Hello! A lot of people ask me how to correctly portforward their routers. This is quite a big issue. I really can't tell them much other than ask their parents on contact their company, so I want to go in a little detail on how to do this on a blog post. Let's get straight into it.

1st Step - Making your IP address static

First you are going to need to make your IP address static. This means that your ISP won't be able to automatically change the address. You can change it later to your router's settings by undoing what is listed.

• Learn your 'Default Gateway' and 'Subnet Mask'.
  

You are going to need the default gateway and subnet mask information to correctly portforward. To get these go to your run, and type 'cmd'. (Windows + R)



Now a window like this should pop up:



Open a notepad, and copy down the IPv4 Address, the Default Gateway, and the Subnet Mask. Got it? Good. Those are important.

You are also going to need your DNS servers. After you have the information we just enterered, and it same windows, type ipconfig /all. Scroll around until you see something like these numbers. Copy them down too:



Now head over to your connection. It will either be a barred connection for wireless, or a computer with a plug for wired:



Shoot it a right click, and click Open Network and sharing center. A window like this will and should pop-up:


See where it says connections?


Click the blue link, highlighted with your connection. See something like this?:



Great, click properties. On the following list, click Internet Protocol Version 4, and click properties.



You are now taken to a list looking like this. Go ahead and check the boxes.



See the IP Address box? Go ahead and enter in your IP Address, but save the last numbers for this step: I normally like to choose 3 numbers for the last box. This will not matter, but note it needs to be something you can remember.



Next we come to the Subnet mask. Click the box, and it should fill it in automagically for you.



Good so far? Great. Next you need to default gateway that we saved. This is critical. Make sure it is what it was in the notes.



Now we move into the DNS Servers. Go ahead and copy them into the boxes.



Now simply click OK. Your connection will drop for a split second, as it is updating your internal IP Address. (For some people, external too.) Go back to the CMD and you will see that your IPv4 Address has changed. Congratulations! You have successfully made your IP Static.

2nd Step - Forwarding Ports

The moment you have all been waiting for. It is finally time to forward some ports to your router? "But how?" you tell me. Well, I'll show you just how. Let's get into it.

Remember that Default Gateway I had you right down, and remember how I said it is critical? It is. Very much so. Go to your URL Bar. Yes, URL bar, and paste it in.



Press enter, and you will see a little something like this.



I get a million questions a day asking, "What is my user and password?". This is mostly kids who don't know what they are doing. If you are one of those kids, go ahead and ASK your parents. If you don't have this information, you simply can't forward. Mine happens to be "user" as the username and "user" as the password.

Note: I am only going to show smaller pictures on the next part, as some of it is my private information.

You'll be taken to a side menu or top menu of your router. In this case, mine looks like this:



Everything is different for all routers. Don't get me wrong. Each router from different companies has a different interface. I am going to click advanced set up, and search for Virtual Servers. I know some routers call it Gaming & Applications, if I am correct.



Got it, got it. Good. On any router, you may see something looking similar to the following. You may see some ports automatically forwarded, like Skype. Completely normal.


Go ahead and click something similar to 'add'. You'll be taken to a page like this.



Click custom service, and name it whatever you want to forward. Like 'Minecraft'. Also, fill in the rest of your IP Address that it started for you. Don't click save just yet.


Remember how I said don't click save? Good. We need to forward some ports first. In this case, I am forwarding the Minecraft port. The port for a Minecraft server is 25565, and the protocol is TCP and UDP. Go ahead and fill the information in. Just like so:



You can forward for any program or server. Like Teamspeak, Mumble, Web hosting. Whatever really. You are now free to click save if you are certain you are finished.

If you see something similar this:



You are done :D That's right, did you hear what I said? DONE. You have successfully portforwarded ports to your router! Great job! Now you need to connect with the server, and if you do correctly, you have forwarded correctly.

If you have comments or questions regarding the topic, please feel free to say them. I will be happy to answer them :)

Regards!
~Beast