What is dynamic DNS?
Your internet provider gives your home or office network a public IP address, and that address often changes when the router restarts or the line drops. Anyone who wants to reach a device on your network needs the new address every time.
Dynamic DNS (DDNS) solves this: you pick a fixed name, and your router or device tells us its new address whenever it changes. Within seconds the name points to the current address, so you type the name instead of numbers.
Example: home.ddns.sy points to 203.0.113.10 today and to the new address tomorrow, without you changing anything.
What is it for?
Any device on your network you want to reach from outside.
Security cameras
Watch your cameras and recorder (NVR/DVR) on your phone while you are away from home or the shop.
NAS and files
Open your files and photos on a Synology or any storage device from anywhere.
Remote access
Connect to your office computer or server through remote desktop or SSH.
VPN to your network
Run WireGuard or OpenVPN on your router and connect to your network safely by a fixed name.
Home or test server
A test site, a game server or a Raspberry Pi, at an address that is easy to remember and share.
Smart home
Control smart home systems such as Home Assistant while you are away.
What you get for free
No subscription, no payment card, in your account on the Horanos hosting platform.
- One free name per customer under ddns.sy
- IPv4 and IPv6 together
- Updates take effect within seconds
- Works with every router that speaks dyndns2
- The name is never suspended for lack of updates
- Change or delete the name whenever you like
How it works
- 1Log in to your account on the Horanos hosting platform, or create a free one there and confirm your e-mail address.
- 2Type the name you want and press "Activate for free". No cart, no invoice.
- 3Copy the settings shown (name, key and update URL) into the DDNS page of your router or device.
The settings come ready to copy, with examples for MikroTik and FRITZ!Box routers, Windows, Linux, Raspberry Pi and ddclient.
Before you start: is your address public?
Dynamic DNS gives a name to your network's public address. Some providers, Starlink and many mobile networks among them, put many customers behind one shared IPv4 address (CGNAT), so connections from outside cannot reach your device over IPv4. In that case use IPv6 if your provider and device support it, or ask your provider for a public address.
Frequently asked questions
Is it really free?
Yes. One name under ddns.sy is free for every customer, with no invoice and no payment card, and it is never suspended for lack of updates.
What do I need to start?
An account on the Horanos hosting platform with a confirmed e-mail address, and a router or device that supports dynamic DNS (the dyndns2 protocol), or any device that can call a link regularly.
Does it work with Starlink?
Starlink shares one IPv4 address among many customers, so connections from outside do not arrive over IPv4. The name works over IPv6 if your router gives your devices IPv6 addresses.
Can I change the name later?
Yes. You change it on the service page in your account on the hosting platform and the key stays the same. You can also delete the name and choose another one.
Can I get more than one name?
The free name is one per customer. It stays yours as long as you use it, even if your address does not change for a long time.
Your fixed name is ready in a minute
Log in to the Horanos hosting platform, choose the name and copy the settings into your router.