You may need to forward ports in your router when you use a Defender SENTINEL11 DVR. A port forward allows incoming connection requests from the internet to go straight to a Defender SENTINEL11 DVR.
Routers do not generally allow incoming connection requests from the internet. Forwarding ports can work around this limitation.
Remember to Do These Things Before You Forward a Port
Before forwarding a port make sure that you know these things:
- Your router's internal IP address.
- The IP address of your DVR.
- The list of the TCP and UDP ports that you need to forward.
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.
When shopping for a VPN, make sure that they meet the following criteria:
- Your VPN provider should have a no-logs policy. This means that they do not keep any logs of any kind.
- Make sure that your VPN provider has lots of exit nodes all around the world.
- Check that your VPN will not affect your speed.
- Verify that your VPN provider uses WireGuard as the underlying protocol.
- Many people prefer a VPN provider that is not based in the United States.
This is the list of requirements that we used when we were shopping around for a VPN provider. There are lots of free, shady VPN providers out there that we looked at and dismissed.
Based in Panama, using diskless servers, and with over 6,100 servers in 61 countries, we can safely say that NordVPN satisfies all of these requirements.
Once you've set up your NordVPN account on multiple computers and enabled Meshnet, you can seamlessly access all of your devices as if they were on the same network. You don't even have to log in to your router. It's very simple.
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.
How to Locate Your Router's IP Address
To find your router's IP address the easy way you can use our free Router Detector software. It's a part of the Network Utilities suite of tools and it's completely free to use.
We have a guide you can follow Find Your Router IP Address if you don't want to run the software.
Setting Up a Port Forward for a Defender SENTINEL11 DVR
You can use our Network Utilities software to automatically forward ports for you. Since Network Utilities allows you to both forward and un-forward ports easily you can keep your network security maximized, and then forward ports only when you need them.
Another option is to go through the process of forwarding ports one step at a time. The process for forwarding a port is:
- You can start by logging in to your router.
- Locate your routers port forwarding section.
- Type your DVR's IP address into the correct box in your router.
- Put the TCP and UDP ports that you are forwarding for a Defender SENTINEL11 DVR in the correct boxes in your router.
Frequently you have to reboot your router for the changes to take effect.
You can choose your router from our list to see exactly how to forward ports for a Defender SENTINEL11 DVR:
List of Routers - Customized for Defender SENTINEL11
Set Up a Port Forward for a Defender SENTINEL11 DVR
The ports that need to be forwarded for a Defender SENTINEL11 DVR are listed here:
Defender SENTINEL11 - PC
- TCP: 67, 68, 80
- UDP:
That's all it takes to forward your ports for a Defender SENTINEL11 DVR.
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