Elk M1XEP - Manual (Page 12)

ELK-M1XEP Installation Manual Page 12
6. Dynamic DNS Setup (optional)
To access an M1XEP on the Internet, you need to know its Public IP Address. The Internet service provider may
change that IP address from time to time. Because IP addresses change and are difficult to remember, you can sign
up for a free or low-cost service known as Dynamic DNS. This service allows you to select a semi-custom URL and
register it to your IP address. When your IP address changes, the DDNS service will update your URL to point to the
new address. The M1XEP can be set up to automatically update the DDNS provider when your IP address changes.
This feature is only available on M1XEPs with firmware version 1.2.12 or later.
Before setting up the M1XEP to do this, you must register for a DDNS account. There are several available that will
work with the M1XEP. The M1XEP has been tested and proven to work with the following three DDNS providers
(although there may be more):
DynDNS www.dyndns.com
No-IP www.no-ip.com
ChangeIP www.changeip.com
Any DDNS provider that adheres to the standard protocol these three use should work.
Select a DDNS provider and visit their website to sign up for a free account. The free accounts they offer are basic,
but sufficient for accessing the M1XEP from the Internet. For additional fees, each provider has “extras” such as
letting you select a fully custom URL, email services, etc. The free service allows you to select a URL in one of their
“sub-domains.” For example, DynDNS has nearly one hundred sub-domains to choose from, one being “dyndns.org.”
You can prepend any name to the front of it (so long as it’s not already taken) such as “MyM1,” giving you the URL
“MyM1.dyndns.org.” Please be sure to read and adhere to the provider’s policies. Because they provide the service
for free, they must institute rules to prevent abuse of their service.
After setting up the account (it may take a day or two for it to begin working), enter the setup information for that
account on the Dynamic DNS tab of the M1XEP Setup window in ElkRP.
1. In the first box, enter the DDNS provider’s update URL. This is the URL the M1XEP will connect to to update
the provider whenever the IP address changes.
2. Below that, enter the username and password you chose when setting up the account on the provider’s
website. The M1XEP needs this information to log into the provider’s site to perform the updates.
3. In the Host Name box, enter the custom URL you selected (ie. mym1.dyndns.org).
4. The M1XEP can send you or anyone else an email message whenever an error occurs during an update.
This is to notify you that your custom URL will not work until the update is successful. To enable this feature,
enter the email address in the next box. You must also fill in the necessary information on the Email tab (see
Email Notification Setup on page 9).