DynamIP Technical FAQ
Newest FAQ answers are
found at the bottom of the page.
Answers to the
following questions are available:
How does DynamIP
work?
DynamIP runs a special
web server, connected to a customized DNS server. You run the DynamIP IPGet application on
your PC. IPGet sits and watches your machine's IP configuration. When it detects that you
have connected to the Internet, it contacts the DynamIP server and tells the server its IP
address, along with authentication information. The DynamIP server, after confirming that
the client is a valid user, updates the DNS server with the new IP address.
What version of Windows do I need?
DynamIP works with
all versions of Windows except Windows 3.1.
When I am disconnected, DynamIP
reports my IP address as "0.0.0.0".
This is by design. The
IPGet client program updates the DynamIP server every fifteen minutes with its current IP
address. If the DynamIP server does not see an IP update for more than
twenty minutes, it
assumes that the client PC has gone offline, and the IP is changed to "0.0.0.0".
This is to prevent your DNS name from pointing to someone else's PC.
I am running
IPGet, but when I
try to connect to my DynamIP address, it tells me it can't connect, or that the server
isn't responding.
Depending on how your
ISP has set up their servers, there can be a delay of several minutes (and in some cases,
up to 60 minutes) between the time you start up the DynamIP application and when your
server is recognized. This is due to the settings on your local ISP's nameserver (DNS).
Some ISP's have their nameservers set up to update only once per day.
Your ISP's nameserver may not refresh as often as DynamIP's records request it to, and as a result, it may be
some time before you have updated and accurate information available to resolve your
address. Try leaving IPGet running for some time (up to an hour). If it still doesn't
work, let us know.
I use Linux/Macintosh/etc. Can I use DynamIP?
DynamIP updates the
main server automatically using an application called IPGet. IPGet operates under Windows
95/98 and NT only. However, if you are able to write your own programs and/or simple
scripts, it is possible to use DynamIP with other operating systems such as Macintosh,
Linux, or Unix. For details, see the Other OS information page.
The address I need to select in IPGet is grayed
out.
Certain addresses are
used as private IP addresses, reserved for private internal internets (or intranets).
These addresses cannot be used on the outside Internet. Therefore, IPGet identifies these
addresses and will not allow you to use them. These addresses are:
10.X.X.X
192.168.X.X
172.16.X.X to 172.31.X.X
(the "X"
indicates any number)
IPGet
reports that it cannot find an IP address or adapter.
You may be running your
operating system using some language other than English. In this case, IPGet does not know
how to "find" the adapter or IP Address information from the operating system.
Click the "Show Details" button. You should see something like this:
Windows NT IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . : something
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2
Node Type . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
NetBIOS Scope ID. . . . . . :
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . : No
NetBIOS Resolution Uses DNS : No
Ethernet adapter FET1:
Description . . . . . . . . : AcerLAN ALN-320 10/100 Base-TX Fast
Ethernet adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . : 00-60-67-43-A9-10
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2
The two lines we are
concerned with are shown in red: Description and IP Address. An example of how they may appear
in an operating system set to a different language is shown here:
Hostnaam
. . . . . . . . . . . : something
DNS-servers. . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2
Knooppunttype. . . . . . . . . : Hybride
Bereik-ID NetBIOS. . . . . . . :
IP-routing ingeschakeld. . . . : Nee
WINS Proxy ingeschakeld. . . . : Nee
NetBIOS-omzetting gebruikt DNS : Nee
Ethernet adapter FET1:
Beschrijving . . . . . . . . . : AcerLAN ALN-320 10/100
Base-TX Fast Ethernet adapter
Fysiek adres . . . . . . . . . : 00-60-67-43-A9-10
DHCP ingeschakeld. . . . . . . : Nee
IP-adres . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
Subnetmasker . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Standaardgateway . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2
Notice that
"Description" has changed to "Beschrijving" and "IP Address"
has changed to "IP-adres". You will need to change IPGet's language settings. To
do this, click on File/Change Language from the main screen.
Where it states
"IP Address Caption" you would type "Beschrijving", and where it
states "Description Caption" you would type "IP-adres". Note that the
case (upper case/lower case) does matter, so make sure you copy it exactly as it
is shown in the details screen.
I've forgotten my password.
You can have DynamIP
email you your password information from the login page.
I can't
get DynamIP to work. I am running IPGet, but when I try to connect to my address, it
doesn't work.
Check your
"Account Expiry" date. If it is blank, this indicates that your IPGet program is
not actually contacting the DynamIP server. IPGet uses your PC's Internet Explorer web
libraries to contact the DynamIP server, so ensure that you can connect to the Internet
properly using Internet Explorer. Also check that you are running Internet Explorer
version 4 or higher. If you still cannot get it to work, click on File/Debug and send the
resulting file to
.
I
want to use DynamIP, but I'm behind a firewall, or I want to upload a
specific IP address to the server.
Up until now, IPGet could not run behind a firewall, because it could not identify the IP address being used by the firewall. By request, we have added the capability to IPGet to allow it to read the current IP address from a file rather than from the host PC's Internet stack. This function is for advanced users!
To enable this function, select
Config/IP Capture From File from the menu. After confirming this is what you wish to do, the IP address selection options will disappear and will be replaced by a filename box. Type the path and filename of the file containing the IP address.
The file itself should be a text file, containing only the IP address, on the first line by itself, i.e.:
123.45.67.89
If the IP address in the file is invalid, it will not be transmitted to the DynamIP server.
Once IPGet has been configured to use this file, it will do its regular updates using the address found in this file rather than reading the Internet stack information. If the number in the file is updated (by an ASP file, for instance), IPGet will update the DynamIP server with the new IP address.
This can be used to always transmit the same IP address to the DynamIP server, or to update it with an address which is generated elsewhere.
I
want to use DynamIP, but I'm behind a firewall Another
way that IPGet can now operate through a firewall is by having the
DynamIP server pick up the IP address used by the IPGet application
directly. To enable this, select Config/Automatic IP Capture from
the menu. After confirming this is what you wish to do, the IP address
selection options and filename box will disappear.
Once IPGet has been
configured to operate this way, it will do its regular updates, but
the DynamIP server will recognize the address used by the IPGet
application, and use that address to update the server. This means the
firewall's address, not the internal address, will be used as the
updated address.
This option can
actually be used by most people successfully, whether they are
operating through a firewall or not.
Have any other
questions? Please email us at
and
we will add your questions (and our answers) to the FAQ. |
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