How to open and forward ports on your router

Earlier I wrote a post on how to configure a router for remote desktop, which went through the steps of logging into your wireless router and forwarding the appropriate ports.

I tried to go into as much detail as possible, but setting up port forwarding is still too technical for some people. So if you have trouble opening and forwarding ports on your router, here is a great solution.

Simple Port Forwarding is a free program that automates the entire process of forwarding ports on your router! The program is easy to use and works wonderfully well! The really cool thing about this program is that it has a huge database of over 600+ programs and games of known ports that you can simply choose without having to know the port numbers yourself.

Once you download the program run the SPF.exe file in the Simple Port Forwarding folder. The main interface will now load up. The first thing you want to do is click on the red refresh icon next to the Router IP box.

The program will automatically detect which network adapter has an IP address and will load up the information about it, such as your IP address, the subnet mask, and the default gateway. Click OK and the router IP address will be filled in for you.

Next, you are supposed to choose your router model in the Router combo box at the very top. However, before you do that, download the latest list of routers by going to Tools and then clicking on Update Databases (Routers and Ports).

Once the list is updated, find your router in the list. You may have to go flip over your router to see the exact model number. Another great thing is that the program has the default username and password for the routers already in the database, so if you have not changed it, you don’t have to worry about trying to find the password.

If you did change it, type in the username and password to access your router. Now that you have all that info typed in, click on the View/Remove Current Ports button at the bottom.

It automatically loads up a new window with the exact configuration page for port forwarding! You can either start adding port here or you can add them using the program. Close that window that just opened and click on the + button to the left of the Update Router button.

By default, it goes to the Custom tab where you can add a new port to forward. Or you can click on the Database tab and browse through the huge list of program and games that are already in the database. Remote Desktop is also included in this list.

Once you choose the program, you will see which ports have to be opened. Now click the Add button. You can then close that window and you will see the port has been added to the main window along with the IP address it is to be forwarded to.

Now just click on the Update Router button and that’s it! Your router will be configured with the new port forward settings you specified in the program! Pretty cool eh?

Overall, this is a great program and I was surprised that it had my router in the list because it’s a very new Linksys router. If you want a free tool to easily forward ports on your router, then this is the program for you! Enjoy!