How to Open a Port in Your Router for FileMaker Server 11

When you use FileMaker Server 11 you might need to forward some ports in your router. By forwarding ports you allow connection requests coming from the internet to be directed to FileMaker Server 11.

Routers generally do not allow incoming connection requests from the internet. Forwarding ports can work around this limitation.

Before you can forward a port you need to know the following things:

• Your router's internal IP address.
• Your computer's internal IP address.
• Each 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.

We have free Router Detector software to help you find your router's IP address. The software is part of our Network Utilities suite of tools and it is completely free to use.

You can also follow our Find Your Router IP Address article.

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.

Alternatively you can do it by hand. The process for forwarding a port is:

• Begin by logging in to your router.
• Locate the section in your router that deals with port forwarding.
• Put the IP address of your computer in the proper box in your router.
• Put the TCP and UDP ports that you are forwarding for FileMaker Server 11 in the correct boxes in your router.

You probably will need 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 FileMaker Server 11:

List of Routers - Customized for FileMaker Server 11

The ports that need to be forwarded for FileMaker Server 11 are listed here:

FileMaker Server 11 - PC

• TCP: 5003
• UDP: 5003

That's all it takes to forward your ports for FileMaker Server 11.

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