DynDNS

I read about this a (relatively) long time ago, this evening I quickly setup an account and got up and running…

This is a pretty geeky thing to be blogging about so I will keep this short in the interest of not getting marked as a hopeless geek in the eyes of the world….

I have been wanting to setup our home computer so I can remotely control it / access it at need with some software like VNC– the problem is twofold, we have a dynamic (often changing) IP address provided by the local cable company, and also use an inexpensive consumer router to share the broadband Internet connection with more than one computer at our house.

The solution? Three-fold:

1) A free account and setup with DynDNS

2) A quick port forwarding setup on the router for the ports used by the VNC application.
– For tips on configuring port forwarding, see this site (though it is for BitTorrent, the steps are the same, you just need to use the right port numbers.) The author does a nice job of summarizing technical mumbo-jumbo that is pretty important to understand when working with apps needing port forwarding. These are not limited to remote control/VNC apps, but also include P2P software.
– For port numbers, refer to this site.

3) A free software app (referenced also on dyndns) which runs in the background on your computer, keeping your assigned IP address updated in the DynDNS database.

Whoa-la! Off and running with remote desktop control when I am away from home….

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On this day..