My broadband internet is supplied by Seednet (1.5/512). At the time, the deal included a static IP address. I SSH into my computer when traveling, but occasionally the IP address changes on me … so of course I must in fact have a dynamic address. So, how do I find out what my static address is so that I can SSH in with that address instead? Do I have to explicity ask Seed to change my dynamic address to a static address? Sorry if these are dumb questions.
Thanks.
(Setup: I’m using Apple’s airport base station with an old iBook computer always connected via it’s Ethernet port. Airport connects to internet using PPPoE. I have Airport configured so that all external calls to ports 22, 80, etc, go directly through to the iBook; ie port mapping. When I’m home with my Powerbook, I access the internet through the Airport wirelessly.)
If there is a dynamic address then there is no static address. Thus I rekon you need to talk to them and see if they can change it to a static one, permanently ().
Yeah, sounds like they’re not providing what they promised.
You could look into one of the dynamic DNS services which allows dynamic-IP sites to host websites, but for SSH you’d be at risk of being cut off in midsession.
You might want to track how long it takes between IP address changes, though. Some DHCP setups lock the same address in for six months at a time, others change every time you reboot, others are set to time out every two hours or so. If yours will let you keep the address for as long as your home machine is up and running, you should be in ok shape.
The dynamic address certainly does change when I reboot my wireless base station; because the computer is only connected indirectly, I can reboot that just fine. And the base station is only rebooted when I update its system software once or twice a year.
Hard to say whether there was a power failure that rebooted my base station while I was away, of if the dynamic address changed on me while I was away. I guess there might be a log somewhere that I could look into…
Anyway, seems the best step forward is to talk to Seednet and ensure they set me up with a static IP address, and drop the dynamic address. And my 12-month contract’s already up, so I may well look for other options while I’m at it, although I’ll probably stick with Seednet.
[quote=“MaPoSquid”]Yeah, sounds like they’re not providing what they promised.
You could look into one of the dynamic DNS services which allows dynamic-IP sites to host websites, but for SSH you’d be at risk of being cut off in midsession.[/quote]
What he said. I would add that most ISPs charge more for a static IP address, and in most cases you don’t really need it (if you use dynamic DNS instead).
I’ve been happily using the DynDNS service dyndns.org/services/dyndns/index.html for a couple of years now to connect to my home PC (http, ssh, https, …), and never had a problem. You’ll need to run a client on your home PC to ensure the IP address is updated when it changes. (My home linux box is always on, and I think my IP address changes once every few days, but I never notice when it changes).
In the case that change your ADSL provider, it’d be great if you could let us know which one you chose and why… there are just so many!
btw, there was a really useful comparison at tealit.com/adsl.htm
but it was last updated in July.
BUT, I e-mailed them last week and they said that they are going to update it 11/15…
Well, I’m gonna play it safe. Seednet consistently gives me the quoted upload and download figures, without any noted periods of interruption, and doesn’t seem to block any ports, etc. I don’t have experiences with other providers, but I would hate to find ports blocked, speeds capped, etc. I’m halfway up a mountain in northern Taiwan, and I’m not sure I can get speeds above 2Mb, but I’ll look into that with Chunghwa first.
Regarding dyndns, etc, I’ve tried that before and had good results when experimenting with web serving, but never thought about using that in combination with SSH. On the command line, I just give my IP address in the SSH command, but you’re suggesting I can enter a domain name too. I’ll look into it with “man” when I get the chance. I also use Apple Remote Desktop to “VNC” in to my computer which may very well allow domain name instead of IP address in the connection information. I’m not worried about my IP dynamically changing while in mid-session.
).