How to Create a Port Forward in Your Router for FileMaker Server Advanced 3

When you use FileMaker Server Advanced 3 you may need to forward ports in your router. The purpose of forwarding ports is to make a direct connection from the internet to FileMaker Server Advanced 3.

Routers are not designed to allow incoming network requests. Forwarding ports can work around this limitation.

Before forwarding a port make sure that you know these things:

• Your router's internal IP address.
• Your computer's IP address.
• The TCP and UDP ports that need to be forwarded.

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.

You can run our free Router Detector software to locate your router's IP address. The software is part of our Network Utilities suite of tools and it is 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.

We have Network Utilities software that can forward ports for you. Network Utilities lets you manage port forwards by putting them in when you need them and also removing the ones that you no longer need which maximized network security.

Port forwarding can also be set up step-by-step by hand. The process for forwarding a port is:

• Begin by logging in to your router.
• Locate your routers port forwarding section.
• Put your computer's IP address in the proper box in your router.
• Put the TCP and UDP ports for FileMaker Server Advanced 3 in the corresponding boxes in your router.

Some routers need to be rebooted in order for the changes to be saved.

You can choose your router from our list to see exactly how to forward ports for FileMaker Server Advanced 3:

List of Routers - Customized for FileMaker Server Advanced 3

The ports that need to be forwarded for FileMaker Server Advanced 3 are listed here:

FileMaker Server Advanced 3 - PC

• TCP: 5003
• UDP: 5003

That is the process required to forward ports in your router for FileMaker Server Advanced 3.

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