How to Set Up Wake-on-LAN to Turn On a PC Remotely

Short answer: if you enable Wake-on-LAN (WOL) correctly, you can boot up a fully powered-off PC from your phone with a single “magic packet.” It takes three one-time checks — motherboard BIOS, the network adapter’s power settings, and your router — and after that, waking the machine is just a tap in an app.

What Wake-on-LAN Actually Does

Even when a PC looks completely off, its network card can stay in a low-power standby state, listening for a specific “magic packet” addressed to its MAC address. When it sees one, it signals the motherboard to power on. This works from a true shutdown (ACPI S5 state), which makes it perfect for the classic “forgot to leave my work PC on” problem.

What You’ll Need

A wired Ethernet connection is strongly recommended over Wi-Fi, since most network cards drop power entirely in sleep on wireless. You’ll also need the PC’s MAC address, a reserved (static) internal IP, and a magic-packet sender app — on Android, Wake On Lan works well; on Windows, WakeMeOnLan is a free option; most remote-access apps also include one built in.

Step-by-Step Setup

1. Reboot the PC and enter BIOS/UEFI setup (usually Del, F2, or F10 at startup).
2. Under Power Management or Advanced settings, find “Wake on LAN,” “PCIE Wake,” or “Power On By PCI-E” and set it to Enabled.
3. If an ErP/EuP deep-sleep power-saving option is present, switch it to Disabled — otherwise the network card loses power entirely on shutdown.
4. Save and boot into Windows, then open Device Manager → Network adapters → your active Ethernet adapter’s properties.
5. On the Power Management tab, check “Allow this device to wake the computer” and “Only allow a magic packet to wake the computer.”
6. Run ipconfig /all in Command Prompt to find and note the PC’s physical (MAC) address.
7. Log into your router’s admin page and assign that PC a static IP reservation — this keeps the WOL packet routed to the right device.
8. Install a magic-packet sender app and enter the MAC address, your router’s public IP, and the WOL port (default 9).
9. Fully shut down the PC and test the “wake” button in the app to confirm it boots.

If It Doesn’t Wake Up

Most failures trace back to one of three things: the router blocking inbound UDP broadcasts (you may need port forwarding), the PC entering hibernation instead of a true shutdown (which cuts power to the NIC), or a laptop’s battery-saving policy overriding the adapter’s wake settings. A wired desktop is by far the most reliable setup.

Pairing It With Remote Access

Wake-on-LAN only handles the power-on — you still need separate remote-access software to actually see the screen and work once the machine boots. When both live in the same app, the routine becomes seamless: wake the office PC from your phone on your commute, then remote in the moment you’re online.

For environments managing multiple PCs remotely, a service like Y-Remote, with per-account permissions and connection logs, can help.