Dyn.com Ends Free Dynamic DNS

First time accepted submitter mkitchin (1285710) writes in with news about Dyn ending its free DNS service. "For the last 15 years, all of us at Dyn have taken pride in offering a free version of our Dynamic DNS Pro product. What was originally a product built for a small group of users has blossomed into an exciting technology used around the world. That is why with mixed emotions we announced the end of that free hostname program today, officially turning down on May 7th."

Comments

Alternatives

[Chrisq]

A quick search reveals http://www.noip.com/, and I'm sure they'll be more. Anyway isn't this supposed to be a stopgap before IPV6 means we can all have permanent static IPS?!

Re:Alternatives

[BenFranske]

I know it's not very slashdot-like to do some research before posting but if you're not familiar with IPv6 please do yourself a favor and check it out thoroughly before spreading FUD. Yes, IPs are (most frequently) tied to MAC addresses _BUT_ you almost always will have 3 IPv6 addresses... a link-local address for communication just on the local subnet, a globally public one tied to your MAC (which you can distribute to people who you WANT to reach you), and a global public "temporary" IP address which you can use for outgoing connections but which will change periodically and will not be tied to your MAC. Of course this all depends a little on your IPv6 stack in your OS but this is how it's typically being handled.

Re:Alternatives

[TheRaven64]

Most ISPs don't change your IP on a regular basis anyway, so IP-based tracking narrows you down to a residential connection already. IPv6 is actually better in this regard because most implementation (yes, including Windows) let you keep a single static IP (or more than one) that you use for publicly advertised services but then regularly cycle IPs for outbound connections. This is something that most network stacks let you tune, but at the extreme case you can use a new IP for every new outbound connection (I think the default is a new one every 2 hours for most systems). This doesn't help much if you're the only user on a residential connection, but it makes tracking a lot harder if that's on something like a university campus.

Re:Alternatives

[psychonaut]

With No-IP's free service, host names expire every 30 days. I imagine this will be rather inconvenient for many people, even if all that's required to prevent the expiry is to log into your account (as Dyn.com has required for the past year or so).

Re:Alternatives

[jittles]

A quick search reveals http://www.noip.com/, and I'm sure they'll be more. Anyway isn't this supposed to be a stopgap before IPV6 means we can all have permanent static IPS?!

I've been using ZoneEdit for a long time. They've changed their business model slightly. Don't know if they still offer as many free options any more, but they have been great for me for over 10 years now!

Re:Alternatives

[SeaFox]

With No-IP's free service, host names expire every 30 days.

They only expire if you're too lazy to visit their website for three minutes to do a captcha when they send you the email saying your domain is about to expire. I've been doing it for months and have had uninterrupted service.

Their basic service is only $25 / year

[damn_registrars]

I know it sucks to see something go from free to not free, but a while ago I upped by agreement with them from free service to their most basic level. For me its worth the $25 per year. Others may feel otherwise, and their may be cheaper solutions out there as well, but it works pretty well for me.

I also like that someone wrote an auto-update utility (ddclient in FreeBSD) that I can run on my webserver as a daemon to keep my records updated should my ISP change my address on me.

Re:Viable Replacement?

[elerran]

Been very happy with https://freedns.afraid.org/ ever since dyndns deleted my free domain because I didn't login to their website once a month.

People were still using them?

[jrumney]

Dyn.com (the for-profit successor of dyndns.org) has been progressively making it harder to maintain your free address for the past 3 or 4 years. First, they made it so you had to update your DNS record once a month to avoid being cancelled (even if your IP address didn't change in that time), then they made it so you had to submit the update through their ad-infested web page, and I think they also increased the frequency that you had to do that. There are many alternatives which still provide a free service that is convenient to use, I'd have thought most users would have switched by now.

Re:You cancel service?

[bobbied]

I smell a business opportunity... Or, perhaps not.

Having used Dyndns for nearly a decade, I'm sad to see it go pay only. Can't say I'm surprised. I figured this was on the way when they went to this - you have to log in each month or we delete your two free host names - that they where just trying to get us all to pay. Problem is, I really cannot see paying $25/year for the services they provide.

changeip.com

[shellster_dude]

I use changeip.com. They provide great, free service, and I don't have to constantly "renew" the service.

Re:Viable Replacement?

[ProzacPatient]

Been very happy with https://freedns.afraid.org/ ever since dyndns deleted my free domain because I didn't login to their website once a month.

This happened to me as well; I used to use dyndns but I lost my domain when they switched the domain I had been using to a "premium" one so then I had to go and reconfigure everything that depended on it to a new domain so after looking at some other alternatives I ultimately decided to use EntryDNS with my own domain I bought from GoDaddy.

EntryDNS is donation driven and doesn't have any of the bull I found at over services (login once a month, upgrade to premium spam, link back to their site, etc..) and you have both the option of using a free subdomain and/or using your own domain. I've been very happy with their service and am considering donating something as a token of appreciation.

NOIP does the same...

[Anonymous Coward]

But dyn actually stopped sending the renewal emails, thus losing me my addresses, then turning out to have deleted those domains as available options for non-paying customers.

That's when I ended my relationship with them and jumped to noip.

After this though, I wonder how long util NOIP does the same.

Re:Viable Replacement?

[rotaryexpress]

Free Dynamic DNS is fine but....
I've used Namecheap.com for my personal domain for a few years now and recently found out you can do dynamic DNS with them too. I realize it's not free, but, it's my own domain on a service I'm paying for. It's nice having house.(mydomain).com...

Re:You cancel service?

[ncc74656]

If you had donated at some point in the past, it looks like you get grandfathered in. From the email they sent me:

In an effort to better service our customers through increased support and a cleaner network, Dyn announced that in the next 30 days, we will no longer be supporting free hostnames. However, because you believed in us and supported this company through your donations, we are continuing to fulfill our promise to you: your service is still free for life.

I donated somewhere around $10-$20 once, probably at least a decade ago.

Re:You cancel service?

[Guspaz]

And my .com/.net/.org domain (that costs less than $25/year) gets me an infinite number of changeable names. I simply set the TTL on the subdomains low and update it whenever the IPs change.

domain != dyndns

[kevlar_rat]

There is a little confusion here. Dynamic DNS means the domain record is constantly updated to point to the correct IP address. Its completely independent of domain registration. godaddy does not offer a dyndns service. Most dyndns services do not offer domains.
DynDNS is useful if you want to be able to always contact a box on a domain, but it's got a dynamic IP address - i.e. typically for running a server on a home box. I use it to ssh into home when I'm away, I just do ssh mydyndomain.org and don't need to worry about IP addresses.
I have had domains with godaddy in the past, but I've always used dyn.com as well.
It is possible to use a script to update your A record through your registrar's web interface, but this will break every time they update the site.
P.S. I recommend not using godaddy.

Re:You cancel service?

[kcwebmonkey]

No-IP is a great free dynamic DNS alternative http://noip.co/1jVi5th

their free service also requires you to sign in every month. I'd suggest a service like http://freedns.afraid.org/ which is completely free and doesn't require monthly logins to keep your account active.