How to forward ports on router? Particular ports must be open on your router for some video games and programs to work correctly. Although the router has some ports open by default, most are closed and only useful if you manually open these ports.
When your online video games, file server, or other networking programs don’t run, access the router and open the specific ports that the application needs.
How Do You Set Up Port Forwarding?
The traffic that moves through your router does so through ports. Each port is like a special pipe made for a specific kind of traffic. When you open a port on a router, it enables a particular data type to move through the router.
The act of opening a port and choosing a device on the network to forward those requests is called port forwarding. Port forwarding is like attaching a pipe from the router to the device that needs to practice the port—there’s a direct line-of-sight between the two that allows data flow.
For instance, FTP servers listen for incoming connections on port 21. If you have an FTP server set up that nobody outside your network can relate to, open port 21 on the router and forward it to the system you use as the server. When you do this, that new, dedicated pipe moves files from the server, through the router, and out of the network to the FTP client that’s interacting with it.
The same is true for other scenarios like video games that need the internet to interact with other players, torrent clients that require specific ports to be open for uploading files, and instant messaging applications that only send and receive messages through a special port.
Every networking application requires a port to run on, so if a program or application isn’t working when everything else is set up correctly, open the port on the router and forward requests to the correct device (for example, a computer, printer, or game console).
Port range forwarding is related to port forwarding but is utilized to forward an entire range of ports. A particular video game might use ports 3478 through 3480, for instance, so instead of typing all three into the router as separate port forwards, forward that whole range to the computer running that game.
Below are two primary steps you require to complete to forward ports on a router. Because every device is different and there are several router variations, these steps are not specific to any device. If you need additional help, refer to the user manual for the device, for instance, the user guide for your router.
Give the Device a Static IP Address
The device that will benefit from the port forward requires to have a static IP address. This way, you don’t have to change the port forwarding settings every time it obtains a new IP address.
For example, if your system runs torrenting software, assign a static IP address to that computer. If your gaming console uses a specific range of ports, it requires a static IP address.
There are two methods to do this: from the router and the computer. When you set up a static IP address for your computer, it’s simpler to do it there.
How to Forward Ports
Now that you know the device’s IP address and configured it to stop changing access to the router, and set up the port forwarding settings.
- Log in to the router as admin. You require to know the router’s IP address, username, and password.
- Locate the port forwarding options. These are various for every router but might be called Port Forwarding, Port Triggering, Applications & Gaming, or Port Range Forwarding. These might be buried within different categories of settings like Network, Wireless, or Advanced.
- Type the port number or port array that you want to forward. If you’re forwarding one port, type the same number supporting both the Internal and External boxes. For port ranges, utilize the Start and End boxes.
- Most games and programs show which ports must be open on the router. If you don’t understand what numbers to type here, PortForward.com has a list of standard ports.
- Choose a protocol, either TCP or UDP. Choose both, if needed. This information should be available from the program or game that defines the port number.
- Type the static IP address you chose.
- If asked, name the port trigger anything that gives sense to you. If it’s for an FTP program, ask it FTP. Call it Medal of Honor if you require the port open for that game.
- Allow the port forwarding rule with an allows or on option.
Here’s an instance of what it looks like to forward ports on a Linksys WRT610N:
Some routers have a port-forward setup wizard that makes it easier to configure. For example, the router might first give you a list of devices previously using a static IP address and then let you choose the protocol and port number from there.
Here are some other port forwarding directions that are more specific to these brands of routers: D-Link, NETGEAR, TP-Link, Belkin, Google, and Linksys.
More on Open Ports
If forwarding a port on your router doesn’t allow the program or game to work on your system, find out if a firewall program blocked the port. The same port needs to be open on the router and your system for the application to use it.
To see if the Windows Firewall is blocking a port that you opened on the router, momentarily disable the firewall and then test the port again. If the port is stopped on the firewall, edit some settings to open it.
When you open a port on the router, traffic can move in and out of it. When you scan the network for open ports, you should see everything available from the outside. There are websites and tools build especially for this.
Here are some causes why you would check for open ports:
- To avoid getting into the router to check.
- To make sure the port opened precisely when a program or game isn’t working.
- To make sure a port you closed is closed.
Several places offer a free open port checker. PortChecker.co and NetworkAppers have online port checkers that scan a network from the outline. Advanced Port Scanner and FreePortScanner help check other devices within your private network.
Only one port forward can exist for each instance of that port. For instance, if you forward port 3389 (used by the Remote Desktop remote access program) to a computer with the IP address 192.168.1.115, that same router can’t also forward port 3389 to 192.168.1.120.
In situations like this, the only solution, if possible, is to change the port the program uses. This may be likely from the software settings or through a registry hack. In the RDP instance, if you edit the Windows Registry on the 192.168.1.120 computer to force Remote Desktop to use a different port like 3390, you could set up a new port forward for that port and utilize Remote Desktop on two computers within the same network.
