If you are having trouble connecting remotely to an MS SQL Server then check these steps:

1. Make sure the firewall on the server has port 1433 open, assuming this is the port the server is running on.

2. Enable the "SQL Server Browser" service to run automatically.

3. Make sure 'Allow remote connections to this server' are enabled in the server properties (in SQL Server Management Studio), in the 'Connections' section.

4. Make sure all the desired protocols are enabled in 'SQL Server Configuration Manager'. Look under 'SQL Server Network Confiruation' -> 'Protocols for XXXXXXX'.