How to use Wake-on-LAN Commands for Turning PC Remotely

Wake-on-LAN (WOL) is an Ethernet networking standard that allows a shut down computer to be turned on remotely. Most recent motherboards that have an integrated Ethernet controller support this feature. You can enable the Wake-on-LAN feature in the Power Management section of the motherboard’s BIOS. Wake-on-LAN can turn on a computer on the same local area network or at another location via the internet.

This is how Wake-on-LAN works; the target computer is shut down with enough power reserved only for the network adapter to function. It listens for a small piece of incoming data called the “magic packet”. When the network adapter receives a valid magic packet, the computer starts up. This packet of data is 102 bytes consisting of “FF FF FF FF FF FF” followed by 16 repetitions of the listening network device’s MAC address.

Wake-on-LAN starts the computer from its “off” state and is like pressing the power button to turn it on and boot up as normal. It’s not to be confused with waking the computer up from standby or sleep. Here are several ways you can turn on a computer using Wake-on-LAN from within your local network or remotely over the internet.

Wake-on-LAN over the Local Area Network

These tools will allow you to send the magic packet and start another computer in your local network.

1. Nirsoft WakeMeOnLan

WakeMeOnLan is another useful and portable utility from NirSoft that displays a list of computers on the network and allows you to switch one or all of them on with the click of a button. Scan the network by pressing F5 and it will display all connected computers. For a computer you want to send the magic packet to, either make sure it’s on before scanning or add it manually from the File menu (Ctrl+N).

Nirsoft wakemeonlan

Select the computer to start and click the Wake button (F8). The list of computers is saved and will be loaded the next time you start the program. Options like changing the port, sending the magic packet xx times, and the broadcast address can be changed in the settings. WakeMeOnLan has command line options and a computer can be started by either its IP address, name, MAC address or even the predefined text description you give it.

Download WakeMeOnLan


2. WakeOnLANx

WakeonLANx is a compact and portable tool that can perform a number of tasks in addition to Wake-on-LAN. These include pinging target computers, remote reboot/shutdown, retrieving last boot time, getting drive space usage or service status, starting a remote desktop connection, and creating a schedule for remote startups and shutdowns.

Wakeonlanx

Adding a remote computer is not automatic and you have to do it manually. Click the Add button and supply either a MAC address only or IP address and then MAC address on the same line. Make sure to put a hash (#) before any MAC. For example, “#00-24-75-41-4F-9A” or “192.168.0.10#00-24-75-41-4F-9A” will work. The broadcast address and port can be changed by right clicking on any of the entries.

Download WakeOnLANx


3. MiniWOL v2

MiniWOL is from the well known developer Tweaking4all and it’s perhaps more geared towards when you have a number of hosts to wake quite often. It works mainly from the system tray where you can wake a target computer from the tray icon menu. MiniWOL has a portable version that auto detects if you don’t install it to “Program Files (x86)”.

To start, right click on the tray menu > Settings. Click Add and give the profile an alias (tray menu name), enter the IPv4 and the MAC addresses. The port and broadcast address are optional and can stay at the defaults unless you need to change them. The ARP list button can help populate both the IPv4 and MAC address boxes. Alternatively, press Detect to get the MAC address from the entered IP address.

Miniwol v2

Most of the checkboxes in the window are for cosmetic changes and relate to how and when wake-up data is sent. The execute a script after waking option could be very handy for some users. MiniWOL becomes more valuable when you add more computers as they can all be woken quickly from the tray menu.

Download MiniWOL v2

A couple of other useful desktop GUI tools worth looking at are Aquilatech WakeOnLAN and WOL (not to be confused with a tool below tool with the same name).

Wake-on-LAN over the Internet (Wake-on-WAN)

Make sure to configure your router to forward the required UDP port to the computer that you want to boot up or it will not work. Using a port such as 9 or 7 is recommended although you can use almost any port you wish. Refer to PortForward.com on how to configure port forwarding for your router.

4. Depicus Wake on Lan

Depicus Wake on Lan is a small and portable tool that is able to boot up a computer using Wake-on-LAN over the internet or over the local network.

Depicus wake on lan

Simply select Internet or Local subnet from the dropdown and enter the MAC address, IP address or hostname, subnet mask (usually 255.255.255.255), and the port. If you are using Wake-on-LAN locally, the internet address box doesn’t need to be filled.

Download Depicus Wake on Lan


5. SoftPerfect Network Scanner

Sadly, Network Scanner went full shareware back in 2016 but the previous freeware version still works fine. This tool can perform a number of tasks such as scanning, pinging and getting detailed information about remote computers, discovering shared folders, and remote standby/shutdown. WOL is done via the Wake-on-LAN Manager, which you can get to from the toolbar or the Options menu.

Softperfect network scanner wol

To Wake-on-LAN via the internet, click Add and choose IPv4, enter the MAC address of the target computer, its external IP address, and the port. Enter a hostname instead of an IP address if you chose that option. To start a local computer you only have to add the MAC address and port, the target host can be left alone. You can also wake up a single computer with just its MAC address from the bottom of the WOL Manager.

Download SoftPerfect Network Scanner (Freeware version)

Online Wake-on-LAN Services

There used to be several of these websites on the internet but sadly they have dwindled away over the years and don’t work or have gone completely. Note that Wake-on-LAN over the internet is probably the least reliable method so it’s by no means guaranteed to work.

6. Depicus Wake on LAN over the Internet

In addition to the Windows tools from Depicus, they also have a page on their website that can send the magic packet over the internet to your computer.

Dupicus wake online

The external IP Address and MAC Address of your computer is required. The subnet mask and password boxes can be left alone if you have no specific need to change them. The page also says the port can be left at the default of 4343. Ports 9, 7, 4343, 40000, or anything more specific if you wish is fine. Remember, the port you use has to be forwarded in your router.

Visit Depicus Wake on LAN over the Internet

If you’re unable to remotely turn on your computer using any of the tools listed above, you need to make sure that your computer is Wake-On-LAN ready by checking your system settings. There are also more ways to remotely turn on a computer with Wake-on-LAN. Find out more on page 2.

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