DrayDDNS Dynamic DNS Setup

When you connect to your ISP, you are normally allocated a dynamic IP address. i.e. the public IP address of your router changes each time you connect to the ISP. This means that if you want to connect to your WAN IP Address remotely it is difficult to know what the IP might be, because the IP Address can change from time to time. The way websites handle this situation is to use a hostname instead of an IP Address, so with a site such as www.google.co.uk you don't need to know which IP Address to connect to, just the hostname.

DrayTek Vigor routers support Dynamic DNS, which links a hostname to the current IP address of the router. By using a Dynamic DNS service the DrayTek Vigor router can automatically keep the hostname record updated so that it always points to the current IP Address of the router.

DrayDDNS is a new Dynamic DNS option available for DrayTek Vigor routers, which provides a hostname from the drayddns.com domain, for instance if your Domain name prefix is companysite1 then your hostname would be  companysite1.drayddns.com, which links to the router's current IP address, updating whenever it changes. The router's VPN server and any servers that are accessible on the Internet through the Vigor router can then be accessed through this address.

If the router has backup Internet connections, such as Ethernet WAN failing over to ADSL, the router's Dynamic DNS functionality can be configured to fail over as well. When configured in this way, the dynamic DNS would typically link to the main Internet connection, however if this connection drops and a fail-over occurs, the router can re-connect to the Internet using its backup ADSL connection and the DrayDDNS hostname will switch over to the backup Internet connection's IP address, ensuring that the router can always be found at its drayddns.com web address.

This is configured from the [Applications] > [Dynamic DNS Setup] menu as a Dynamic DNS provider option.

DrayDDNS is managed through the MyVigor system; the router needs to be linked to a MyVigor account to utilise the service.

Support for DrayDDNS is available on these router models from the specified firmware version:

To configure a DrayTek Vigor router to use the DrayDDNS service, do the following:

Activate DrayDDNS service

1. Go to [Wizards] > [Service Activation Wizard], wait for the router to connect to MyVigor server. The router will display which Domain Name prefix will be used for the DrayDDNS hostname initially. Select DT-DDNS and I have read and accept the above Agreement, to continue, click Next. When DrayDDNS is initially set up, it will give a expiry date of 1 year but it will automatically renew on expiry.   DrayDDNS is currently free of charge (as of February 2018).

2. Confirm the information, then click Activate.

3. The MyVigor server will reply with the service activation information:

Configure a Dynamic DNS Profile to use DrayDDNS

1. Go to [Applications] > [Dynamic DNS Setup],

a. Tick Enable Dynamic DNS Setup

b. Select an available profile index

c. Tick Enable Dynamic DNS Account

d. Select DrayTek Global (www.drayddns.com) as Service Provider

e. Select the WAN interface(s) to link with the DrayDDNS web address

f. Click Get domain

g. Click OK on the pop up notification window:

2. Wait a few seconds for the router to get its domain name from the MyVigor system, then click the profile to check the Status and Domain Name information:

How to Modify DrayDDNS Domain Name Prefix

The prefix of the DrayDDNS web address is managed through the DrayTek MyVigor portal, it can also be accessed through the router's web interface:

1. Go to [Applications] > [Dynamic DNS Setup], select the DrayDDNS profile and click Edit domain.

2. Log in to the MyVigor Website, go to the [My Information] > [My Product] page, select the router from the list and click Edit DDNS settings:

Enter the preferred Domain name prefix for the "drayddns.com" address and click Update.

3. The router will get the modified domain name when the it performs its next DDNS update. Alternatively, click Sync domain to accelerate this process. After few seconds, router will get the new domain name and update it on the profiles list.

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