Your BT Home Hub router includes a basic firewall that helps protect your local home network from unwanted access from the Internet. Firewalls are designed to block connections, both incoming and outgoing. Sometimes it becomes necessary to unblock some of these connections for certain games or applications. This is called a port forward or open port. In this guide we will be explaining how to create an open port for the BT Home Hub router.
The basic process to open a port is:
- Setup a Static IP Address on your computer or device that you want to forward a port to.
- Login to your BT Home Hub router.
- Find your way to the port forwarding section.
- Click the Advanced link.
- Click the Continue to Advanced link.
- Click on Application Sharing.
- Click the click here link.
- Enter a name in the Name box.
- Click the Manual Entry of Port Maps radio button.
- Click the Next button.
- Finally, create a port forward or open port.
This may sound difficult but we will be walking you through each step of how to port forward the BT Home Hub router.
We think that forwarding a port should be easy. That's why we created Network Utilities. Our software does everything that you need to forward a port.
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Step 1
It is important to setup a static ip address in the device that you are forwarding a port to. This ensures that your ports will remain open even after your device reboots.
- Recommended - Our free Static IP Setter will set up a static IP address for you.
- Another way to get a permanent IP address is to set up a DHCP reservation.
- Or, manually create a static ip address with our Static IP Guides.
This step is important because you want a permanent IP address in your device. If you do not set up a permanent IP address in your device, then when you device reboots it may get a new IP address.
Use a VPN Instead
Have you considered using a VPN instead of forwarding a port? For most users, a VPN is a much simpler and more secure choice than forwarding a port.
We use and recommend NordVPN because not only is it the fastest VPN, it includes a new feature called Meshnet that makes forwarding a port no longer necessary for most applications. With NordVPN Meshnet, you can connect to your devices from anywhere in the world, completely secure, over a highly encrypted VPN tunnel.
Every time you click on one of our affiliate links, such as NordVPN, we get a little kickback for introducing you to the service. Think of us as your VPN wingman.
Step 2
Let's login to the BT Home Hub router. These routers have a web interface which means you need to login using a web browser. It does not matter what browser you decide to use so just open up your favorite such as Chrome, Internet Explorer, or Firefox.
After the browser of your choice is open, find the address bar. It looks like this:
Above is an example of what a web browser address bar looks like. Find the address bar in your router and type in your router's IP address.
The default BT Home Hub IP Address is: 192.168.1.254 Once you have finished entering in the router's IP Address, click the Enter button on your keyboard. The box you see below should now appear on your computer screen.
Do you see a box asking for your username and password?
- The Default BT Home Hub Router Username is: admin
- The Default BT Home Hub Router Password is: admin
Go ahead and enter your username and password for the BT Home Hub router. Then click the OK button to login to the web interface.
BT Usernames and Passwords
If the username and password you just used to access the BT Home Hub router didn't work, please try some other common BT router usernames and passwords. Get a list of these on our Default BT Router Passwords page.
If none of those usernames and passwords worked then it is likely you changed your BT Home Hub router username and/or password and have forgotten. It may be time to consider a router reset. Follow our How to Reset a Router guide to learn more.
Step 3
After a successful login to the BT Home Hub router you need to locate the port forwarding section. Let's start from the first page in your router.
Click the Advanced option in the left sidebar.
You'll need to confirm you really meant to click Advanced. Click the Continue to Advanced option near the center of the page.
At this point to the menu on the left changes. Select the new option of Application Sharing.
In the second paragraph under Assigned Games & Applications click the words click here so you can create a custom application or game.
In the space labeled Name enter the name of the program or game. It doesn't really matter what you enter in this box. Just make it something that will remind you why you are forwarding these ports.
Under that mark the radio button labeled Manual Entry of Port Maps.
Click the Next button.
Step 4
Here are the ports to forward for Xbox Live:
- TCP Ports: 3074
- UDP Ports: 3074
If you are looking for the ports for a different application you can find it by either:
- Browsing our List of Games
- Check out our our List of Games by Genre
- See our List of all Applications
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Select the required protocol for these ports from the Protocol dropdown box.
If you are forwarding a single port, enter that port number into the top Translate To, Port Range and the bottom Port Range boxes. If you are forwarding a range of ports, enter the lowest number of that range into the top Translate To, Port Range box. Then enter the highest number of that range into the bottom Port Range box.
Click the Add button when you are finished.
Click the Apply at the top of the page.
This adds the application to the list on the above page. First, select the correct application from the Game or Application drop down list. Then, use the Device drop down menu to choose the device you are forwarding these ports for. If that device does not appear in this drop down it means it's not visible on your network right now. Click the user defined option and enter the Static IP Address you setup in Step 1.
When you are happy with what you have chosen from these two drop downs, click the Add button on the right side of the page to enable this port forward.
That's it, you are finished.
Test if Your Ports are Open
After a port forward has been completed it is always a good idea to test it and see if it was done correctly.
In order to do this we recommend using our Network Utilities tool, which includes a free Open Port Checker. This Port Checker is the only one online that has Guaranteed Results.
Other Guides You May Like
- What are some Alternatives to Port Forwarding?
- Here is a list of All games and applications in our database.
- Check out our large selection of Router Screenshots.
