Port Forwarding on Your Router for Hotline Server

You might need to forward some ports in your router when you use Hotline Server. Forwarding ports is used to allow incoming connection requests from the internet to Hotline Server.

Routers do not generally allow incoming connection requests from the internet. A port forward can overcome this limitation.

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

• The IP address of your router.
• The internal IP address of your computer.
• 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.

To find your router's IP address the easy way you can use our free Router Detector software. The software is part of our Network Utilities suite of tools and it is completely free to use.

If you do not want to run the software, you can follow our Find Your Router IP Address guide.

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 way to forward a port is:

• Log in to your router.
• Locate your routers port forwarding section.
• Type the IP address of your computer into the correct box in your router.
• It is now time to type the TCP and UDP ports that you are forwarding for Hotline Server 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 Hotline Server:

List of Routers - Customized for Hotline Server

Here is a list of the ports that need to be forwarded for Hotline Server:

Hotline Server - PC

• TCP: 5500-5503
• UDP: 5499

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

Don't forget to sign up for NordVPN's promo deal before it's gone.