Question

What "dynamic dns" service do you recommend for a home user. I am connected to Internet through Comcast and I would like to be able to access my web server running on my home computer from outside. What service do you recommend?

Answer 1

DynDns.com is a good one, and is supported by many routers' firmware.

Answer 2

I've been using No-IP Free for years, works like a charm :-)

Answer 3

I've used DynDNS for years; they were one of the biggest in the early days. They've also got premium options (static DNS, registration) if you want to get fancier later on.

Answer 4

http://www.dynip.com is the one I've been using for years. Very reliable. $30 a year. Never had a problem.

Answer 5

DynDNS with ddclient, but...

I recommend DynDNS too, but I suggest if you use the ddclient you make sure and use the SSL parameter/option as it's not the default setting (at least not in the debian configuration tool, nor the web tool provided at the DynDNS website). What I find a bit annoying is that it saves a .conf (text) file with your dynDNS credentials (username and password). When your IP changes, it sends an update to the DynDNS servers...but it will send it in plain text (over port 80). SSL will process this communication securely.

Auto: Add "ssl=yes" to the config at /etc/ddclient.conf

or

Manual: ddclient -use=ip -ip=x.x.x.x -daemon=0 -ssl

Answer 6

I've used [changeip][1]

[1]: http://www.changeip.com/ for several years without issue. Their pricing isn't bad either when you want to use a domain name you already own.

Answer 7

Certainly DynDNS, their client is faultless and very low profile. Also cross OS.

Answer 8

EveryDNS.net has a dynamic DNS option. I have never tried the dynamic DNS stuff but I use them for all my DNS hosting.

Answer 9

I'll preface this by saying that I'm biased since I actually run a dynamic DNS service (for the last decade).

Essentially any service that has been around for more than a couple of years and has servers at more than one location should do the trick for a home user. The basic hostname service at any provider will be about the same. What it really comes down to is support. DynDNS.com has excellent support for less technologically advanced users, and as others have mentioned, has seen widespread support from the hardware vendors in their devices as well. My service, for example, is geared more toward advanced users who know what they want without too much fluff to get in the way. Some services will also handle e-mail forwarding for you if you need it (mine does not).

There is an excellent list of DNS services at Technopagan. This list has been around for years and has been kept fairly updated with great information.

Answer 10

I have used DynDns.com and No-IP for years. Both have been dependable for me.

As commented by Kevin Dante, find one that is supported by your router.

Answer 11

I rolled my own. I use afraid's freedns, and they just give you a URL/wget script to update things, so I just use whatismyip.com (the script version, which just returns the IP address) and write out a file with that. If I run the script again (cron, hourly) and the address has changed, hit the URLs.

Answer 12

I like the idea of rolling my own. However, most of the free dynamic dns providers don't provide a secure means of doing this by default. Is there a way of doing this with everything encrypted?