IP address static v dynamic.

[Sputnik]

What is the advantages and disadvantages?

[0iD]

If you run web services or vpn home regularly then static is favourable.

[Agent]

Are you talking about internet here or internally (LAN)?

[Sputnik]

I mean internet.

[Jay]

static just makes it easier if you host services.

[KowShak]

Back in the days of dial up ISPs, your IP address would be different almost every time you dialled up, that was because the ISP had more customers than modems and IP addresses and they didn't all dial up at the same time. These days with always on ADSL and cable, a lot of ISPs give you a static IP even if you're not paying for one, they have to have one ISP per customer since most people's routers are turned on 24/7.

[MSIC]

I can VNC into my home PC from anywhere, which is useful. (I'm on a static)

[Splash]

I can VNC into my home PC from anywhere, which is useful. (I'm on a static)

I hope you have a secure password!

[Robscure]

Are some ISP's incompatible with static ips?

[Funkstar]

It't not a case of some ISP's being incompatible, many ISP's just don't offer that as a service or option. This is especially true with the mass consumer ISP's like Sky, Orange, etc.

[Robscure]

It't not a case of some ISP's being incompatible, many ISP's just don't offer that as a service or option. This is especially true with the mass consumer ISP's like Sky, Orange, etc.

Thanks, I thought something along those lines...

So the question to the OP is, what is wrong with the way your connection is now? And what are you hoping to gain by switching to/from static?

[pauldarkside]

If you're after a static route to a dynamic WAN IP address and your ISP doesn't provide an optional static IP address, you might want to check out DDNS options like DynDNS. Basically it gives you an address, like somename.dyndns.org, which is linked to your WAN IP address; together with port forwarding on your router you can handle and direct traffic to a PC that suits. Great for direct-connection gaming, and for me, allowing clients to see live work in progress on some web application without me having to host it elsewhere, etc.

A lot of routers (including the Sky/Netgear DG834GT) support it in their configuration pages, so whenever it detects a new WAN IP address (where your router has reconnected to your ISP and they've assigned a new IP address for that connection), it'll update the DDNS database to keep them in sync. If you router doesn't support if, there are software clients you can run to handle it instead.

[zarn]

Static IPs are helpful if you need to be accessed remotely e.g. running web or email server, VPN connections / remote access.

Dynamic IPs are usually easier and cheaper for your ISP to run, although some ISPs will give you a static IP at no cost (or low cost) if you ask. Unless the points above about static IPs apply to you, this has no real advantage. There is a possible (rather tenuous) security advantage to a dynamic IP, as it would make it harder for an attacker to sustain an assault on your firewall / exploit any vulnerability they find.

There is a half-way house using dynamic DNS services, which are great for casual use, but not suitable if you want to do industrial strength hosting. These provide a domain name such as you.dynamicprovider.com, that they translate to an IP address; by using the domain name you effectively have a fixed address for services to use. You need to register your latest dynamic IP address with them for this to work, which you can either do manually, or some routers will do automatically.

[Saracen]

Even many dynamic IPs are fairly static. If your cable modem router, for instance, is left on, then generally, the IP lease gets automatically renewed, and you may go months without it changing. You just can't rely on it not changing, because sometimes, the change comes from the other end when the ISP changes things around.

Even many ISPs that use dynamic IPs will provide static ones .... if you pay for it. Last time I asked my ISP, they said sure .... you need a business account as they have static IPs. It was just a LOT more expensive and, to me, not worth it.

[Sputnik]

Many thanks for the replies.

I don't actually need a static IP but, was just wondering if there was any advantage that I had overlooked.

[Blastuk]

Many thanks for the replies.

I don't actually need a static IP but, was just wondering if there was any advantage that I had overlooked.

there are disadvantages to static ip too
rapidshare free download timers go by ip address so you can't just get a new ip and download again