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Staying Connected to Your Listeners, Part Two
As we mentioned in the previous QuickTip, your Internet listeners must have a predictable way to connect to you; something not easily accomplished if your personal IP address changes every time you connect to the Internet. The obvious solution, of course, is to provide them with an address that doesn't change. How you accomplish that depends on whether you want to take the "easy approach" or the "free approach."
1. Static IP Address
Opting for a static (unchanging) IP address provided by your Internet Service Provider is the quickest and easiest solution. It's a special service though, so expect to pay a monthly "extra" fee for the permanently-assigned address. Contact your provider for pricing information.
2. Aliased IP Address
This is a clever little trick that works really well. It's the approach we use for TuneTracker's "flagship" station, Haiku®RADIO. The idea is, you use a little program on your local computer to keep track of your current IP address and transfer that information to http://www.dyndns.org. When your local IP address changes, the little client program you're notices it and alerts http://www.dyndns.org. That allows dyndns.org to always know where you are. Then, rather than having your listeners trying to connect to you directly, you have them connect to a unique, personalized address at dyndns.org.
It initially sounds harder than it actually is. The main steps are to sign up at dyndns.org, install a client program one of your local computers, and then set up your web site's "Listen" link so it points to the your dyndns-assigned address rather pointing to you directly.
Since both the dyndns service and the client software are free, this is a great way to help hold costs down and keep your signal reachable by listeners. We highly recommend it.
One quick note: There is a dyndns client program for Haiku®, though we have seen it fail on occasion. Our favorite is one that runs under Windows, called "DNS Updater." It runs in the background and politely does updates whenever they're necessary. You can obtain it free from Kana Solution at: http://www.kana.homeip.net
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