DNS vs. DDNS?
July 18, 2013 2:27 PM Subscribe
I recently sent my father (who lives in the Middle East) a Roku as a gift. Thing is, Rokus don't have any advanced networking options and we need to change his DNS in order to watch the programming he desires. The shitty modem/router that his ISP provides does not allow for changes to the DNS. It does, however, allow you to put in DDNS settings (screen shot here). Would altering the DDNS settings override the DNS settings in the router? While changing ones DNS to appear like they're in the US is easy, I have no idea what, if anything, should go in the boxes on the DDNS page of his router. Thanks.
No.
DDNS is a mechanism by which a device with dynamic IPs report their current IP addresses to a DNS service provider so that it can be mapped to a permanent hostname for easier connections from other clients on the Internet.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 2:43 PM on July 18, 2013
DDNS is a mechanism by which a device with dynamic IPs report their current IP addresses to a DNS service provider so that it can be mapped to a permanent hostname for easier connections from other clients on the Internet.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 2:43 PM on July 18, 2013
Response by poster: Shitty. Okay, since this is a modem/router combo, is it usually pretty easy to turn off the wireless function on the modem so that an alternate router can be used?
posted by gman at 2:46 PM on July 18, 2013
posted by gman at 2:46 PM on July 18, 2013
I had the exact same problem with my dad and the Roku I got him a while back. We ended up having to change out his router for one that lets you specify the DNS settings that it sends to its clients.
In his case, he is now using an old Cisco router made circa 1993, which is probably not a practical option for you. I don't have any advice on a practical router for his situation, but perhaps someone else can chime in with a make and model that they know works.
posted by Juffo-Wup at 2:47 PM on July 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
In his case, he is now using an old Cisco router made circa 1993, which is probably not a practical option for you. I don't have any advice on a practical router for his situation, but perhaps someone else can chime in with a make and model that they know works.
posted by Juffo-Wup at 2:47 PM on July 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
is it usually pretty easy to turn off the wireless function on the modem so that an alternate router can be used?
Yes, it is usually pretty easy on most equipment like this. Even if you can't turn it off, you could still plug in a second router and have the Roku connect through that.
posted by Juffo-Wup at 2:48 PM on July 18, 2013
Yes, it is usually pretty easy on most equipment like this. Even if you can't turn it off, you could still plug in a second router and have the Roku connect through that.
posted by Juffo-Wup at 2:48 PM on July 18, 2013
If the modem/router combo has ethernet ports on it, you can always just plug another router in and connect the Roku to that (though it will be double-NATed which can cause problems)
posted by RonButNotStupid at 2:50 PM on July 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by RonButNotStupid at 2:50 PM on July 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
You're looking for a VPN service. Changing your DNS settings will only change how something like metafilter.com gets translated to 50.22.177.14. If you want your IP address to appear as in the US, or UK, or ... instead of in the Mideast, that's VPN. Basically a service in the target country that sends/receives data on your behalf, and forwards it back to you.
There might be settings for that under the Advanced menu, but I doubt it. You will likely need to double NAT with a less-barebone router, as RonButNotStupid suggests.
posted by jraenar at 3:06 PM on July 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
There might be settings for that under the Advanced menu, but I doubt it. You will likely need to double NAT with a less-barebone router, as RonButNotStupid suggests.
posted by jraenar at 3:06 PM on July 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: jraenar: You're looking for a VPN service. Changing your DNS settings will only change how something like metafilter.com gets translated to 50.22.177.14.
I don't get it. Services like Blockless or tunlr simply change your DNS. Either of these work for me in Canada to get US content.
posted by gman at 3:14 PM on July 18, 2013
I don't get it. Services like Blockless or tunlr simply change your DNS. Either of these work for me in Canada to get US content.
posted by gman at 3:14 PM on July 18, 2013
They probably work because there's some deliberate routing being performed based on DNS requests: A Canadian DNS server will resolve www.example.com to an IP address that contains a special Canadian version of www.example.com which might be crippled to not provide you with content. It's like how your local phone book might have the number for the Example Inc. local branch office instead of their headquarters in New York. Those DNS services are like using a New York City telephone book instead of your local one.
But using a different telephone book doesn't magically change the location you're calling from. When you connect to the US version of www.example.com, you're still connecting to it from a rather obvious Canadian IP address, and if they were checking you'd be found out rather quickly. Why aren't they checking? Maybe they haven't thought of it yet (doubtful) or maybe it's currently too resource intensive.
This is why people get VPN accounts. Those actually mask the origin of connections making it appear as if they're coming from whatever country the VPN is based in.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 3:51 PM on July 18, 2013
But using a different telephone book doesn't magically change the location you're calling from. When you connect to the US version of www.example.com, you're still connecting to it from a rather obvious Canadian IP address, and if they were checking you'd be found out rather quickly. Why aren't they checking? Maybe they haven't thought of it yet (doubtful) or maybe it's currently too resource intensive.
This is why people get VPN accounts. Those actually mask the origin of connections making it appear as if they're coming from whatever country the VPN is based in.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 3:51 PM on July 18, 2013
Blockless and Tunlr are masking your IP address (and the geolocation that corresponds to it), presenting a different one to the service provider (e.g. Netflix).
You could try Tor, the onion proxy, which makes connections through the internet very challenging to trace. I'm not sure if Tor asks for anything in return, i.e. the use of his connection by other Tor users-- that could be problematic.
posted by Sunburnt at 4:15 PM on July 18, 2013
You could try Tor, the onion proxy, which makes connections through the internet very challenging to trace. I'm not sure if Tor asks for anything in return, i.e. the use of his connection by other Tor users-- that could be problematic.
posted by Sunburnt at 4:15 PM on July 18, 2013
Response by poster: I guess then my question is, if changing the DNS works for me, then why wouldn't it work for my father, providing he gets a router that allows him to change it? Why would he need to go the VPN route? Thanks.
posted by gman at 4:53 PM on July 18, 2013
posted by gman at 4:53 PM on July 18, 2013
To try to clear up some of the discussion re: DNS vs VPN: Yes, a VPN would be the general solution for appearing to be accessing the internet from a different place. However, a number of services like Netflix can also be faked out by just changing DNS. So changing DNS settings *should* work for the Roku, assuming there are no other issues.
posted by yaarrgh at 5:17 PM on July 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by yaarrgh at 5:17 PM on July 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Unfortunately, short of a different router I have no intelligent suggestions for your problem.
posted by yaarrgh at 2:42 PM on July 18, 2013 [1 favorite]