Keeping Track of Dynamic IP Addresses

Excerpt From The Unauthorized Guide to the Internet
Published by Que Corporation, 1999

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So you've lined up CU-SeeMe, NetMeeting, and all your other conferencing tools, not to mention your multi-player games, but you've found it almost impossible to find anyone. Why? Because nearly everyone with a dial-up connection is assigned a dynamic IP address that changes every time they reconnect to the Net. That IP address is the magic number that enables you to connect to and start communicating with the other computer, but it's impossible to keep track of. You could try calling up your friend and arranging a conference, but that kind of defeats the whole purpose of using the Internet. Some other clever solutions to this problem have been developed, including the following:

  • DynIP Client: Registers a personalized subdomain name that constantly refers to your IP address and can be used in place of your IP address in any Internet application. Even use this service to run a Web, FTP, mail, or chat server. This seems to be the most elegant solution, as well as the most costly. Windows 95/98/NT4.0, UNIX, and Linux; $39.95 per year (30-day evaluation available); http://www.dynip.com/.


  • IPView: Displays your IP address in your taskbar at all times, so it's right there when you need to give it out to your contacts. Windows 95/98/NT; requires Visual Based Runtime Module; free.


  • MyIPAddress: Copies your IP Address to the Clipboard each time you connect; whenever you need to give it to someone, just select MyIPAddress from the Apple menu and copy it to an email message, chat session, or whatever. Mac OS 7.0; shareware.
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