Configuring a dynamic dns client

T

Tom Richards

Well, I can't connect at all now from here (client). I'll re-check my
settings when I'm home tonight. :-(

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
Sooner Al wrote:
You might try a different service is the current one is not working
for you. Personally I use No-IP.com, which is free. Go to
http://www.no-ip.com for details...

It does sound like the service itself is working just fine - dyndns is also
free, and I use it all the time. I think your suggestions for testing are
right on the money. :)
Tom Richards said:
I appreciate your patience here....I consider myself a
semi-nerd....run my own website with a mysql database, cgi stuff
like message boards, etc., but I can't seem to get this whole dns
thing. I can get to my pc via rd now from Rena's (my girlfriend's)
pc. And it's great....but, as I said before, I have to login to my
account at dyndns.org to get the correct ip. And, even then, it
won't work right away when I use the rd client from Rena's pc. I
have to try a few times before it will connect and stop throwing the
error message.

Your tips:

1) I don't know how to ping the host I set up at my dyndns.org
account...or maybe I do...here's what I did: From a command prompt
on my pc I typed "ping myname.dyndns.org" and it returns the ping
statistics for the current ip of my machine (the host).

2) I use the linksys befsr41 router and can't find anything in it's
admin about "inbound ICMP" so i don't know if that's enabled or
disabled. I don't even know what that acronym stands for. :)

3) I'm pinging from the host pc - my pc. I'm sitting at my pc this
evening as we speak.

--

Tom Richards
(e-mail address removed)


"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
message 1) You should be pinging the host you set up at your dyndns account
- yourpc.dyndns.org - it should resolve to the public IP of your
router. 2) You shouldn't have inbound ICMP enabled in your firewall
3) From where are you pinging? From the Internet, you shouldn't be
able to resolve your local computer's name.

Ping
Tom Richards wrote:
When I ping using "ping mypcname" it returns the ip of my pc (the
ip i have the 3389 port forwarding to) with 4 packets sent and 4
received. Not sure how to analyze this.



"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
in message Tom Richards wrote:
It worked! I logged in to my account at dyndns.org and used the
"ip in database" in the rd client and, voila, it connected.
Thanks for your help.

Glad it worked, but you aren't supposed to need to do that -
that's the point of dynamic DNS and the direct update software -
so you won't need to remember or know the IP at all. Did you try
the ping test to see if the host name pointed at the correct IP
address?



"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
<[email protected]>
wrote in message Tom Richards wrote:
I'm at my girlfriend's and it won't connect. Yes, DirectUpdate
said that it was connected and updated correctly when I leftr
this morning. The port forwarding is set properly because when
I know the ip of my machine, that is when I'm there and ask
her to connect to the ip I'm seeing, rd works. Du is running
in the background on the host machine so I don't know what the
glitch is.

Something's wrong in Direct Update setup if you can use the
public IP but not the host name. If you ping the host name from
her computer, or yours, even, does it return the correct public
IP? (it shouldn't allow replies, but should return the name).

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
<[email protected]>
wrote in message Tom Richards wrote:
I installed and configured DirectUpdate. I put my router's
status page url in the ip detection settings. Also in that
area, I chose the "requires authentication" option and
inputted my username and psswd (from dyndns). Is that
correct? DU also shows that it is "succesfully connected"
to my machine.

So in Direct Update, does it say it connected & updated
correctly?

But....my friend can't get myname.dyndns.org to open and it
also won't open in the rd logon window on my laptop - part
of my home network. And when I logon to my account at
dyndns.org, my current wan ip is there...it's correct. :-(

Is port 3389 open in your router, and forwarded to your
internal IP address (use a static)?


"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
<[email protected]>
wrote in message
Tom Richards wrote:
Ok, Jason and Phil. I can't get my mind wrapped around this
one. I struggled with Remote Desktop and finally got it
working thanks to your help. That is, it works so long as I
know the ip address of my host pc. Problem is, it keeps
changing - a few times a day. So....per Jason's
suggestion, I went to dyndns.org and set up a dynamic dns
account - brainsturgeon.dyndns.org. Ok....so, I followed
their How To step by step and downloaded a client (3D
Watch) to keep the ip address updated on the dyndns
server. Except it isn't working, or at least I don't
understand what the end result needs to be here.

I've never used that - I really like DirectUpdate (also
downloadable from dyndns.org) but they should all be the
same - if you log into your Dyndns.org site & check your
account, does it reflect your current IP? Are you sure the
client you set up is done properly? Check their help files?

With
3d watch running in the background, my ip address changes
and my pc isn't accessible via rd. When I try, or a friend
tries from a another pc, to access
http://myname.dyndns.org, it doesn't load.

Just use yourname.dyndns.org in the remote desktop client.


Is the purpose for me to be able to go to
http://myname.dyndns.org and grab my current ip info when
trying to work remotely? Or isn't the purpose of all this
to have that process automated so i can use rd with the
same ip address all the time?

No - because you don't always have the same IP address. You
always have the same *name* you set up on dyndns, which
should map to the right IP.

I have dyndns set up as a
dynamic dns account - should it be a static dns account?
Ack........ Nope. or you wouldn't need it.
 
T

Tom Richards

Well, it worked! Turns out that the reason I couldn't get to my host pc last
night was a power failure at my house - the machine was off. But rena was
able to connect to me by typing myname.dyndns.org in the rd logon window!

--

Tom Richards
(e-mail address removed)


Sooner Al said:
To turn off "inbound ICMP" on a BEFSR41 go the to the "Filters" page and check the "Block WAN
Requests -> Enable" checkbox.

To test all of this you need to be at a remote PC. It is not a valid test to ping or try to access
the PC using the dynamic dns address from a PC on your own network.

One way to check if the dynamic dns service is actually using the correct IP is to go to a XP PC on
your local LAN and do two things...

1. Visit the http://www.whatismyip.com or http://checkip.dyndns.org/ sites and note the reported IP
address.
2. Go to "Start -> Run" and type cmd at the command line. Run the
following command at the prompt...
nslookup myname.dns.org

3. Compare the IP addresses returned in steps 1 and 2. They should be the same.

You might try a different service is the current one is not working for you. Personally I use
No-IP.com, which is free. Go to http://www.no-ip.com for details...

--
Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights...

Tom Richards said:
I appreciate your patience here....I consider myself a semi-nerd....run my
own website with a mysql database, cgi stuff like message boards, etc., but
I can't seem to get this whole dns thing. I can get to my pc via rd now from
Rena's (my girlfriend's) pc. And it's great....but, as I said before, I have
to login to my account at dyndns.org to get the correct ip. And, even then,
it won't work right away when I use the rd client from Rena's pc. I have to
try a few times before it will connect and stop throwing the error message.

Your tips:

1) I don't know how to ping the host I set up at my dyndns.org account...or
maybe I do...here's what I did: From a command prompt on my pc I typed "ping
myname.dyndns.org" and it returns the ping statistics for the current ip of
my machine (the host).

2) I use the linksys befsr41 router and can't find anything in it's admin
about "inbound ICMP" so i don't know if that's enabled or disabled. I don't
even know what that acronym stands for. :)

3) I'm pinging from the host pc - my pc. I'm sitting at my pc this evening
as we speak.

--

Tom Richards
(e-mail address removed)


"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
1) You should be pinging the host you set up at your dyndns account -
yourpc.dyndns.org - it should resolve to the public IP of your router.
2) You shouldn't have inbound ICMP enabled in your firewall
3) From where are you pinging? From the Internet, you shouldn't be able to
resolve your local computer's name.

Ping
Tom Richards wrote:
When I ping using "ping mypcname" it returns the ip of my pc (the ip
i have the 3389 port forwarding to) with 4 packets sent and 4
received. Not sure how to analyze this.



"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
message Tom Richards wrote:
It worked! I logged in to my account at dyndns.org and used the "i p
in database" in the rd client and, voila, it connected. Thanks for
your help.

Glad it worked, but you aren't supposed to need to do that - that's
the point of dynamic DNS and the direct update software - so you
won't need to remember or know the IP at all. Did you try the ping
test to see if the host name pointed at the correct IP address?



"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
message Tom Richards wrote:
I'm at my girlfriend's and it won't connect. Yes, DirectUpdate
said that it was connected and updated correctly when I leftr this
morning. The port forwarding is set properly because when I know
the ip of my machine, that is when I'm there and ask her to
connect to the ip I'm seeing, rd works. Du is running in the
background on the host machine so I don't know what the glitch is.

Something's wrong in Direct Update setup if you can use the public
IP but not the host name. If you ping the host name from her
computer, or yours, even, does it return the correct public IP? (it
shouldn't allow replies, but should return the name).

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
in message Tom Richards wrote:
I installed and configured DirectUpdate. I put my router's
status page url in the ip detection settings. Also in that
area, I chose the "requires authentication" option and inputted
my username and psswd (from dyndns). Is that correct? DU also
shows that it is "succesfully connected" to my machine.

So in Direct Update, does it say it connected & updated
correctly?

But....my friend can't get myname.dyndns.org to open and it also
won't open in the rd logon window on my laptop - part of my home
network. And when I logon to my account at dyndns.org, my
current wan ip is there...it's correct. :-(

Is port 3389 open in your router, and forwarded to your internal
IP address (use a static)?


"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
<[email protected]>
wrote in message Tom Richards wrote:
Ok, Jason and Phil. I can't get my mind wrapped around this
one. I struggled with Remote Desktop and finally got it
working thanks to your help. That is, it works so long as I
know the ip address of my host pc. Problem is, it keeps
changing - a few times a day. So....per Jason's suggestion, I
went to dyndns.org and set up a dynamic dns account -
brainsturgeon.dyndns.org. Ok....so, I followed their How To
step by step and downloaded a client (3D Watch) to keep the
ip address updated on the dyndns server. Except it isn't
working, or at least I don't understand what the end result
needs to be here.

I've never used that - I really like DirectUpdate (also
downloadable from dyndns.org) but they should all be the same -
if you log into your Dyndns.org site & check your account, does
it reflect your current IP? Are you sure the client you set up
is done properly? Check their help files?

With
3d watch running in the background, my ip address changes and
my pc isn't accessible via rd. When I try, or a friend tries
from a another pc, to access http://myname.dyndns.org, it
doesn't load.

Just use yourname.dyndns.org in the remote desktop client.


Is the purpose for me to be able to go to
http://myname.dyndns.org and grab my current ip info when
trying to work remotely? Or isn't the purpose of all this to
have that process automated so i can use rd with the same ip
address all the time?

No - because you don't always have the same IP address. You
always have the same *name* you set up on dyndns, which should
map to the right IP.

I have dyndns set up as a
dynamic dns account - should it be a static dns account?
Ack........ Nope. or you wouldn't need it.
 
S

Sooner Al

Glad its working...

--
Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights...

Tom Richards said:
Well, it worked! Turns out that the reason I couldn't get to my host pc last
night was a power failure at my house - the machine was off. But rena was
able to connect to me by typing myname.dyndns.org in the rd logon window!

--

Tom Richards
(e-mail address removed)


Sooner Al said:
To turn off "inbound ICMP" on a BEFSR41 go the to the "Filters" page and check the "Block WAN
Requests -> Enable" checkbox.

To test all of this you need to be at a remote PC. It is not a valid test to ping or try to access
the PC using the dynamic dns address from a PC on your own network.

One way to check if the dynamic dns service is actually using the correct IP is to go to a XP PC on
your local LAN and do two things...

1. Visit the http://www.whatismyip.com or http://checkip.dyndns.org/ sites and note the reported IP
address.
2. Go to "Start -> Run" and type cmd at the command line. Run the
following command at the prompt...
nslookup myname.dns.org

3. Compare the IP addresses returned in steps 1 and 2. They should be the same.

You might try a different service is the current one is not working for you. Personally I use
No-IP.com, which is free. Go to http://www.no-ip.com for details...

--
Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights...

Tom Richards said:
I appreciate your patience here....I consider myself a semi-nerd....run my
own website with a mysql database, cgi stuff like message boards, etc., but
I can't seem to get this whole dns thing. I can get to my pc via rd now from
Rena's (my girlfriend's) pc. And it's great....but, as I said before, I have
to login to my account at dyndns.org to get the correct ip. And, even then,
it won't work right away when I use the rd client from Rena's pc. I have to
try a few times before it will connect and stop throwing the error message.

Your tips:

1) I don't know how to ping the host I set up at my dyndns.org account...or
maybe I do...here's what I did: From a command prompt on my pc I typed "ping
myname.dyndns.org" and it returns the ping statistics for the current ip of
my machine (the host).

2) I use the linksys befsr41 router and can't find anything in it's admin
about "inbound ICMP" so i don't know if that's enabled or disabled. I don't
even know what that acronym stands for. :)

3) I'm pinging from the host pc - my pc. I'm sitting at my pc this evening
as we speak.

--

Tom Richards
(e-mail address removed)


"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
1) You should be pinging the host you set up at your dyndns account -
yourpc.dyndns.org - it should resolve to the public IP of your router.
2) You shouldn't have inbound ICMP enabled in your firewall
3) From where are you pinging? From the Internet, you shouldn't be able to
resolve your local computer's name.

Ping
Tom Richards wrote:
When I ping using "ping mypcname" it returns the ip of my pc (the ip
i have the 3389 port forwarding to) with 4 packets sent and 4
received. Not sure how to analyze this.



"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
message Tom Richards wrote:
It worked! I logged in to my account at dyndns.org and used the "i p
in database" in the rd client and, voila, it connected. Thanks for
your help.

Glad it worked, but you aren't supposed to need to do that - that's
the point of dynamic DNS and the direct update software - so you
won't need to remember or know the IP at all. Did you try the ping
test to see if the host name pointed at the correct IP address?



"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
message Tom Richards wrote:
I'm at my girlfriend's and it won't connect. Yes, DirectUpdate
said that it was connected and updated correctly when I leftr this
morning. The port forwarding is set properly because when I know
the ip of my machine, that is when I'm there and ask her to
connect to the ip I'm seeing, rd works. Du is running in the
background on the host machine so I don't know what the glitch is.

Something's wrong in Direct Update setup if you can use the public
IP but not the host name. If you ping the host name from her
computer, or yours, even, does it return the correct public IP? (it
shouldn't allow replies, but should return the name).

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
in message Tom Richards wrote:
I installed and configured DirectUpdate. I put my router's
status page url in the ip detection settings. Also in that
area, I chose the "requires authentication" option and inputted
my username and psswd (from dyndns). Is that correct? DU also
shows that it is "succesfully connected" to my machine.

So in Direct Update, does it say it connected & updated
correctly?

But....my friend can't get myname.dyndns.org to open and it also
won't open in the rd logon window on my laptop - part of my home
network. And when I logon to my account at dyndns.org, my
current wan ip is there...it's correct. :-(

Is port 3389 open in your router, and forwarded to your internal
IP address (use a static)?


"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
<[email protected]>
wrote in message Tom Richards wrote:
Ok, Jason and Phil. I can't get my mind wrapped around this
one. I struggled with Remote Desktop and finally got it
working thanks to your help. That is, it works so long as I
know the ip address of my host pc. Problem is, it keeps
changing - a few times a day. So....per Jason's suggestion, I
went to dyndns.org and set up a dynamic dns account -
brainsturgeon.dyndns.org. Ok....so, I followed their How To
step by step and downloaded a client (3D Watch) to keep the
ip address updated on the dyndns server. Except it isn't
working, or at least I don't understand what the end result
needs to be here.

I've never used that - I really like DirectUpdate (also
downloadable from dyndns.org) but they should all be the same -
if you log into your Dyndns.org site & check your account, does
it reflect your current IP? Are you sure the client you set up
is done properly? Check their help files?

With
3d watch running in the background, my ip address changes and
my pc isn't accessible via rd. When I try, or a friend tries
from a another pc, to access http://myname.dyndns.org, it
doesn't load.

Just use yourname.dyndns.org in the remote desktop client.


Is the purpose for me to be able to go to
http://myname.dyndns.org and grab my current ip info when
trying to work remotely? Or isn't the purpose of all this to
have that process automated so i can use rd with the same ip
address all the time?

No - because you don't always have the same IP address. You
always have the same *name* you set up on dyndns, which should
map to the right IP.

I have dyndns set up as a
dynamic dns account - should it be a static dns account?
Ack........ Nope. or you wouldn't need it.
 

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