Ok. I am out of here.
Yeah, I’d quit if I knew I was wrong, too.
Let it go, Steve. You are conflating “free domains” from freenom with third level domains from dynamic dns providers, the two are not even close, and I have no problems with dynamic dns providers.
My problem is with freenom and with the fact that a free domain you get from them is not your domain, it’s their domain. This is unique among registrars. It’s not the same anywhere else.
You need a fqdn? Go for any dynamic dns provider. I’d suggest duckdns.org, freedns.afraid.org, or nsupdate.info. Just don’t get duped by freenom and their “free” domains that are not actually yours.
Have I made myself clear?
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As opposed to conflating “fake” domains to “real” domains?
And no, you haven’t made yourself clear. In what way is a domain from Freenom not “yours”, but a domain from duckdns, freedns, or nsupdate safely “yours”?
This is not conflation at all. Is a domain real when is not yours? How is a domain real if freenom can pull it from under your feet whenever they want? (and this does not happen anywhere else.)
Neither is mine. But all the others never claimed I could have a second-level domain name for free.
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I’ve had a Freenom domain for years. Freenom emails me reminders to renew every year, and there have been no restrictions or demands or control over my domain. So yes, my Freenom domain is “mine”.
Freenom said I could have a second level domain for free. And I’ve had had a second level domain for free for over half a decade. I was completely unaware I’ve successfully been using a “fake” domain all this time. 
Dude, since @trymeout seems to struggle on basic cert stuff, i wanted to give him a simplified rundown, not overwhelm him with the exact details. No need to correct me here, the omissions where not an accident 
Also this discussion is derailing heavily into the off-topic realm. Mayby if you, @DarkSteve and @Giuseppe want to discuss the pros and cons of different Domainregistrars consider making a dedicated thread for that.
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@trymeout, for how I see it you have two options:
- you get a self signed certificate, and that’s it.
- you get a full qualified domain name from duckdns, you point it to your ip address (you don’t need to update it, since your ip won’t change that often) and get a certificate from let’s encrypt (procedure goes like this: install certbot, run certbot, answer certbot’s questions, done.)
If, in future, you want your own domain, shop around and be wary of extreme discounts, they are nearly always for the fist year, renewals can be more expensive. It’s a shady business. I suggest gandi or 1984.is.