Opening ports on a TP-Link router

Routers from the well-known company TP-Link leave the factory assembly line in Shenzhen, China, configured by default and no additional ports are registered in this configuration. Therefore, if necessary, each user must independently open the ports on his network device. Why do you need to do this? And most importantly, how to perform this action on a TP-Link router?

Opening ports on the TP-Link router

The thing is that the average user of the World Wide Web not only surfs the web pages of various sites, but also plays online games, downloads torrent files, uses Internet telephony and VPN services. Many create their own websites and run a server on their personal computer. All these operations require additional open ports on the router, so you need to do the so-called port forwarding, that is, “port forwarding”. Let’s take a look at how this can be done on a TP-link router.

Port forwarding on a TP-Link router

An additional port is registered separately for each computer connected to your network. To do this, you need to get into the web interface of the router and make changes to the device configuration. This process should not cause insurmountable difficulties even for novice users.

 

  • In any Internet browser, enter the IP address of your router in the address bar. The default is 192.168.0.1or 192.168.1.1, then press the Enter key . If you have changed the IP address of the router, then you can check it using the methods described in another article on our website.
  • In the authentication window, we type in the appropriate fields the current username and password for accessing the web interface of the router. By factory settings, they are the same: admin. Click on the “OK” button or the Enter key .
  • In the web interface of the router that opens, in the left column we find the parameter “Forwarding” .
  • In the drop-down submenu, left-click on the column “Virtual servers” and then on the button “Add” .
  • In the line “Service port” we dial the number you need in the format XX or XX-XX. For example, 40. The field “Internal port” can be left blank.
  • In the column “IP address” we write the coordinates of the computer that will be accessed through this port.
  • In the “Protocol” field, select the value you need from the menu: all supported by the router, TCP or UDP.
  • Switch the “State” parameter to the “Enabled” position , if we want to immediately use the virtual server. Of course, you can turn it off at any time.
  • It is possible to select a standard service port depending on the future destination. DNS, FTP, HTTP, TELNET and more are available. In this case, the router will automatically set the recommended settings.
  • Now it remains only to save the changes made to the router configuration. Additional port is open!

Changing and deleting ports on a TP-Link router

During the operation of various services, the user may need to change or delete the port in the router settings. You can do this in the web interface of the router.

 

  • By analogy with the above method of port forwarding, we enter the IP address of the network device in the browser, press Enter , in the authorization window we type the login and password, on the main page of the web interface, select the item “Forwarding” , then “Virtual servers” .
  • If you need to change the configuration of the involved port of any service, click on the appropriate button, make and save corrections.
  • If you want to remove an additional port on the router, then tap on the “Delete” icon and erase the unnecessary virtual server.

 

In conclusion, I would like to draw your attention to one important detail. When adding new ports or modifying existing ones, be careful not to duplicate the same numbers. In this case, the settings will be saved, but no service will work.
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