I’ve bailed out from duckdns now, switched to ddns.net aka no-ip.com
My certificates are now handled using the HA add on ‘NGINX proxy manager’.
This was better anyway, because I control my own domain name. I set the CNAME of subdomain for example homeassistant.mydomain.com to xxxx.ddns.net
port 443 is forwarded to NGINX proxy manager
NGINX proxy manager then can forward the user to the appropriate service based on the subdomain used. So if i use homeassistant.mydomain.com, it forwards to http://192.168.1.215:8123
if I access through another domain it can go to various other stuff in the house
nginx proxy manager can also automatically manage letsencrypt certificates
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sorry I don’t explain there how i get ddns.net to update. There’s probably a few ways but I use it on my edgerouter. You could use any ddns that is built into your router too e.g. asus routers can do xxxx.asuscomm.com
You also need your own subdomain and 443 and 80 need to be forwarded to nginx proxy manager for it to work. So not a solution for everyone and not as easy as the duckdns add on
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I’m getting Google Assistant/Home issues again, appears to be a couple of DuckDNS servers loosing connection occasionally.
Will be trying to migrate away from DuckDNS to router based DDNS over next couple of days, fingers crossed this solves the inconsistencies.
It indeed seems to be down again. This is getting really frustrating. Does anyone have a good free alternative for a dyn DNS service?
@deverelo I’ve just moved over to no-ip/ddns.net - no issues so far, very easy to switch it seems! Thanks for the recommendation.
@Jelle7 I already use SWAG to port-forward 80 & 443 to my home assistance instance, so I skipped the NGINX proxy manager above, but otherwise it was as simple as:
- Creating a new no-ip account (free),
- setting up a DNS Hostname (A),
- changing my C-name redirects on Cloudflare for my ‘homeassistant’ C-record.
I guess the only downside is now having to update my Dynamic IP manually, so will keep DuckDNS for now as a backup. My ISP doesn’t switch my IP very often anyhow, so shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
I believe there is a solution built into Cloudflare for DDNS, but am yet to figure that out 
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I think migration should be handled in two fold;
- Creating the new infrastructure (domain name, CNAME, nginx proxy to handle SSL, router configuration if needed)
- Updating all external pointers (Google Home, Alexa, Home Connect, Neato, probably some other integrations which rely on exact domain name - OAuth ones?)
Well, updating to Cloudflare was easier than expected,
Updates your DNS with your IP every hour, no more need for DuckDNS/no-IP for Home Assistant at least.
Fingers crossed this is a more reliable set-up.
I bailed ducknds last week and went with no-ip - no issues at all since and my whole HA seems happier - no more hanging lovelace refreshes etc.
duckdns was not resolving for me for the last hour. quad9, 8.8.8.8 and my ISP could not resolve my domain.
I suspect that it quite often does not resolve and this is why my alexa echo dot integration sometimes does not work.
Next time it acts up it is getting dumped and I will use my the free DNS with my hetzner 4 euro a month VPS wireguard CGNAT tunnel. Might even get a 2 euro a year .xyz and remain flexible as the amazon AWS alexa skill integration is quite a bit of work to setup again.
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Down again what a PITA
Duckdns seems to be down again, I may startt looking for alternatives
I have switched over to No-IP but I have a weird issue. Everything works fine except about an hour after the RPI running ha supervised is rebooted, I am no longer able to access HA remotely. I have checked each time and my IP address has has NOT changed. The only thing that resolves it is rebooting my RPI (not even restarting HA fixes it), and then I can remotely access it again only for about an hour or so.
WTH is going on?
UPDATE!
I got rid of No-IP, uninstalled duckns, removed my port forwarding rules, and created a secure cloudflare tunnel - it’s free, I can use the tunnel for other services, and no VPN needed on any external device accessing it!
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I ended up removing my payment for a static IP to my ISP and bought Nabu Casa. I’m saving ~$5/mo going this route. Food for thought. (I was sick of the constant Duck DNS outages). Also, you can use a cloud flare tunnel too, which is free. Doesn’t require a static IP either.
I am just paying 3 euros for public ip (not fixed). Is there any long term limitation or restriction going with nabucasa compared to self managed one for experienced users?
I started in august. So far so good!
I’m still using Alexa smart home skill. Just had to update my endpoints on amazon developer.
I made a post on discord about the process and these are my notes:
if anyone is interested, swapping from DDNS to nabucasa requires you to update your ASHS endpoint in both the lamba func and developer skill (after building again). Also, you need to disable the skill in alexa and then enable it to force new credentials. This does not force you to reconfigure all alexa devices & routines.
if you swap to nabucasa from duck dns and you have a yaml configuration pointed at your alexa smart home skill, turn off alexa via the UI. It overrides things configured in yaml.
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Does nabucasa allow me to open different other ports from host machine?
You don’t have to do ANY port forwarding to be able to externally access any of the services on your home network - and have secure access to your Home Assistant - it’s a little involved - but free and it’s worth it -
It cost me $1.80 per YEAR to get a new domain name to use with it - (Google ‘namecheap’ - freenom mentioned in the video is actually down or defunct)
But, can i expose different ports using the nabucasa endpoint on top of home assistant ssl?
With the cloudflare post-quantum tunnel you don’t need to forward any ports - and you can use the tunnel for exposing any other services you want to as well - all without port foprwarding - that is explained at the end of the video
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Cheap domains from namecheap 6 to 9 digit .xzy domains are on name cheap from namecheap @ 0.85 USD per year and the same for renewal.
example 386335789.xyz
Cloudfare can see all your traffic. Generally not a problem for most people who have smartphones and gmail.
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