In order to understand port forwarding, it helps to understand a little about how routers work first. By setting a specific port for your devices, you are telling your router to always accept requests for those ports and forward data to a device’s private IP address. Port forwarding is a way of making your router use a specific port to communicate with certain devices.
#Portforward help how to#
Here’s how to forward ports on your router using a Mac or Windows 10 PC. While it might seem complicated, once you understand what port forwarding is and how it works, it can be quite simple. We suggest trying Canyouseeme and the port checker tool from Portforward.Port forwarding can help you set up a Minecraft server, access your files and desktop remotely, improve your internet connection speeds, and more. Several services can test if your newly-opened port is recognized. Testing if an outside network can see the new port Often this setting is in the same area of the router configuration as discussed above and can be changed from disabled to enabled. For example, if you were given instructions to open port 6112-6119, you would enter 6112 as your starting port and 6119 as your ending port.įinally, if after enabling port forwarding you are still encountering issues with another computer or application seeing your computer, it may be necessary to enable DMZ. In this section, you would follow the same steps as those mentioned above, however, instead of entering an individual port, you would enter the starting and ending port number. If your application or game requires a range of ports, such as 6112-6119, your router should have a Port Range forwarding section (shown below). This port is being forwarded to on the network.įinally, once all these values are configured, check the Enabled box and click the Save Changes button. Next is the To IP address, which is the IP address of the computer or networking device. If you do not have a Both option, create two open ports for both TCP and UDP. If you are uncertain of the exact protocol needed, use both. Next is the Protocol, which is often able to be either TCP, UDP, or both.
![portforward help portforward help](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/J6Ns_7pCkRM/maxresdefault.jpg)
For example, if you were opening port 88, you would enter 88 in both boxes. Enter the port you want to open in both of these fields. Next is the Externet Port and Internet Port. For example, you would type in the name of the game. However, in most situations, you need to type the name of the application.
![portforward help portforward help](https://portforward.com/repotec/rp-ip2105/RP-IP21053.jpg)
If you are opening a common port such as FTP, selecting that option enables that port.
![portforward help portforward help](http://dc9wlm4wphap8.cloudfront.net/support/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Screen-Shot-2015-03-25-at-11.27.54-AM.png)
In our example below, you can see this router has drop-down menus and empty boxes. Referring to the following picture as an example, with single port forwarding, you have different fields that need to be completed.įirst, the Application Name is the name given to describe what the ports are that you are opening.