You want access to your home computer wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, whether that’s via a remote desktop connection, SSH, FTP, web interface, or any other remote access you’ve set up. The catch is, you don’t like throwing money away to an always-on system. Luckily you can have your digital cake and eat it, too, and today I’ll show you how to boot and shut down your system remotely so that it’s ready for you when you need it and it’s not wasting energy when you don’t.
The cornerstone of this setup is a feature available to almost all newer computers known as Wake-on-LAN (or WOL), which—as the name suggests—turns on your PC through your local network. Wake-on-LAN is a breeze to set up and use on your local network, and with a little legwork you can set it up so you can wake your computer away from your home network, as well.
First I’ll show you how to enable Wake-on-LAN on your computer, starting with enabling the feature in the BIOS and finishing by choosing the correct system settings. Then I’ll show you several methods you can use to wake your computer using this feature, from waking your computer through your browser to different applications made specifically for this purpose.
NOTE: Wake-on-LAN only works with wired network connections.
Set Up Wake-on-LAN in Your BIOS and Operating System
The Wake-on-LAN feature can work in a couple of ways. First, it can boot your system from a completely shutdown state. Second, Wake-on-LAN can restore your system from a hibernated (Windows) or sleeping state (Mac). If you’re working in Windows, you may need to tweak your BIOS (the firmware your computer’s motherboard runs before it boots your operating system) before you start using Wake-on-LAN. Once your BIOS is set, you need to find and adjust a few system settings to allow you to wake up your computer using the Wake-on-LAN feature.
Enable Wake-on-LAN in Your BIOS
To access your BIOS, restart your computer and press and hold the Delete key (or whatever key your BIOS prompts you to hold) to enter the BIOS setup. Once you’re in the BIOS, head to the Power management section and look for a Wake-on-LAN setting. If you find one, go ahead and make sure it’s enabled, then save and exit your BIOS and start up your computer. Not all BIOS will have a straight-up Wake-on-LAN option, and on some boards you may have to enable a “Power On By PCI Devices” setting. It varies from board to board, so a little trial and error may be in order.
Now you’re ready to enable WOL in your operating system.
First point your browser to the Tomato admin interface and give it your username and password to get started. If you’re working outside of your local network, you’ll need to either know your external IP address or have set up a 
Now you just need to know your external IP address or have 
If you don’t have a router supported by the Tomato or DD-WRT firmware, there are still other simple tools made to send wake-up commands to your computer. For Windows, one good looking option is called 
We’ve covered tons of remote access possibilities here at Lifehacker, and here are a few of my favorites that you may want to use now that you’ve started up your computer:
Now head to the Advanced tab, which is full of options for your network adapter. We’re concerned with two options here. The first is the Wake From Shutdown entry near the end of the list. Scroll down to it and change the value to On. The next setting I tweaked was Wake-Up Capabilities (right below Wake From Shutdown), setting the value to Magic Packet. Hit OK and everything should be set. You’re ready to use the Wake-on-LAN feature using one of the methods described below.
To enable Wake-on-LAN for you Mac, open the Energy Saver Preference pane, click Options, and then tick the Wake for Ethernet network administrator access checkbox. That’s all there is to it.
Sourabh Jain 