NIC:ALT.SO | F.A.Q.

.ALT.SO F.A.Q.

↳ How to lookup a .Alt.So domain?
↳ How to register a .Alt.So domain?
↳ How much is the price for a .Alt.So domain?
↳ How to get an @Alt.So email address?
↳ Can I manage .Alt.So DNS?
↳ How can I manage .Alt.So DNS?
↳ How can I put A, CNAME, or other DNS records?
↳ How NIC.ALT.SO ensures uptime?

How to lookup a .Alt.So domain WHOIS or availability?

Due to security reasons, we at NIC.ALT.SO only provide highly secured access to the .alt.so domain WHOIS information. As a result, you have to email or contact us first. Like that, to check for availability, you must first express your interest, which is the same method of registering domains.

How to register a .Alt.So domain?

Please email us your expression of interest at reg.nic@alt.so email address. We, NIC.ALT.SO, will guide you through there. We assist "first came, first served" basis, so please allow a bit of time during heavy queries. And you must accept and sign back some documents in the process. Now, to get a domain, you must be or getting a domain on behalf of or represent any of the following list:

a registered business
a registered non-profit organization
a practicing professional with recognizable membership(s) or reference(s)
a government organization or project
a project of a recognizable entity
a legal social group or community

Make sure you have your legal documents ready. We will cross-check everything and let you know as soon as possible. Typically, a dedicated domain for government usage or any kind of back-end technology support gets approved very promptly.

Note: We have a list of reserved names which are not available for registration. And we have certain rules of registration that you must comply.

How much is the price for a .Alt.So domain?

Below is the current price list (last revised and updated on 2nd of February 2021):

ac.alt.so : US$ 1.0 annually
cd.alt.so : US$ 1.5 annually
co.alt.so : US$ 3.0 annually
fc.alt.so : US$ 3.0 annually
or.alt.so : US$ 2.0 annually

All other, not mentioned, domain names don't have any fixed price as those are sold as a contract. Please refer to the rules of registration for the full list of available domain names for registration.

The minimum length of registration is 2 years and the maximum length of registration is 20 years.

Note: During renewal, the current price applies to all domain names unless contracted. For example, you bought a domain name for US$ 2 for two years at US$ 1 annual price. Now, after two years, the price of the domain name got increased to US$ 5 per year. So, if you don't have any special contract with us, you have to pay US$ 5 per year for renew. And the same applies when you renew again.

How to get an @Alt.So email address?

Contact us anytime after getting your domain. You will be able to get a free email address exactly like your domain name. For example, if your domain name is "helloworld.alt.so", you will get the email address "helloworld@alt.so". Now, the email address is basically for email forwarding. However, with Gmail, you can send emails as your @alt.so email address. But, since Gmail is a Google® product, it can change at any time.

Can I manage .Alt.So DNS?

Yes, obviously you can. Managing DNS is easy but manual for the .Alt.So domain names. At NIC.ALT.SO, we have a dedicated page for you to manage your DNS records. However, you can send an email to manage the DNS records as well. Now, for security reasons, you will only be able to add, delete, or modify Name Server (NS), Mail Exchange (MX), and Text Resource (TXT) records. And, we at NIC.ALT.SO recommends that you manage your DNS from your own server or secured hosting account.

How can I manage .Alt.So DNS?

To manage your DNS, just send an email to dns@alt.so with the following code:

For an NS Record:
yourdomain.alt.so NS ns1.example.alt.so auto

For multiple NS Records:
yourdomain.alt.so NS ns1.example.alt.so ns2.example.alt.so auto

For an MX Record:
yourdomain.alt.so MX mx1.example.alt.so 10

For multiple MX Records:
yourdomain.alt.so MX mx1.example.alt.so 10 mx2.example.alt.so 20

For TXT Records:
yourdomain.alt.so TXT exampletext auto

To delete all records:
yourdomain.alt.so DEL ALL

To delete a specific record:
yourdomain.alt.so DEL NS

To get emailed all records:
yourdomain.alt.so DNS ALL

To get emailed a specific record:
yourdomain.alt.so DNS NS

To make WHOIS record private:
yourdomain.alt.so WHOIS OFF

To make WHOIS record public:
yourdomain.alt.so WHOIS ON

Accepted DNS TTL (time to live):

"auto" ~ dynamic = "Recommended"
"1800" ~ 30 mins = "Very Short"
"3600" ~ an hour = "Short"
"86400" ~ a day = "Standard"
"604800" ~ a week = "Long"

For MX Records, the TTL mentioned by your mail service provider is accepted and recommended. If your mail service provider haven't mentioned any TTL number, use "auto" for dynamic configuration.

Remember, spaces, not case, matter when inputting the codes. And you don't have to add any greetings as well. Any other contents except the stated codes will be ignored automatically. Additionally, you don't have to delete any record to update or modify.

If you want to use our dedicated page, please send an email to our email mentioned earlier with "yourdomain.alt.so DNS Pass" code. An automatic email will be sent to your email address within 48 hours. That email will contain a DNS Pass that will let you access the DNS editing page. That email will also have a security code that you have to use to authenticate your action at the DNS editing page.

To use the dedicated DNS management page, fill-up the form as instructed at the bottom of that page.

Note: Please allow the universally standard DNS propagation period of 24 to 72 hours for all the changes to take effect successfully.

How can I put A, CNAME, or other DNS records?

The NIC.ALT.SO only accepts Name Server (NS) records to point your domain to a server for security purposes. So, you must provide us with your NS record for the ".alt.so" domain name to host it properly. Now, if your server or your server system doesn't support NS records (like, for example, Shopify®), you have to use a third-party DNS management service. The third-party DNS management services (such as HE.NET) have their dedicated NS records, which can be used to make your ".alt.so" domain to point. And from there, you can control any DNS record. So, all you have to do with us is just giving us the NS records for your third-party DNS management service.

For example, let's say you have a domain name "90sdenims.alt.so" and want to use it for Shopify. Now, since Shopify only has an "A" record and a "CNAME" record, you can't use those with us to make your domain act as per Shopify. So, sign up for a third-party DNS management system, set its NS records to your ".alt.so" domain, and then apply Shopify's instructions over there.

How NIC.ALT.SO ensures uptime?

We, NIC.ALT.SO, use multiple layers of servers to tackle downtime. We use Hurricane Electric as our base. Then we have a layer of NameCheap Inc. servers. Our NIC.ALT.SO front-end website is hosted on a completely different server with iFastNet Ltd. to protect our base DNS management system from attacks. And, we use web technologies provided by Google Inc. in various parts of our system.

Our website was built with raw PHP programming language with the most straightforward HTML, CSS, and JavaScript combination. We use temporary databases that get empty after a certain amount of time. We keep most of the information and files on a server accessible by only a few people. And, we don't require SSL encryption as we use a password-free client system with Stripe, Inc. invoicing.