - How Does It Work?

So, what exactly is a firewall, and what does it do? Well, you can think of your Windows firewall as a very watchful security guard standing at the entrance to your computer. Its main job is to check all the information trying to get into or out of your computer and decide if it's allowed. It's there to keep out unwanted visitors and protect your machine from potential bad stuff from the internet, which is a good thing, generally.

This security guard, however, can sometimes be a little overzealous. When you're trying to connect to your Raspberry Pi using SSH, your Windows computer is trying to send out a request and then listen for a reply. The firewall, by default, might see this as an unusual kind of communication and decide to block it, because it doesn't know what it is. This is why you might have trouble connecting at first, even if everything else seems right, you know.

Windows Firewall typically has different rules depending on where your computer is. For instance, if you're on a public network, like at a coffee shop, it's usually very strict. At home, on a private network, it's a bit more relaxed but still keeps a close watch. For our purposes, since your Pi is likely on your home network, we'll be looking at how to adjust the rules for that private network setting, basically.

The good news is that we can tell this security guard, the firewall, that the SSH connection is actually something we want to allow. We do this by creating a specific rule that says, "Hey, when information tries to come in on this particular port, it's okay, let it through." This way, the firewall knows to make an exception for your Raspberry Pi's SSH traffic, which is pretty neat, if you ask me.

Preparing Your Raspberry Pi for SSH - Getting Ready

Before your Windows machine can talk to your Raspberry Pi using SSH, the Pi itself needs to be ready to listen. It's a bit like making sure someone is home before you try to call them on the phone. The very first step is to make sure your Pi's operating system, usually Raspberry Pi OS, has the SSH server component turned on. It's not always on by default, so we need to give it a little nudge, in a way.

To enable SSH on your Pi, you'll need to either connect a monitor and keyboard to it directly, or if you've already got network access, you might use a tool like VNC or another method to get to its settings. Once you're there, you'll open a terminal window and type a simple command: `sudo raspi-config`. This command opens up a blue menu where you can change a lot of your Pi's settings. You'll want to go to "Interface Options" and then select "SSH." It will ask if you want to enable it, and you'll say "Yes." After that, you're good to go on the Pi's side for listening to SSH requests, which is really quite simple.

Once SSH is enabled, it's pretty important to make sure your Raspberry Pi is connected to the same network as your Windows computer. This usually means both are connected to the same Wi-Fi network or both are plugged into the same router with network cables. If they're on different networks, they won't be able to find each other easily, and that would make things a bit more complicated, you know.

Finally, you'll want to find out the specific IP address your Raspberry Pi has on your local network. This is the address your Windows computer will use to connect. You can find this by typing `hostname -I` (that's a capital 'i') or `ip a` into the Pi's terminal. Look for the numbers that look like `192.168.1.X` or `10.0.0.X`. Write this number down, as you'll need it very soon for connecting from your Windows machine, so keep it handy.

Opening a Path - Allowing SSH Through Your Windows Firewall

Now that your Raspberry Pi is ready to listen for SSH connections, we need to tell your Windows firewall to let those connections through. Think of it as creating a special, tiny doorway in that security wall, just for SSH traffic. This isn't too hard to do, and Windows gives us some pretty clear steps to follow, basically.

The first thing you'll want to do is open up the Windows Firewall settings. The quickest way to get there is to type "Windows Security" into your Windows search bar and open the app. From there, you'll want to find "Firewall & network protection." It's usually pretty visible, so you shouldn't have too much trouble locating it, you know.

Once you're in the Firewall & network protection section, look for a link that says "Advanced settings." Clicking this will open a new window called "Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security." This is where we'll be doing the actual work of creating our new rule. It might look a little technical at first glance, but we're just going to focus on one specific part, so it's not as scary as it appears.

On the left side of this "Advanced Security" window, you'll see "Inbound Rules." Click on that. These are the rules for traffic trying to come *into* your computer. Then, on the right side, you'll see "New Rule..." Click on that to start the New Inbound Rule Wizard. This wizard will guide you step-by-step through setting up the new pathway for your Raspberry Pi, which is quite helpful.

When the wizard starts, you'll choose "Port" as the rule type. This means we're making a rule for a specific communication channel. Then, you'll select "TCP" (which is a common way computers send data) and then "Specific local ports." In the box next to that, you'll type `22`. Port 22 is the standard port that SSH uses, so this tells the firewall to look out for traffic on that particular channel, essentially.

Next, the wizard will ask what action to take. You'll choose "Allow the connection." This is the whole point, right? Then, it will ask about network profiles. You'll want to make sure "Private" is checked, as your home network is typically a private one. You can uncheck "Public" and "Domain" unless you know you need them, but for most home setups, "Private" is all you need, basically.

Finally, you'll give your new rule a name. Something clear like "Raspberry Pi SSH Access" or "Allow SSH to Pi" is a good idea. This helps you remember what the rule is for if you ever need to adjust it later. Once you click "Finish," your new rule is active, and your Windows firewall should now be ready to let SSH connections to your Raspberry Pi pass through, which is pretty cool.

What If My Router is Also Blocking - Port Forwarding Explained?

Okay, so you've set up your Windows firewall, and that's a big step. But what if you're trying to connect to your Raspberry Pi not just from another computer in your house, but from somewhere completely different, like a friend's house or even from work? In that situation, your router, the device that gives you internet access, might also have its own security measures in place. This is where something called "port forwarding" comes into the picture, you know.

Your router acts like another security guard, but this one is at the very entrance of your home network, facing the wider internet. It uses something called Network Address Translation, or NAT, which helps protect all the devices inside your home network by giving them private addresses that aren't visible to the outside world. This is great for security, but it also means outside connections don't automatically know how to reach a specific device, like your Raspberry Pi, inside your home, basically.

Port forwarding is how you tell your router, "Hey, if someone from the internet tries to connect to me on this specific port, please send that connection directly to my Raspberry Pi on its specific IP address and port." It's like telling the main security guard at the gate to direct a specific delivery truck to a particular room inside your building. Without this instruction, the truck would just arrive at the gate and not know where to go next, you see.

To set up port forwarding, you'll need to get into your router's settings. You usually do this by opening a web browser on your computer and typing in your router's IP address. Common addresses are `192.168.1.1`, `192.168.0.1`, or `192.168.1.254`. You might need to check your router's manual or look on the back of the router itself for the exact address and login details, which are usually a username and password.

Once you're logged into your router's settings, you'll need to find the section for "Port Forwarding." It might also be called "NAT," "Virtual Servers," or "Applications and Gaming." The exact name can vary a bit depending on your router's brand and model, but it's usually under a section related to network settings or security, which is pretty typical.

Inside the port forwarding section, you'll create a new rule. You'll need to specify a few things: an "External Port" (this is the port people from the internet will use to connect to your router, you can pick something other than 22, like 2222, for a bit more obscurity), an "Internal Port" (this will be 22, the SSH port on your Pi), and the "Internal IP Address" (which is the IP address of your Raspberry Pi on your local network). You'll also usually pick "TCP" as the protocol. It's a bit like filling out a form to direct that delivery truck, you know.

A quick tip for port forwarding: it's a good idea to set a static IP address for your Raspberry Pi on your local network. This means its IP address won't change, which is important because if its IP changes, your port forwarding rule will stop working. You can often do this in your router's settings, by assigning a fixed IP address to your Pi's MAC address, or by configuring the Pi itself, basically.

Connecting to Your Raspberry Pi - Using SSH from Windows

With your Raspberry Pi ready and your Windows firewall (and possibly your router) set to allow the connection, it's time for the moment of truth: actually connecting to your Raspberry Pi using SSH from your Windows computer. This is where all that preparation pays off, and it's quite satisfying when you see it work, really.

If you're using the built-in SSH client in Windows, you'll open your Command Prompt or PowerShell. You can find these by typing "cmd" or "powershell" into your Windows search bar. Once the black window pops up, you'll type a simple command: `ssh username@ip_address_of_your_pi`. For example, if your Pi's default username is `pi` and its IP address is `192.168.1.100`, you'd type `ssh pi@192.168.1.100`. Then you press Enter, and that's pretty much it for starting the connection.

The very first time you connect to a new Raspberry Pi using SSH

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