[Tfug] HALP! DynDNS nightmare, again...

[Angus Scott-Fleming]

On 23 Nov 2009 at 4:04, Jim March  wrote:

> > or like this:
> >
> > Internet <-> ISP Modem/Router <-> Dlink DIR-628 <-> LAN
> 
> Like that.  Coax Comcast line coming into a Motorola cable modem, then
> Ethernet to a Dlink router, then WiFi to computer.
> 
> Another thing...
> 
> Jordan suggested an alternative to DynDNS.  But...I have a bad feeling
> about that.
> 
> See, if I go to the Windows machine and go to "whatismyipaddress.com"
> I get a valid number (72.x.x.x - I forget the exact number).  Same one
> the Dlink says is going on, at the router's console via 192.168.0.1.
> On the internal LAN, the DLink is doing DHCP up through .199 by
> default, so I have this computer set to .200 via static addressing.
> And I have the DLink set to forward port 5900 and several other remote
> console typical port numbers to the .200 address inside the router.

> Great.
> 
> I also have DynDNS set to do a "friendly name" sorta like
> "userspecific.dyndns.com".  When I try and remote connect via
> "userspecific.dyndns.com" it fails.
> 
> BUT it also fails on 72.x.x.x - which means DynDNS isn't my problem,
> is it?  Something else is going on!?

Correct, DynDNS isn't your problem.

If you temporarily enable WAN administration on the DLink, can you get to it 
from outside? 

If you hook the PC directly to the Internet, bypassing the router, can you 
reach it from the outside with UltraVNC?  You will need to power-cycle the 
cable modem to get it to provide an IP address to the PC's NIC, otherwise it 
will only provision the DLink.

If you can reach the PC from outside, or if you can administer the DLink from 
outside, I would suspect something is wrong with the router's port-forwarding 
configuration.  If not that, then maybe there's something funky about the 
router.  Do you have another one you can drop in place temporarily?

> Looking at it again, Jordan suggests:
> 
> https://secure.logmein.com/US/products/free/features.aspx
> 
> ...which seems to use a different sort of protocol than uVNC.
> So...yeah, worth trying, bigtime.
> 
> I'd still like to know what went wrong with the conventional approach
> though.

Biggest problems with LogMeIn Free are (1) the lack of file transfer and 
printing services and (2) no business use.  If your client is at all savvy, he 
can use YouSendIt or DropBox or any one of the many free online storage 
locations to transfer files to himself.

--
Angus Scott-Fleming
GeoApps, Tucson, Arizona
1-520-290-5038
+-----------------------------------+