I’m on an ADSL connection and I was hoping that I could be given a static IP address. How can I check what it is and whether it’s changing or not?

Getting a static IP address is something you’ll need to ask your ISP about. They are the only ones who have control as to whether you get a dynamic one or a static one. If you find that they cannot give you one there are some interesting services, DynDNS which will give you a domain name that automatically changes if your home IP address changes.

This can be particularly useful if you want to host your own website from home. Let’s say you wanted a web page up that you could use to sell a slimming pill you are marketing. Well, if you want to host this yourself you’ll need a web server and a route for people to find it. DynDNS can give you a route in to your service. It’s worth considering that buying space on a proper host will only cost you a couple of dollars a year; so maybe that’s what you should be looking at.