I am trying to login to my brother's Mac which requires his computername@IP address. When I tell him how to get his IP address, he get 10.0.0.xxx and not something like 192.168.x.xx
What are we doing wrong? (He's running Monterey 12.7.2 and I'm running Sonoma 14.2.1)
[Edited by Moderator]
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.12
That is the Local IP Address of the router and not reachable from the internet. He can just type myip.com into a web browser to get the IP address of the router. You may also need to make sure the router is not using a firewall to block ports and may have to provide Port Forwarding options to communicate specifically with his computer and not any other device that may be behind the router. The router will assign Local addresses to any device that is connected to it. Those address cannot be accessed outside of the router.
That is the Local IP Address of the router and not reachable from the internet. He can just type myip.com into a web browser to get the IP address of the router. You may also need to make sure the router is not using a firewall to block ports and may have to provide Port Forwarding options to communicate specifically with his computer and not any other device that may be behind the router. The router will assign Local addresses to any device that is connected to it. Those address cannot be accessed outside of the router.
Find your computer’s network address
If you’re sharing your computer’s screen, allowing remote logins or management, or sharing files, other users may need to know your computer’s network address instead of its name to access these services.
> System Settings, click General 
in the sidebar, then click Sharing on the right. (You may need to scroll down.)
to the right of a service that’s turned on.Your computer’s network address is provided by the Domain Name System (DNS) server your computer uses. If you don’t use a DNS service, the network address is derived from your computer name.
Are you in his home, or trying to access his Mac across the Internet.
If in his home, then 10.0.0.xxx is correct.
192.168.*.* is a valid non-routing IP address
10.*.*.* is a valid non-routing IP address
172.16.*.* thru 172.31.*.* is a valid non-routing IP address.
HOWEVER, if you trying to access his Mac across the Internet, then you need 2 things.
First, the Internet visible IP address, which myip.com can give him. And that is the easy part.
Second, he has to open port 22 in his router, and set up a port forwarding rule that directs ssh connections to to his Mac’s 10.0.0.xxx address. And because every router has different instructions on how to set up port forwarding, it is difficult to give any instructions in this forum.
I have do it for my Mom’s router, and anytime something changed, would have to drive 300 miles and re-setup the router.
I also do it for my home.
And in both cases I choose a very high numbered port to open, that gets forwarded to my Mac’s port 22, because opening port 22 on the Internet facing side is like painting a target on your back.
If this is going to be a long term setup, then look at TailScale.com running on your brother’s and your Mac.
If you just want to see your brother’s computer, Chrome and Zoom have a way to share screes.
And there is always TeamViewer.com
SlippySlope wrote:
Thank you for a VERY complete explanation. We’re trying to do it via internet (he’s in Vermont and I’m in Florida). I’m going to look through your note in detail and i feel confident that i can figure out how to get this done (with your guidance)…we’re two old codgers - I’m 83 and he’s 76…but we’ll muddle through ;-)
If this is a one-off thing, then look at using TeamViewer.com. You can transfer files, and see your brother's screen.
And if it is just seeing the screen, Chrome or Zoom would be good choices. And Zoom lets you talk all the time you are working together.
But if this is going to be an on-going thing, then seriously look at https://TailScale.com It will for all intents and purposes make both your Macs look like they are on the same local network. The connection is secure, better than opening the ssh port 22.
TailScale.com is sufficiently popular that there should be more than a few YouTube videos on the subject, as well as articles you can search for via Google.
Thank you for a VERY complete explanation. We’re trying to do it via internet (he’s in Vermont and I’m in Florida). I’m going to look through your note in detail and i feel confident that i can figure out how to get this done (with your guidance)…we’re two old codgers - I’m 83 and he’s 76…but we’ll muddle through ;-)
Thank you. That is what I suspected but when following the directions of Apple to obtain his IP address, it comes back with his local address and not his computer address that ssh is seeking.
Accessing remote share on another iMac
