IP Address locator?
Timothy Miller
I won't go into all the details...
I want a colleague to be able to connect to my computer by TCP/IP even
when my machine is unattended. I have a DSL connection which is
basically always on. However, my DSL provider will not give me a static
IP address. My IP address changes every time I disconnect the DSL and
then reconnect, whatever the reason.
I'd like my colleague to have an easy way of finding out what my current
IP address is, under a variety of circumstances.
I can think of two ways, but there might be others. I'm not real
knowledgeable about this sort of thing.
Is there some public service on the internet that will return my current
IP address if my friend enters my email address? By email, on a web
page, or whatever?
Is there some app that will email my current IP to my colleague at
specified intervals?
Any other ideas?
Thanks,
Tim Miller
Jerry Kindall
<non...@nospam.com> wrote:
You want dyndns.org. You install a small client application on your
Mac, which updates your account at dyndns.org whenever your IP address
changes. Your friend then gets to you the same way they get to any
other Internet site: by name, e.g. mycomputer.dyndns.org (you get to
choose the account name -- i.e., the mycomputer part).
--
Jerry Kindall, Seattle, WA http://www.jerrykindall.com/
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Timothy Miller
<non...@nospam.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Greetings,
>>
>>I won't go into all the details...
>>
>>I want a colleague to be able to connect to my computer by TCP/IP even
>>when my machine is unattended. I have a DSL connection which is
>>basically always on. However, my DSL provider will not give me a static
>>IP address. My IP address changes every time I disconnect the DSL and
>>then reconnect, whatever the reason.
>>
>>I'd like my colleague to have an easy way of finding out what my current
>>
>>I can think of two ways, but there might be others. I'm not real
>>knowledgeable about this sort of thing.
>>
>>Is there some public service on the internet that will return my current
>>IP address if my friend enters my email address? By email, on a web
>>page, or whatever?
>>
>>Is there some app that will email my current IP to my colleague at
>>specified intervals?
Jerry Kindall replied:
> You want dyndns.org. You install a small client application on your
> Mac, which updates your account at dyndns.org whenever your IP address
> changes. Your friend then gets to you the same way they get to any
> other Internet site: by name, e.g. mycomputer.dyndns.org (you get to
> choose the account name -- i.e., the mycomputer part).
Lourens Smak replied:
> www.carracho.com
> register your carracho-server with a tracker and it can be
> found by name. Carracho has some more options besides
> file-transfer too. (chat, message-board, etc.)
I appreciate that, Jerry and Lourens. I'll investigate further. My first
impression is that these are complex solutions to a simple problem.
Any other ideas, anyone?
Have a nice day,
Tim Miller
Alan Anderson
> Is there some public service on the internet that will return my current
> IP address if my friend enters my email address? By email, on a web
> page, or whatever?
It makes a dynamic IP address pretty much transparent to anyone who wants
to connect to your machine by name. There are other similar services, but
that's the original and most widely known.
John Baxter
Timothy Miller <non...@nospam.com> wrote:
Not quite...the problem is simple if you're at the machine and can learn
the current IP...it's not simple if your friend needs access while you
are away. The suggested dydns is for the situation in which people need
to find your machine without your help as it wanders around the IP
address space.
Your DSL provider probably will supply you with a fixed IP...but not for
the same total price you're paying (and they might want you to have a
faster or a business-class connection). It's probably cheaper to pay
dydns...but at least the cost difference should be compared against
dydns.
Your problem differs from the typical need for dydns in that you're
trying to provide dns information to one person.
It would be fairly simple in Mac OS X to write some shell scripting
which would detect that your IP address isn't what it was last time it
checked, and send your friend an email message with the new address.
Problems: The mail might get delayed. Your friend might not want to be
notified that often. The spam filter at your friend's provider might
suddenly decide the messages are spam. Etc etc.
--John
Jerry Kindall
<non...@nospam.com> wrote:
> I appreciate that, Jerry and Lourens. I'll investigate further. My first
> impression is that these are complex solutions to a simple problem.
Really? Kludging up something that _emails_ someone when your IP
address changes is simpler?
I mean, avoiding having to remember IP addresses is what DNS is _for._
That's why it exists. Why not use it to solve the problem it was
intended to solve?
Timothy Miller
Jerry Kindall wrote:
> In article <3ED8ED7B...@nospam.com>, Timothy Miller
> <non...@nospam.com> wrote:
>
>
>>I appreciate that, Jerry and Lourens. I'll investigate further. My first
>>impression is that these are complex solutions to a simple problem.
>
>
> Really? Kludging up something that _emails_ someone when your IP
> address changes is simpler?
>
> I mean, avoiding having to remember IP addresses is what DNS is _for._
> That's why it exists. Why not use it to solve the problem it was
> intended to solve?
I'm not a computer professional, only mildly geekish. I don't even know
what DNS stands for... I guess domain name service? Domain name server?
I read the instructions and still have only a vague idea of what dyndns
actually does. Sure, I could figure it out, but it would take me a long
time to climb the learning curve. Not my idea of fun, and time is money.
I was sort of hoping someone had written a kludgy little app that would
do the job.
I know that there are some IP locator services. CU SeeMe has one, for
example, or used to, but I guess they are proprietary or something.
Can appleScript look up my current IP address?
If so, there any applescript aware, lean, mean little email apps?
Maybe the simplest way to go is to spend the extra money on the "premier
DSL service" offered by my DSL provider, that includes a static IP.
Thanks,
Tim
Alan Anderson
> I'm not a computer professional, only mildly geekish. I don't even know
> what DNS stands for... I guess domain name service? Domain name server?
Domain Name Service
But you don't need to know what it stands for, only what it does. And
what it does is allow someone to type in a friendly, easily-remembered
name, and have it translated behind the scenes to a numeric IP address.
> I read the instructions and still have only a vague idea of what dyndns
> actually does. Sure, I could figure it out, but it would take me a long
> time to climb the learning curve. Not my idea of fun, and time is money.
The "learning curve"? There's no learning curve. Signing up for the
service is trivial, and installing the software on your computer is just
as easy. If you wanted to write your *own* dyndns client you'd have a wee
bit of a learning curve, but you don't have to do that.
> I was sort of hoping someone had written a kludgy little app that would
> do the job.
The dyndns service, or one of its siblings, does *exactly* the job you
want done.
> I know that there are some IP locator services. CU SeeMe has one, for
> example, or used to, but I guess they are proprietary or something.
The neat thing is that dyndns is an "IP locator service" that requires
absolutely no work on the part of the person who wants to connect to your
computer.
> Can appleScript look up my current IP address?
>
> If so, there any applescript aware, lean, mean little email apps?
What for? Do you want to send an email somewhere whenever your IP address
changes? That doesn't sound like a very effective solution, unless you're
trying to keep your address hidden from everyone except a good friend
who's willing to accept the hassle of having to type in a variable address
every time he wants to connect to your computer.
> Maybe the simplest way to go is to spend the extra money on the "premier
> DSL service" offered by my DSL provider, that includes a static IP.
No, the simplest way to go is to spend a few minutes signing up for a free
domain name at dyndns or something like it. Turning domain names into IP
addresses *is* what DNS does.
Timothy Miller
on my behalf. This is all new to me. The problem has arisen unexpectedly.
Alan Anderson wrote:
--snip--
>
> Domain Name Service
>
> But you don't need to know what it stands for, only what it does. And
> what it does is allow someone to type in a friendly, easily-remembered
> name, and have it translated behind the scenes to a numeric IP address.
>
>>If so, there any applescript aware, lean, mean little email apps?
>
>
> What for? Do you want to send an email somewhere whenever your IP address
> changes? That doesn't sound like a very effective solution, unless you're
> trying to keep your address hidden from everyone except a good friend
> who's willing to accept the hassle of having to type in a variable address
> every time he wants to connect to your computer.
Well, actually, yes, that's exactly what I want to do. It's not a
friend. It's an administrative assistant located off-site. Far off-site.
She wouldn't mind getting one or two emails per day, updating my IP
address. It would simplify life for both of us.
Cheers,
Tim Miller
to...@aplawrence.com
: In article <3ED8ED7B...@nospam.com>, Timothy Miller
: <non...@nospam.com> wrote:
:> I appreciate that, Jerry and Lourens. I'll investigate further. My first
:> impression is that these are complex solutions to a simple problem.
: Really? Kludging up something that _emails_ someone when your IP
: address changes is simpler?
No, probably not simpler, but it really isn't all that difficult either.
: I mean, avoiding having to remember IP addresses is what DNS is _for._
: That's why it exists. Why not use it to solve the problem it was
: intended to solve?
While agreeing with you in principle, the op apparently only wants
to notify one person. That being the case, there's only a couple
of ways to do it: email or other messaging as suggested, or both
people using an intermediary that does have a constant address or is
listed in DNS. For example, if he had a web site, he could update
(programatically) a page there that his buddy could access, or
similar schemes. I guess there are still free web sites about, so
that solution could avoid cost.
If the person to be allowed access has a fixed address or can be found
through DNS, and is running a decent OS, then you could run a little
simple server app there that the changing machine could contact. Such
a server isn't at all difficult.
If the idea here is dhcp on both sides, then an intermediary is
the only way I can think of: a servet app there accepts connections
and either stores or gives out the ip. I'm not sure that free web
sites let you run programs like that. You could also do it through
a file sharing service: he stores an encrypted file that his buddy
can pick up and decrypt. Are there free file sharing services?
Technically theres nothing mind boggling about any of these schemes.
But I do agree that they are more complicated than simply signing up
for a dynamic dns service.
--
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Jerry Kindall
<non...@nospam.com> wrote:
You're fixated on making sure the person who needs to connect to your
computer has its IP address, when you should be trying to make sure
they don't _need_ the IP address. IP addresses are not for people.