What is DDNS?

Contents:

This article is mostly about DDNS, however, we first need to understand DNS.

 

What is DNS?

The Domain Name Service (DNS) is the phonebook of the internet so let's start by understanding DNS. 

 

While web browsers navigate the internet using internet protocol (IP) addresses, users need to use domain names, such as eero.com, to find websites and information quickly. In the background, it’s the DNS that translates familiar domain names into IP addresses and allows browsers to connect to the right website associated with them.  

What is a Dynamic IP address?

Simply put, a dynamic IP address is an IP address that changes. Most IP addresses for residential and commercial internet connections are dynamic, as this is the most effective means for providing users with an IP address. 

 

When you have a dynamic IP address that changes, you can lose the ability to quickly reconnect to devices on your network as the IP address associated with them has changed. Imagine having a street address that the post office randomly changes without informing you of the change or your new address. You wouldn’t be able to receive the mail, and using GPS to navigate home would be nearly impossible. The situation is similar when trying to remotely reach a networked device with a dynamic IP address. 

What is eero DDNS? 

eero DDNS gives you the ability to remotely access your network easily regardless of if your dynamic IP changes. With the new DDNS feature in eero Plus, users receive  a unique hostname for their network that is simple to recognize and recall. 

 

With eero Plus, DDNS is built into eero’s portfolio, allowing you to manage DDNS from the eero mobile app.

Access with eero Plus

DDNS is available with an eero Plus subscription. For $9.99 per month or $99 per year, you get all the great eero Plus features—including advanced online security, parental controls, ad blocking, and network insights—plus access to 1Password, Malwarebytes, Encrypt.me (No longer available for purchase), Guardian VPN, and our eero DDNS service.

 

I have eero Plus. Now what?

Now that you have eero Plus, you will want to activate DDNS. Follow these steps:


Tap on Home -> eero Plus-> DDNS
Or Tap on “Settings”  -> Tap on “Network Settings” -> Tap on “DDNS” and you're good to go.

Bridge mode / Private WAN IP

Your network must be in Single NAT and eero cannot be bridged for DDNS to work properly. 

 

If you are in Double NAT remove or Bridge your non eero Router. If your eero is Bridged, take it out of Bridge mode, then remove or Bridge the non eero Router.

 

Port Forwarding

DDNS will get you to the router, but how can you access your devices? To do this, you’ll need to enable port forwarding. You can read this article for how to configure port forwards for your various devices. https://support.eero.com/hc/en-us/articles/207908443-How-do-I-configure-port-forwarding-

 

Once configured, you can access your portforward by including the port number at the end of your DDNS domain ie: 123.eero.online:8080

 

SSL for your DDNS

If you’re looking to add SSL functionality to your DDNS domain, you may want to consider services such as Let's Encrypt.  With Let's Encrypt, you can verify the eero subdomain (e.g., 123.eero.online) over HTTP (rather than over DNS) with a well known file on your server. Additional details for setup here: https://letsencrypt.org/docs/challenge-types/#http-01-challenge.* 

What if I need to update my DDNS domain?

 

Contact support and we can generate a new domain for you.

Forward a custom domain to my DDNS

If you have a custom domain, or would like to get one, which is easier to remember than your eero generated domain, you can setup that domain to redirect to the eero generated domain, giving you easier-to-remember access to your network. You can follow instructions such as these from GoDaddy to set this up: https://www.godaddy.com/help/forward-my-domain-12123.*

Report abuse

To report abuse of an eero DDNS domain, you must do so via the AWS abuse reporting process here: https://support.aws.amazon.com/#/contacts/report-abuse. For more information, please refer to our DDNS Acceptable Use Policy available here: https://eero.com/legal/DDNS

 

*eero includes links to these third party services for convenience, but does not take responsibility for your use of such services.

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