Use a Domain Name Instead of Your IP Address For Remote Access

Having to remember your home IP address, especially when it changes from time to time, is rather handy, especially if you tend to use VNC, SSH, Remote Access, or any number of other things to access your home computer/network.  Here’s how to do it:

1. Register for an account at http://dyndns.com.  This is a dynamic DNS service where you can get a free custom subdomain, or for a small fee, register your own domain name.
2. Once you sign up, login to your account, click on “My Services”.  Under “Hostnames” click the link that says “Add New Hostname”.
3. Type in the subdomain you wish to use, and select a domain.  Select “Host with IP address” and click “Use auto detected IP address”.  Click “Create Host”
4. Download and install the updater client (clients for Windows, OS X and *nix are available)
5. Assuming you’re on broadband, proceed through the wizard, select “Local Area Network”, hit next, hit “Detect My IP”, hit next, type in any sort of name, such as “mycomp”, and hit next.  Enter your dydns username and password and hit next.  Select “Yes” for the automatic download, and hit next.  Verify that the domain that appears is the one you put on the dydns website.  If it is, tick the box next to it and hit the next button.  The rest is fairly straight forward.
6. If all went well, you now should be able to reach your computer/network with the domain name, so you won’t have to remember the IP address.

(Originally published on pcmech.com)