While it is true, many of the connection problems that are obtained when using a particular application on the network, are associated with the router ports . Since, although many are open, many others remain closed for security reasons.
In this sense, to make any software or application communicate via the Internet, it will be necessary to open one or more ports to send data and receive it .
Therefore, it is necessary to know everything about the fact of opening these ports correctly, which are and the steps to follow to do it.
Index:
What are the ports of a router and what do they need? open?
Basically, the ports of a router consist of the “virtual gates” or interfaces used by any computer connected to a network, to facilitate the entry and exit of data satisfactorily . In this sense, they work as a kind of doors that you can start or close in order to allow the passage of information that is transferred between a network and a computer.
For its part, to understand a little the need to open these ports, it is valuable to explain that when you connect to the Internet, all the applications you use redirect your traffic through these interfaces and while some, by default, are open ; the truth is that most of them are closed by security hot springs .
In this sense, to allow some applications or games that are not common to connect to the network without any problem, it is required to open the ports of a router . Which, in short, will be the same as telling that router that all traffic that arrives through them, is automatically forwarded to the IP of the computer that is requesting the information in question.
What are all the ports of a WiFi router and for what Does each one serve?
Now, it is also important to know what all the ports of a router are and of course, what functions they fulfill around satisfying the needs of Internet users.
But, for starters, we emphasize that there are two types technically , from which a large number of specific WiFi router ports are derived.
These are the TCP and UTP ports we define, below:
- TCP ports : This is the acronym “Transmission Control Protocol” which means “Transmission Control Protocol” and is a record that provides remarkable flexibility with regarding host to host connections . As well as data transmission simultaneously in both directions, error verification and security. Which, have a main objective that is based on preventing the upper layers or applications from performing tasks, so it frees the system from so much load.
- UPD ports : These are used by the TCP protocol and are defined as a simple data transmission protocol that does not add verifications and therefore, they must be executed by the same applications. However, even so, it’s very fast.
Bounded above, let’s start the listings with each of the existing ports , classified according to their category and indicating to which type of technical port they belong:
Active Worlds
Hotline Server
Messenger (Microsoft)
AIM Talk
Delta Three Pc to Phone
Calista IP Phone
Internet Phone
Dwyco Video Conferencing
Ivisit
Emule / Edonkey
Laplink Host
Lotus Notes Server
NetMeeting
Napster
mIRC
pcANYWERE network host
PeopleCall
NTP (Network Time Protocol)
On the other hand, you can also distinguish the ranges into which all the ports of a router are divided.
Taking into account that, there are three in total and are defined as:
- Well-known ports : In general, they are virtual doors that remain open and are from 0 to 1023. In this way, they are based on those assigned to the operating systems and their services , as well as common communication protocols (such as HTTP).
- Registered ports : They comprise a range between ports 1024 and 49151, refer to those that are used by applications and games for users and normally, are automatically configured during the installation of such applications or games.
- Private or dynamic ports : These contain ports between 49152 and 65535 and as the name implies, they are dynamically assigned to client applications whenever they need to connect to a server specifically. A clear example of this, are P2P clients .
Steps to open the ports of a router correctly easy and fast
It should be noted that, depending on the user interface of each router and the differences between these devices of the same brand, it is complicated to cover all the steps to execute to open the ports of A WiFi router, in detail. Reason why, we will not be able to show you 100% of the router settings.
However, ignoring some distinctions of the identification of each section in the menus and some other less relevant details, the vast majority of these devices coincide in various aspects . So, below, we detail the most important clues to carry out a proper configuration in order to open the ports of your router successfully:
Access the configuration interface of your router span>
The first thing you have to do is access the configuration interface of your WiFi device and after that, you have to enter the “Port Forwarding” , “NAT” or “Advanced Options” of the router in question.
Complete the information boxes
Once you access the section indicated above, you will find several boxes that you must fill in depending on the data of the ports you want to open , the protocol you are going to use and also the IP of the device to which the data should be sent.
It is very important to note that, the number and type of data may vary and will depend entirely on the router you are about to configure .
Highlighting that, in general, the most common types of information that will fluctuate are:
Name
At this point, you have to indicate the application that is making use of the port settings . Which will be extremely useful to identify the use that is being given to the port in question in the future.
In this sense, in certain cases, a list of applications and games that pre-configure the rest of the fields will be displayed correctly, once the selections .
LAN IP address
Orders to which destination device the data that access the port being used should be redirected. It is important that you enter the IP address of that device in which the particular application will be entered.
WAN IP address
At this point, you will have to enter the address from which the information will be redirected and usually corresponds to the router’s IP address .
Initial WAN Port
Here you will have to specify the port number you have to open . Taking into account that, you can only open a port for the application you are going to use or even, they offer you the possibility of opening a range of ports and in the latter case, you have to indicate the one of that range in the first place. P >
WAN Port Final
Yes, you are only going to open a port, in this section you have to indicate the same port as the initial one. But, if it’s a range of ports, you have to specify the last port in the range , basically.
Initial and Final LAN Port
At both points, the same data is used as in the WAN configuration .
TCP / UDP protocol
This information must be indicated by the application or services required to open the ports, as well as the port number you must open. Bearing in mind that, the difference between TCP and UDP is the mode of transmission of information , as we explained in the previous section of the post.
Save the router configuration
Finally, when you enter all this data, you will have to proceed to save the new router configuration and as a recommendation, it is very important that you also restart it. After that, you can check if the port has opened correctly.
How to check if the port was opened successfully ?
Once you have done the detailed procedure, it is helpful to verify or confirm that the configuration was successful and for this, you have to perform some steps on your Windows PC or Mac computer. p>
What you have to do in Windows:
To confirm this action, you have to execute a command at the Windows command prompt. Thus, press the “Win + X” keyboard shortcut and select “Command Prompt (administrator)” from the menu that is displayed.
After completing the above, type the command “netstat – an” and press Enter to execute it. With which, you will see a list that lists all the ports to which the equipment has access and of course, details the protocol you are using.
So, you just have to look for the port you just opened to verify that it is open and also that the configuration is correct with respect to the protocol and the IP address in question.
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The steps to follow in MacOS:
For Mac users, this check is much simpler. Since, you just have to enter the “Network Utility” , then click on “Port Scan” . Finally, you must enter your IP address and click on “Browse” to verify the correct settings. It’s all.