Chapter 23. Using Internet services with Dynamic IP numbers

If you are using dynamic IP numbers (and many service providers will only give you a dynamic IP number unless you pay significantly more for your connection), then you have to recognize the limitations this imposes.

First of all, outbound service requests will work just fine. That is, you can send email using sendmail (provided you have correctly set up sendmail), ftp files from remote sites, finger users on other machines, browse the web etc.

In particular, you can answer email that you have brought down to your machine whilst you are off line. Mail will simply sit in your mail queue until you dial back into your ISP.

However, your machine is NOT connected to the Internet 24 hours a day, nor does it have the same IP number every time it is connected. So it is impossible for you to receive email directed to your machine, and very difficult to set up a web or ftp server that your friends can access! As far as the Internet is concerned your machine does not exist as a unique, permanently contactable machine as it does not have a unique IP number (remember - other machines will be using the IP number when they are allocated it on dial-in).

If you set up a WWW, (or any other server), it is totally unknown by any user on the Internet UNLESS they know that your machine is connected AND its actual (current) IP number. There are a number of ways they can get this info, ranging from you ringing them, sending them email to tell them or cunning use of ".plan" files on a shell account at your service provider (assuming that your provider allows shell and finger access).

Now, for most users, this is not a problem - all that most people want is to send and receive email (using your account on your service provider) and make outbound connections to WWW, ftp and other servers on the Internet. If you MUST have inbound connections to your server, you should really get a static IP number. Alternatively you can explore the methods hinted at above...