DynDNS Cuts Back Free DNS Options 223
First time accepted submitter LazyBoyWrangler writes "Just noticed the 'free' non-commercial service from DynDNS has been deprecated. Not my place to argue with their business model changes, but the home router infrastructure out there has been built around the promise of free dynamic DNS service. Most manufacturers offer DynDNS as their only option. Removing the free service for non-commercial folks seems disingenuous when they are the only option for many users." According to the linked page, the free service is being drastically cut back for new users (one free hostname, rather than five, and from a shorter list of branded domains), but not ended entirely. Existing users, it says, will see no changes "as long as you keep your hostnames active and up-to-date. If you allow your account or hostnames to expire, you will have to select from the new domains instead and will be limited to the one free hostname."
Re:Doesn't matter (Score:5, Informative)
It does matter when 99% of routers only have dyndns as an option.
Old news (Score:4, Informative)
This was done a *long* time ago. Years? Old news is old.
This is news? (Score:5, Informative)
This policy change is many months old, maybe even over a year.
When I saw the article, I thought that maybe there were even more changes, but I saw nothing new that I did not know since at least the first quarter of this year. I'd have to go rifle through my email archive to know for sure exactly when I first heard about this change.
I was notified 27 Aug 2010 (Score:5, Informative)
Agreed -- this is old news. I got my notice about this change on 27 Aug 2010 -- about a year and a half ago. Submitter has been asleep at the switch.
Given that they're still giving me free stuff, just not quite as much free stuff, I didn't really feel all that upset about it. :)
Here's most of the text of the notice:
From: "DynDNS Support"
To: dragonhawk@
Subject: Changes to NEW DynDNS.com Accounts
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:39:14 -0300
Reply-To: support@dyndns.com
Return-Path: marketer@bouncelabs.com
What changes are you talking about?
Previously we allowed each Dynamic DNS account to have 5 free hostnames and you could select them from 88 different domains that we own. Now this will be limited to 2 free hostnames from 18 DynDNS branded domains.
Also, we are increasing the number of hostnames that come with a DynDNS Pro upgrade. Previously, each DynDNS Pro upgrade gave you the ability to add 25 additional hostnames. We are increasing that number to 30.
Why are you making these changes?
There are a number of reasons that we thought it was important to make these changes now.
Having 88 free domains to choose from was overwhelming for many of our new users. By reducing this to 18 it makes it easier for people to get started.
By limiting the free options to the DynDNS branded domains, it helps grow the awareness of our services. Although we are happy to offer our free services, we simply ask that you help spread the word to other people who might find our paid services helpful. We have to pay those bills somehow.
Looking at the stats of our users over the past 12 years, we see that the vast majority of people only use 1 free hostname. Our support team has seen a lot of confusion caused by the five free hostnames, so when you combine that with the normal use case, it just made sense. We are allowing the 2nd hostname for those who need to create a WebHop to access your hostname. If you are going to need more than 1 or 2 hostnames there's a good chance you are using us for something important. If that's the case, we simply ask that you pay $15/yr for the DynDNS Pro upgrade, which provides a number of other benefits.
If you are using our services for business critical needs, you should consider our Custom DNS service.
What will happen to my current account and hostnames?
Nothing, as long as you keep your hostnames active and up-to-date. If you allow your account or hostnames to expire, you will have to select from the new domains instead and will be limited to the 2 free hostnames. To ensure you arenâ(TM)t affected by these changes, upgrade to DynDNS Pro for just $15/yr. Again, there are a number of other benefits to upgrading.
You're just trying to force us to pay you, aren't you?
No, not really. As long as you keep your account active, you won't be affected by these changes. We would never want to have a user feel like they were forced to use our services. This does not seem to be a very good business model to us. You do your part (log into your account or update your hostname monthly) and we will do ours (continue to offer free Dynamic DNS services to you).
Not really proprietary... (Score:5, Informative)
DynDNS, they have maintained their lead only via a proprietary interface and a market lead.
Dyn has submitted their HTTP update API as an IETF draft:
http://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-jennings-app-dns-update-02.txt [ietf.org]
So it's not proprietary (limited to or owned by them). You might call it non-standard, but if that draft was accepted it would be on the IETF standards track.
Also, Dyn *does* offer DNS UPDATE support, but only for paying customers:
http://dyn.com/support/clients/dynamic-dns-updates-via-tsig/ [dyn.com]
There are other options for DynDNS only routers (Score:5, Informative)
Worth a look: http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/What_is_DD-WRT%3F
Open source router firmware provides support for a number of dynamic dns providers. Including: DynDNS, easyDNS, FreeDNS, No-IP, TZO, ZoneEdit, custom, and others
Open Source Firmware to the Rescue (Score:2, Informative)
Worth a look: http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/What_is_DD-WRT%3F
Open source router firmware provides support for a number of dynamic dns providers. Including: DynDNS, easyDNS, FreeDNS, No-IP, TZO, ZoneEdit, custom, and others
Comment removed (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Awesome! Finally. (Score:3, Informative)
RFC 3007, was standardised in 2000 as a method of securing updates.
Support of RFC 2137+3007 is built into Mac OS (System Preferences -> Sharing -> Edit -> Use Dynamic Global Hostname).
For Linux, *BSD add a call to nsupdate from dhclient-exit-hooks.
if test -n "$new_ip_address"
then
nsupdate -y key:secret
update delete hostname A
update add hostname 300 A $new_ip_address
send
EOF
fi
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Old news (Score:5, Informative)
True just went back and checked my email from August 2010 and there is the notice.
Subject: Changes to NEW DynDNS.com Accounts
Message-ID: bfd1113cf66806ecb6d56590e45d7736@marketer.sendlabs.com
Return-Path: marketer@bouncelabs.com
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:39:14 -0300
From: "DynDNS Support"
Reply-To: support@dyndns.com
Hello:
As you may have seen, we are making some changes to Dynamic DNS accounts.
Instead of making the changes without notice, we wanted to give all of our
existing customers a heads up and explain why we are making these changes.
What changes are you talking about?
Previously we allowed each Dynamic DNS account to have 5 free hostnames and
you could select them from 88 different domains that we own. Now this will
be limited to 2 free hostnames from 18 DynDNS branded domains.
Also, we are increasing the number of hostnames that come with a DynDNS Pro
upgrade. Previously, each DynDNS Pro upgrade gave you the ability to add 25
additional hostnames. We are increasing that number to 30.
Why are you making these changes?
There are a number of reasons that we thought it was important to make
these changes now.
1. Having 88 free domains to choose from was overwhelming for many of
our new users. By reducing this to 18 it makes it easier for people to get
started.
2. By limiting the free options to the DynDNS branded domains, it helps
grow the awareness of our services. Although we are happy to offer our free
services, we simply ask that you help spread the word to other people who
might find our paid services helpful. We have to pay those bills somehow.
3. Looking at the stats of our users over the past 12 years, we see that
the vast majority of people only use 1 free hostname. Our support team has
seen a lot of confusion caused by the five free hostnames, so when you
combine that with the normal use case, it just made sense. We are allowing
the 2nd hostname for those who need to create a WebHop to access your
hostname. If you are going to need more than 1 or 2 hostnames there's a
good chance you are using us for something important. If that's the case,
we simply ask that you pay $15/yr for the DynDNS Pro upgrade, which
provides a number of other benefits.
4. If you are using our services for business critical needs, you should
consider our Custom DNS service.
What will happen to my current account and hostnames?
Nothing, as long as you keep your hostnames active and up-to-date. If you
allow your account or hostnames to expire, you will have to select from the
new domains instead and will be limited to the 2 free hostnames. To ensure
you aren’t affected by these changes, upgrade to DynDNS Pro for just
$15/yr. Again, there are a number of other benefits to upgrading.
You're just trying to force us to pay you, aren't you?
No, not really. As long as you keep your account active, you won't be
affected by these changes. We would never want to have a user feel like
they were forced to use our services. This does not seem to be a very good
business model to us. You do your part (log into your account or update
your hostname monthly) and we will do ours (continue to offer free Dynamic
DNS services to you).
--
Chris Widner
DynDNS Ninja Squad Sensei
dyn inc service and alternatives (Score:3, Informative)
This thread is worth a read regarding dyndns [webhostingtalk.com] and their practises.
They recently bought everydns and editdns, offered existing users who paid or donated "free" accounts, and then once they bought it, went back on their word. the free accounts included a migration fee for domains, and the accounts were limited, so users would have to pay again to get the same level of service they may have paid for at editdns for example (and due to dyndns strange pricing where you have a limit of 75 subdomains on the standard paid account, you may have to pay them a significant amount of money)
Also worth noting, then editdns users expressed their concerns, dyndns were very quick to close down their old forum and place with a note to email their staff.
Worth noting that Hurrican Electric have a free dns service (http://dns.he.net [he.net]) - with up to 50 domains allowed and it can operate as a secondary dns also. They also include a dynamic dns facility. There are some other free options left, but how long until dyndns buys them too ? :)
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Happy Holidays from the Golden Girls! (Score:4, Informative)
Can someone please explain this troll to me?
The first line is to thank you for being a friend.
The second line is a metaphor describing life as a journey.
The third line is very deep. You can meditate for hours on the connections with the first two lines: cosmonauts obviously take long journeys, for example.
The second stanza is again a metaphor, this time on life being a party and the importance of having good friends. This again connects with the sentiments from the first stanza.
Re:Doesn't matter (Score:5, Informative)
Dyndns's subscription cost, while it isn't epsilon, certainly is delta. A one-year subscription is $20, or you could do monthly for $2.
$20. If you really need the service, you could practically find that in the couch cushions over the course of a year.