A free phone app can wake a sleeping PC over your home network using Wake-on-LAN, a decades-old feature that needs no extra hardware and no open router.
A free app on your phone can switch on your computer from across the room. The trick is called Wake-on-LAN, and it is not new. It has been around for decades. It lets you wake a compatible PC by sending it a special network message, with no extra hardware to buy.
The message is called a "magic packet." It contains the MAC address of your PC's network adapter, which is a unique ID for that adapter. On supported systems, the adapter stays partly powered while the PC sleeps. It listens for the right packet and wakes the machine when it arrives.
Using it inside your home network does not require exposing your router to the internet. That makes it handy for waking a gaming PC before you sit down, or starting a home server before you connect to it.
First, open your motherboard's BIOS or UEFI settings. These are the basic controls you reach as the PC starts. Look for a setting named Wake on LAN, Power On By PCI-E, Resume By PCI-E, or similar. The name varies by board. You may also need to turn off ErP, a power-saving feature that can cut standby power to the network adapter.
On Windows, open Device Manager, expand Network adapters and right-click your Ethernet controller. Under Properties, open the Advanced tab and enable Wake on Magic Packet. On the Power Management tab, check Allow this device to wake the computer. If offered, also choose Only allow a magic packet to wake the computer, so random network activity does not wake the PC.
Next, open Command Prompt and type ipconfig /all. Find the physical address of your Ethernet adapter. That is the MAC address. Enter it in the phone app along with a name for the PC and any other details it asks for, such as the broadcast address or UDP port, which is usually 9.
The feature works best when the PC is asleep. Waking it from a full shutdown is a different story. Some motherboards and adapters support it and others do not. Test it before relying on it.
If your PC is wired by Ethernet and supports it, a free phone app can wake it from sleep, but test it first, since full shutdown may not work.
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