Wake on LAN · built in, no extra app

Your computer's asleep. Wake it from your phone.

Remio includes native Wake-on-LAN. Your Mac or PC can sleep all night and still be one tap away — when you open Remio on your phone or iPad, the client sends a magic packet, the host wakes, and the stream starts. No separate Wake-on-LAN app, no router setup, no port forwarding. The MAC address is stored at pairing time and reused on every reconnect.

Why it should just work

Why Wake-on-LAN should be built in, not bolted on

Every other remote desktop app expects you to install a separate WoL utility, look up your host's MAC address by hand, type it into a third-party widget, and remember to fire it before you launch the remote desktop client. That workflow is fragile, and it leaks the password to your home network into a tool that has no business knowing it. Remio captures the MAC during pairing once, sends the magic packet automatically the moment you reconnect, and ships every wake-up over the same encrypted channel as the session itself.

01
Stored at pairing time

MAC address recorded once, used on every wake-up

When you pair a Remio client with a host using the 4-digit PIN, the client records the host's MAC address along with its device identifier and encryption key. That MAC address is the destination for every future magic packet — you do not have to type it, copy it from a router admin page, or know what it is. The first time you connect to a sleeping host, Remio uses the stored MAC and the host wakes within a few seconds.

02
Magic packet from the client

The phone sends the packet — no always-on listener required

A Wake-on-LAN magic packet is a UDP broadcast that needs to reach the host's network interface while it is in low-power mode. Remio sends that packet directly from the client device. On the same Wi-Fi network this works without any extra setup. The client does not need to be the same device that paired originally — any paired Remio client on the LAN can wake the host.

03
Then the stream starts

Wake and connect — one tap, two actions

When you tap a sleeping host's tile, the client first checks whether the host is reachable; if not, it sends the magic packet, waits for the host to come back on the network, and then opens the streaming session. The whole flow looks like a single connect from the user's side — about 8 to 15 seconds on a modern Mac, 15 to 30 on a Windows PC depending on the BIOS post-time. No extra button, no separate wake step.

Setup in under three minutes

Set up Wake-on-LAN in three minutes

Two settings on the host machine, one pairing on the client, done. Below is the exact path on macOS and on Windows. After this, every Remio client that pairs with the host inherits the WoL ability automatically.

Step 01 · macOS host
Open System Settings → Energy (or Battery on a laptop, then the Options button). Turn on “Wake for network access”. On laptops, this requires AC power — the network card needs to stay alive while the machine sleeps. Apple Silicon Macs support Wi-Fi wake out of the box; Intel Macs work over Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
Step 02 · Windows host
Open Device Manager, find your network adapter, right-click and choose Properties. On the Power Management tab, tick both “Allow this device to wake the computer” and “Only allow a magic packet to wake the computer.” Also check your motherboard BIOS or UEFI for a Wake on LAN or PME Event Wake Up setting and enable it.
Step 03 · Pair the client while the host is awake
Launch the Remio host. Launch the Remio client on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android, or Windows device. Pair with the 4-digit PIN. During this exchange the client records the host's MAC address — that one record is everything the client needs to wake the machine later.
Step 04 · Let the host sleep
Close the lid, lock the screen, or let the host fall asleep on its own schedule. The Remio host is designed to keep its pairing keys ready through sleep cycles — the moment a magic packet arrives, the OS wakes the machine, Remio Host comes back online, and the listening daemon accepts an incoming session.
Step 05 · Tap and connect
Open Remio on any paired client, tap the host's tile. Remio sends the magic packet, waits for the host to respond, and starts the stream. Total time from tap to first frame is 8 to 15 seconds on a Mac, 15 to 30 seconds on Windows. Subsequent reconnects while the host is already awake are sub-second.
Compared to standalone WoL apps

vs. standalone Wake-on-LAN apps

There are dozens of standalone WoL utilities — Wake on LAN by RoaringApps, Mocha WOL, Wake-On-LAN by Aquila Technology. They all send the same magic packet Remio sends. The difference is what surrounds it.

Other apps

Standalone WoL utility

You install a second app. You look up the host's MAC address from your router or System Settings. You copy it into the WoL app. You name the entry. You remember to open the WoL app first, send the packet, wait, then switch to your remote desktop app and connect. Two apps in your workflow, two places to lose the configuration, and the second app often has no idea whether its packet actually woke anything.

Remio

Built in to the client

One app. The MAC address is captured the moment you pair. The wake-up is part of the connect flow. The client knows whether the magic packet worked because it is also the thing waiting for the host to come back online — you do not get a false-positive “packet sent” while the machine stays asleep. And the same encryption keys that secure the streaming session bind the wake-up to your paired devices.

Common questions

Common questions about Wake-on-LAN

Five questions people ask before they rely on Wake-on-LAN as part of their daily workflow. Honest answers below.

No. WoL is built into the Remio client. When you tap a sleeping host's tile, Remio sends the magic packet itself. There is no separate WoL utility to install, configure, or remember to open before connecting.
Same-network wake works on every supported router because the magic packet only has to cross the LAN. Cross-internet wake (sometimes called “Wake-on-WAN”) requires either router-side WoL forwarding, a smart plug, or another always-on device on the LAN that can forward the packet — Remio does not relay magic packets through the cloud because that would require an always-on listener on your home network.
Wired Ethernet works reliably on every modern motherboard. Wi-Fi support (sometimes called Wake-on-Wireless-LAN or WoWLAN) depends on the network card and the router — Intel and Apple Wi-Fi cards mostly support it, many cheaper USB Wi-Fi dongles don't. Mac laptops support Wi-Fi wake out of the box when “Wake for network access” is enabled.
Yes for laptops — Wake-on-LAN requires the network card to stay powered, which means the lid can be closed but the machine must be on AC power. On macOS this is the default behaviour with “Wake for network access” enabled. For desktops, no special config beyond the BIOS/UEFI setting is needed.
A smart plug cuts power entirely — when you turn it back on, the computer cold-boots, which is slower and harder on the hardware. Wake-on-LAN sends a packet that wakes the machine from a low-power sleep state, which preserves the running session, takes a few seconds instead of a minute, and uses near-zero standby power. Smart plugs are a fallback for machines that won't WoL.
Free during launch · no account · no card

Let your computer sleep. Wake it when you need it.

Remio's built-in Wake-on-LAN means your Mac or PC can sleep all night, all weekend, all vacation — and still be one tap away from the next session. Install the host once, pair the clients once, and the magic packets take care of themselves from then on.

macOS, iOS, iPadOS, Windows, and Android. Wake-on-LAN built into every client.