UltraVNC

Wow... this was dumb, but I'll leave the post in case it helps someone else. After all that... it turned out to be my OWN windows firewall blocking. Threw me off that it DID connect but only for a second.

So close, yet so far. Everything is configured and working, except for KEEPING the connection.

It opens and immediately closes. I can see the desktop for around 1/2 second, and can even manage to move the mouse during that time. (Only around an inch across the screen as it closes.)

UltraVNC X64 ...