Wireless routers and dynamic DNS

[NoOp]

On 02/28/2012 09:04 AM, Kevin O'Gorman wrote:
> On Mon, Feb 27, 2012 at 7:22 PM, NoOp <...
>> I'm 'baffled' as to what you are referring to. Do you think that you
>> require a specific router to update dyndns.org? If so I suggest you read
>> up on ddclient:
>>
>> http://dyn.com/support/clients/
>>  http://dyn.com/support/clients/linux/
>>  http://dyn.com/support/clients/linux/ddclient/
>>   http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/ddclient
>> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DynamicDNS
>>  https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ddclient
>>  http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/precise/man8/ddclient.8.html
>>
>> I also recommend using the ddclient package/software rather than
>> attempting to rely on router firmware. Quite often I've seen router
>> firmware to off and spam the dns update server... result is that they
>> cut off your service until you 'explain' what happened.

By spam the dns update server I mean whereby the router firmware is
flakey & it sends many updates each second/every few seconds. I've had
at least three routers that would do this.

I also had something similar happen while I was away... But in that case
my home office was getting hit with multiple thunderstorms & the power
was flickering on/off at weird rates. Result was the router was powered
down, then up, then down, etc., and each time that it did it, the router
would aquire a new IP address from the ISP & happily report it to DYN.
Of course DYN (they were dyndns.org/com then) logged my updates from
each power cycle & that triggered an alarm on their side & they shut off
my dns domain. They nicely turned it back on after I emailed them &
explained the problem, but that does show how having the update in the
router hardware can be a problem

> 
> Thanks for the links.  I did indeed think updates had to be done by
> the router.  

No. Were that the case then I'd not be able to keep track of my laptop
when traveling. I do the same for clients/relatives; that way I don't
have to have them do the http://whatsmyip.org thing to find their IP
address(s).

If you have one of the "grandfather'ed" free dns accounts (as I do), the
only problem is that you need to have your device log in at least once a
month so that they know you are still alive. If not, you get an email
that they will cancel the domain in X days (8 IIRC). Note: you can still
get 1 free dns by trying a trial version. If you cancel you still get to
keep one. Difference is that the new "free" one doesn't have as many dns
choices as the old "free" did.

> It didn't occur to me that a machine behind a NAT router
> could easily discover the current IP leased to the router.  I knew
> (and still do) that I was baffled, so much so I'm not certain what I'm
> baffled about.  This continues to be the case, but it's getting a bit
> better.

One thing to pay attention to; when you create/modify your ddclient
script(s?), I highly recommend that you pay attention to, and use the
ssl options:
http://dyn.com/support/clients/linux/ddclient/
[Secure Updates]
Also, I run ddclient in daemon mode & to keep 'update' traffic down, I
have it configured for 'daemon=3600' (every 60 minutes). You can adjust
accordingly, But in my case I figure I don't need to update any earlier.

> 
> I'm in the midst of transferring domain registration to dyndns, since
> my existing registration will expire in 2 months anyway.  This is
> included in the price of the "standard" package, and about matches
> what I've been paying for domain registration alone.  I'm working on
> transferring the domain registration now.
> 
> It looks like I have a lot of reading to do.
> 

Not that much. It's all pretty easy to get the hang of it once you've
tried it. Also, once you've created your first /etc/ddclient.conf, you
can easily copy that to other machines & make slight modifications as
necessary.