The network card must support WoL. Virtually all modern Ethernet adapters do, but it's always worth verifying. A flashing LED on the Ethernet port when the computer is "off" is a good sign that the adapter is still receiving power and waiting for a Magic Packet.
Wake your machine immediately before you need to connect via AnyDesk.
: Navigate to Advanced, Power Management, or APM Configuration. wake on lan anydesk hot
While AnyDesk is great, here are other tools that handle “hot” wake-ups more natively:
This method works for waking the computer from a full shutdown (S5 state), as the NIC is still powered and listening on the specified port, provided the port-forwarding rule is active on the router. The network card must support WoL
Disable "Fast Startup" in Windows Power Options, as it can sometimes prevent the network card from listening.
:
Here's the magic behind it: When WoL is enabled on a device, its Network Interface Card (NIC) stays partially powered even while the system appears "off," quietly listening for a specific wake-up command. That command is a "Magic Packet"—a broadcast message containing the target device's unique MAC address, repeated sixteen times for good measure. When the NIC recognizes its own MAC address inside the packet, it signals the BIOS/UEFI to power up the machine.
Set up a $15 Raspberry Pi on your home network that listens for a secure signal (e.g., from a Telegram bot). Send a message from your mobile hotspot → Pi sends magic packet → PC wakes → Connect with AnyDesk. Wake your machine immediately before you need to
The apartment was quiet, save for the hum of Elias’s workstation and the rhythmic, metallic clicking of his mechanical keyboard. On his screen, the AnyDesk window was a portal into a void.