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Dyn to Shut Down DynDNS Free Service

Dyn, Inc., who started out as a volunteer and donations-based service as dyndns.org, announced yesterday that in 30 days, on 7-May-2014, their free dynamic DNS service will be disabled. Notices were sent out 7-Apr-2014 to customers claiming that with "mixed emotions," the company will be ceasing the free service so it can focus on better serving paying customers. From the notice:

quote:
Subject: Important info about the future of your Dyn account

To our Dyn free hostname users:

For the last 15 years, all of us at Dyn have taken pride in offering you and millions of others a free version of our Dynamic DNS Pro product. What was originally a product built for a small group of users has blossomed into an exciting technology used around the world.

That is why with mixed emotions we are notifying you that in 30 days, we will be ending our free hostname program. This change in the business will allow us to invest in our customer support teams, Internet infrastructure, and platform security so that we can continue to strive to deliver an exceptional customer experience for our paying customers.

We would like to invite you to upgrade to VIP status for less than $20 -- a 25% discount good for any package of Remote Access (formerly DynDNS Pro). By doing so, you'll have access to customer support, additional hostnames, and more.

Here's how you get this done in two easy steps:

- Login to account.dyn.com.

- Click here to add Remote Access to your cart at the 25% off VIP rate. The discount will be applied upon checkout.

We thank you for your usage of Dyn through the years, and hope to continue to support you through Dyn Remote Access or other products for years to come. Visit our FAQ page or this blog post for more information.


If you were one of the people who supported Dyn(DNS.org) in their beginning days by making a donation, a different message was sent:
quote:
To our longest and loyal Dyn supporters --

In an effort to better service our customers through increased support and a cleaner network, Dyn announced that in the next 30 days, we will no longer be supporting free hostnames. However, because you believed in us and supported this company through your donations, we are continuing to fulfill our promise to you: your service is still free for life.

Without you, there would be no us, a company that has grown to nearly 300 employees around the world and that supports thousands and thousands of customers of all sizes. We wanted to send you a note to keep you in the loop and to also say thank you for your support, both then and now. If you have any questions or assistance with your services, please email support@dyn.com anytime.

- Your friends at Dyn
The impact for Broadband Reports' users (and many other Internet users) is that firmware shipped with users' routers (including the author's Netgear WGR614 rev 10) often has dynamic DNS update provisions, and the only implementation is that of dyndns.org. Without updated firmware to use another service, or an account upgrade to Remote Access, this will cease to work in a month.
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Camelot One
MVM
join:2001-11-21
Bloomington, IN

Camelot One

MVM

I thought they stopped the free version awhile ago

I've been using it for years, though the past few have been as a paid plan. ($30 a year I think) I only use it for one redirect domain name, and I thought I had to switch to the paid plan because they killed the free version. I guess I was wrong.
b10010011
Whats a Posting tag?
join:2004-09-07
united state

b10010011

Member

Re: I thought they stopped the free version awhile ago

Indeed I switched in 2008 to a paid VIP plan because they said they were ending free services.
ShowMeISP
join:2001-03-15
Kansas City, MO

ShowMeISP to Camelot One

Member

to Camelot One
They stopped taking signups for new "free" customers. The existing customers continue to work.

unhappy9999
@bigpond.net.au

unhappy9999 to Camelot One

Anon

to Camelot One
yeah, well with 300 employees and a highly paid CEO now, no doubt their focus is screwing their customers for as much money as possibly, so their CEO can get a bigger bonus.

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536

Premium Member

longest

whats considered 'longest'?
ke4pym
Premium Member
join:2004-07-24
Charlotte, NC

ke4pym

Premium Member

Re: longest

said by dvd536:

whats considered 'longest'?

1997/1998 -ish.

Back when they were free free, they were accepting donations. So I sent them something on the order of $20. That updated my status to something or another. And I've kept free DNS hosting with them since. And I'll keep on rolling for free, apparently.

r81984
Fair and Balanced
Premium Member
join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX

r81984 to dvd536

Premium Member

to dvd536
I had it for 12 years and they are canceling my account.
nyrrule27
join:2007-12-06
Howell, NJ

nyrrule27

Member

No email

I have been using them for the past 5-6 years. I didn't get an email about this. Maybe I'm exempt

io chico
Premium Member
join:2003-12-30
Marble Falls, TX

io chico

Premium Member

Re: No email

I didn't receive an email either. I'm a free user and go into my account every month to keep it active.
slcpd6469
join:2003-09-25
Saint Louis, MO

slcpd6469

Member

Re: No email

No e-mail here either.

io chico
Premium Member
join:2003-12-30
Marble Falls, TX

io chico

Premium Member

Update, just got my email. $18.xx a year is cheaper than my isp will charge for a static ip. DynDns has given me 4 years of free, I might just stay with their service.
shmerl
join:2013-10-21

shmerl to nyrrule27

Member

to nyrrule27
I guess it sends e-mails in some sequence in order not to look like a spam bot.

scott2020
join:2008-07-20
MO

scott2020

Member

HE

I changed over to using Hurricane Electric free DNS, which supports dynamic DNS updates using a specific URL. Most open source firmware like Tomato and DD-WRT can use custom URL's to send updates. DNS Made Easy is a pay service that also works great. Granted, those services do much more than just dynamic DNS updates and may be overkill, but have worked well for me.

Gork
Ou812ic
join:2001-10-06
Bountiful, UT

1 recommendation

Gork

Member

Only a matter of time

I figured this decision would be forthcoming after their slimy announcement of 6-12 months ago that you would have to actually log into your account one per month to keep your free service and could no longer just update your IP address remotely once per month.

I will pay one of their competitors which still offers free DDNS services.

TuxRaiderPen2
Make America Great Again
join:2009-09-19

TuxRaiderPen2

Member

Re: Only a matter of time

said by Gork:
I figured this decision would be forthcoming after their slimy announcement of 6-12 months ago that you would have to actually log into your account one per month to keep your free service and could no longer just update your IP address remotely once per month.
Exactly.... this move has been planned from the start... and is slimey like lawsleasers.... I wouldn't be too upset if about 2 years ago they would have just said.. outright.. we're discontinuing the freebie.. pay up...You've got 30 days... While I get it as a business decision, I am sure there are thousands of freeloaders..including myself for years... I recommended them tons of times.. and a few of the business's clients even ordered paid services.. as they had an absolute prohibition on any free services, period. Due to the nature of the agency involved it could be an issue.....that some way the freebie(loader) option could have remained.. like a loss leader at various stores... it had to be a great ad to get some paid accounts out of things...obviously the greed factor set in and it was not enough...

After their last change that you had to practically log in every 5 seconds... I just paid them... While I dislike the process.. to get to this end point.. I think they have the better service... and none of the other freebies I've seen measure up... or supported natively in most routers.. while not a big deal to run things like ddclient.. it is just another point of possible failure...

I was sad to see the freebie(loader) option diminish and evaporate, but the paid option gives me some choices that are better, and it is not overly priced.. just the method to this end point SUCKED HUGELY!

MooJohn
join:2005-12-18
Milledgeville, GA

1 recommendation

MooJohn

Member

Thier actual thought process:

Executive 1: "LogMeIn just did it and I'll bet they're raking in the cash now"

Executive 2: "Yes - just take a free service that has long been a staple of the tech community and make it paid only -- that's brilliant! What choice will they have?"

Executive 1: "It has to have a catchy name though. Free sounded cheap, and pro sounds too complicated. Let's make it 'Remote Access' - that's generic enough that everybody understands what it means."

Executive 2: "Even with a 5% conversion rate it will still mean more money coming in and less load on our service at the same time. It's win-win for us!"
dsds
join:2014-02-10
Leavenworth, KS

dsds

Member

300 Employees??? LOL

To run a DNS server?? Wow... Talk about a bloated top-heavy operation..

No wonder they have to start forcing the free users over to paid.
ke4pym
Premium Member
join:2004-07-24
Charlotte, NC

ke4pym

Premium Member

Re: 300 Employees??? LOL

said by dsds:

To run a DNS server?? Wow... Talk about a bloated top-heavy operation..

No wonder they have to start forcing the free users over to paid.

Have you ever managed a large highly redundant and scalable DNS infrastructure before that hosts very large enterprises?
dsds
join:2014-02-10
Leavenworth, KS

dsds

Member

Re: 300 Employees??? LOL

No but I've single-handedly hosted my own DNS server in the past which ran like 10 DNS zones and 10 websites with moderate traffic... Never had any downtime other than an occasional server reboot for kernel upgrades!

I can think of bigger operations than Dyn that run on a much leaner employee base!!!

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

1 recommendation

ArrayList to dsds

Premium Member

to dsds
Go look into what they do in addition to dns.
xthepeoplesx
join:2013-10-21

xthepeoplesx

Member

Where should we go?

I didnt received either email. What should we use now? Anyone have any good recommendations? I would like some honest replies.

Thanks!
nutcr0cker
join:2003-04-02
Chandler, AZ

nutcr0cker

Member

prices are a bit too high for my liking

I enjoyed their dynamic DNS service I only use one dns so their $25 plan is a bit high. 14.95 and I would have bought the paid service. There are free options out there and supported by open source routers like dd-wrt. All the best to dyn.com

birdfeedr
MVM
join:2001-08-11
Warwick, RI

birdfeedr

MVM

Re: prices are a bit too high for my liking

I've used their free service for years, and plan to continue for a while yet. While their normal price is stated as 25/yr and you can get the discount bringing it down to 18.75, I selected the option for 5 yrs for 90 with discount bringing price to 68.75. Effectively 14 per year.

CodeeCB
Premium Member
join:2001-10-01
Minneapolis, MN

CodeeCB to nutcr0cker

Premium Member

to nutcr0cker
Really? $2 a month is asking too much, especially after you got it free all these years?
rizzo2dial
Premium Member
join:2004-08-05

1 recommendation

rizzo2dial

Premium Member

Alternate FREE DDNS options

»www.gnutomorrow.com/best ··· in-2013/
boltz
join:2000-12-06
Fergus, ON

boltz

Member

Free Alternative

Why do people get so upset when a free service gets too big to be free anymore.
I try/use lots of free services but if I use them regularly to the point that I can't live without them I pony up the cash.
I donated to DynDNS a long time ago.

If free is important there are good alternatives but if you're going to use it regularly think about donating/paying for the service.

alternative.
»www.noip.com/
TheKrell
join:2003-12-07
Fairfax, VA

TheKrell

Member

Re: Free Alternative

Well, IIRC, over 10 years ago I paid $35 for one lifetime domain. Maybe it was a donation and I didn't understand what I was buying. Or they just don't know what "lifetime" means.

Anyhow, I got the email.

whiteshp
join:2002-03-05
Xenia, OH

whiteshp

Member

Re: Free Alternative

Oh, I hope NOT!

For those who do not know dyndns before going commercial came forward to it's members and explained that they were raising money for the site that had previously been free. So they pushed hard to get members to donate promising that a $35 donation/per domain DYNDNS would give a LIFETIME dns hosting for those paid domains. I paid $70 for 2 hosted domains because despite the upfront cost, the offer of lifetime hosting made it IMO a very good deal.

IMO dyndns has been a good reliable service. Even if I lose the service I won't deny others would consider it a decent value for time used (over a decade).

However if they kick us off our paid accounts I'm going to be upset. It has nothing to do with the value I got or what I should of expected for what I paid. I feel companies should not be allowed to make amazing offers just so customers will pay up in droves only for the company to think reneging is acceptable "after" the money has changed hands. It seems like gross commonplace sales abuse any more. You see it with lots of services and especially DSL and Cell phones. "Sign up in the next 30 days and you'll lock in your price for LIFE!!!!" A year later they tell you LIFE to them means a 1 year life of that sale and pay up!

I HOPE dyndns honors the lifetime accounts that were sold to their customers. I'm NOT saying they would not rather have $20/year from these same people. But if they do it would still be breaking faith on the original sale exchange.

No letter yet.... *crossing fingers*

Eagles1221
join:2009-04-29
Vincentown, NJ

Eagles1221 to boltz

Member

to boltz
I have an issue with people like OpenDNS that charge and data mine you and post adverts in the block pages - and yes they do this even on the paid plan.

EGeezer
Premium Member
join:2002-08-04
Midwest

EGeezer

Premium Member

gotta love it

I'm getting a good chuckle reading the rants from people who are slamming dyndns because they're losing their free lunch.

I hate to see it go away too, but hey - they gave away a lot of reliable free service over the years.

Mr Anon
@k12.il.us

Mr Anon

Anon

Fudge!

I didn't get the email either!
I've been using them for years to point back to my home's account. The only real problem is that I've got email running on it! So now I'm going to need to buy the service until I figure out what I want to do.

I got the notice and emails about needing to now click a link every 30 days to keep your account active and I have been doing so.

SYNACK
Just Firewall It
Mod
join:2001-03-05
Venice, CA

1 recommendation

SYNACK

Mod

i really no longer need it

The emergence of DNS agnostic, cloud-enabled technologies really turned dynamic DNS for "personal" use into obsolete technology. While I had dyndns for 10+ years, I will now drop them in an instant.

To connect to anything at home, I use chrome remote desktop. My security DVR is equally cloud enabled and can be reached from anywhere in the world without knowing my public IP. (Still, they offer free dynamic DNS service for owners, which I keep as backup solution).

Anyway, arrivederci dyndns. Your business model will dry out in the next 10 years anyway. Ciao!

rchandra
Stargate Universe fan
Premium Member
join:2000-11-09
14225-2105
ARRIS ONT1000GJ4
EnGenius EAP1250

rchandra

Premium Member

Re: i really no longer need it

said by SYNACK:

Anyway, arrivederci dyndns. Your business model will dry out in the next 10 years anyway.

I wouldn't count on it. They're the DNS for Twitter for example. They have many more lines of business than just DNS....email, domain registration, etc. These folks might not be a household name, but they're fairly big.

NetFixer
From My Cold Dead Hands
Premium Member
join:2004-06-24
The Boro
Netgear CM500
Pace 5268AC
TRENDnet TEW-829DRU

1 edit

1 recommendation

NetFixer

Premium Member

Apparently D-Link routers are not subject to the shutdown

I just got the shutdown notice for the Dyn account that I use on my Netgear router, but I got no notification for the D-Link routers that use the special dlinkddns.com server.

Those special Dyn accounts are free to me, but apparently D-Link is paying for them, so it looks as if I can still be able to use the Dyn/D-Link IPv6 DDNS updater without paying a separate monthly fee. Since one of my D-Link routers is only using one of the two allowed hostnames, I should probably be able to use its secondary hostname to sync my Netgear router.

EDIT: I just moved the hostname used by my Netgear router to a Dyn/D-Link account as a secondary hostname, and it works (at least for now). I guess I will have to wait until next month to see if that and the other Dyn/D-Link accounts will still be operational at that time.

BGB
Wants moar interwebz
Premium Member
join:2009-07-09
Waterloo, ON

BGB

Premium Member

So they expect me to pay for this now?

Eh, all I was using this for was to update a DNS record using my Router. When I originally got my Domain (With GoDaddy, I know, no need to say anything...) I quickly found out that they had no way to remotely update the DNS records with my IP address. As a workaround, I signed up for the free DynDNS service (Which my TPLink Router had support for) and pointed the GoDaddy DNS record to that.

When they changed the "Verify once a month" stuff, while I kept it active, I changed the domain's DNS host from GoDaddy to NameCheap's Free DNS (And I plan on moving the domain to them or some other registar when it is up for renewal). At least with NameCheap, they had a client I could run on a machine to keep the IP address up to date (Not that it changes much anyways) and it was free.

In a nutshell, when I kept getting a email for DynDNS I just clicked on the link to keep it active (And my router was still updating it.) With this announcement (And I did get the email), I just logged into my router and turned off the DynDNS update. I will NOT be strongarmed into a paid service for a DNS update (35 dollars a year in my case) for a service that I get free from other provides. (Sure, I need to run a app on the computer instead of directly on the router, but that is not worth 35 bucks a year. Maybe if it was $10 or something more reasonable, then I could see it.)

What I see is a mass exodus of people using the Free DynDNS service to other alternatives that offer the same or better service for free. I am sure for every 1 user that "Upgrades", they will lose 10,000 that won't.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

VIP

I donated on Everydns back in the day. I have a lifetime pro account on dyndns meow when they gobbled EveryDNS up. I can't complain. I paid something like $20 for lifetime professionally managed dns service.
»i.imgur.com/kDoa7vG.png - Standard Dns service
»i.imgur.com/8lymWh7.png - Dynamic Dns service
innoman
-
Premium Member
join:2002-05-07
Seattle, WA

innoman

Premium Member

Greed

I absolutely get the desire to monetize a service and to make money; however, $20/year and probably full price once your initial plan is up is absolutely absurd. You can get your own FQDN and DNS service for less than half that, I believe (maybe that's changed in the past few years?).

I just can't see why they want to charge so much for a service that I would imagine costs them very little to run/maintain... especially with it being integrated into so many routers. I will not be renewing, I believe a couple vendors have a free option that just uses DynDNS, anyway.

Boooost
@optonline.net

Boooost

Anon

I'll switch to ASUS

My ASUS router comes with a free ASUS dynamic DNS account, so I'll just switch to that.

disconnected
@108.237.189.x

disconnected

Anon

Mine Stopped in December

They were cutting off free accounts unofficially back in December. I discovered this one morning last year, when my server's web sites weren't forwarding. But I could type in the IP address and get to them. Dyn account was 'active', but not forwarding domain requests. Luckily, Namecheap, my domain provider, offers dynamic DNS, so I invested the time and tech support requests to make that system work. I came out ahead, with a better Google ranking, and no more Google Adwords "your site was disqualified" e-mails due to the DynDNS relay/redirecting of domain requests. Now it works much better. Dyn was okay while it lasted.
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