Linksys EA8500 routers include a very basic firewall that helps protect your home network form unwanted access from the internet. Since this firewall blocks incoming connections you may need open a port through it for certain games and applications. This process of opening a port is frequently called a port forward, since you are forwarding a port from the internet to your home network.
The basic process to open a port is:
- Setup a static IP address on either your computer or device that you want to forward a port to.
- Login to your Linksys EA8500 router.
- Navigate to the port forwarding section.
- Click the Security link.
- Click the Apps and Gaming link.
- Click the Port Range Forwarding or the Single Port Forwarding button to forward ports.
- Create a port forward entry.
While these steps might seem difficult at first, we will walk you through each step for your Linksys EA8500 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.
When you use Network Utilities you get your port forwarded right now!
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
Now we are going to login to your Linksys EA8500 router. Your router has a web interface, so you will login to it using your web browser. This can be either Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Edge. It usually does not matter which browser you choose to use.
Open up your web browser and find the address bar. It should look something 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 Linksys EA8500 IP Address is: 192.168.1.1
After entering the IP address of your router you can simply press enter. If all goes well you will see the following screen:
You should see a box prompting you for your username and password.
- The Default Linksys EA8500 Router Username is: created in initial setup
- The Default Linksys EA8500 Router Password is: created in initial setup
Enter your username and password, and then click the Login button to log in to your Linksys EA8500 router.
Linksys Usernames and Passwords
If your username and password do not work then please visit our Default Linksys Router Passwords page.
If you still can't login to your router because you forgot your Linksys EA8500 router username and password, use our How to Reset a Router Password guide to set your Linksys EA8500 router back to its factory settings.
Step 3
Now we need to find the port forwarding section in your router. Here's how you do it. Starting from the first page in your router:
Click the Security link near the left of the page.
Click the Apps and Gaming link near the center of the page.
This router has two different sections that allow you to forward ports. One section allows you to forward a range of ports, and the other allows you to forward a single port. To forward a range of ports, click Port Range Forwarding. To forward a single port, click Single Port Forwarding.
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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Forwarding a Single Port
Click the Add a new Single Port Forwarding button.
You need to name this entry in the Application Name box. The name does not make any difference in the forward; it's just there so that you can remember later why you setup this forward.
Enter the port to forward into both the External Port and the Internal Port boxes.
In the Protocol box select the protocol that you want to forward these ports over.
Enter the IP address that you want to forward these ports to into the Device IP# box. Note that if you are forwarding ports so you can run a program on a device other than your computer then you can enter your device's IP address into that box instead.
Put a checkmark in the Enabled checkbox.
When you are finished, click the Save button.
Forwarding a Port Range
Click the Add a new Port Range Forwarding button.
Enter the name of the program into the Application Name box. It doesn't really matter what you put into this box, but something that will remind you why these ports are being forwarded is be a good idea.
If you are only forwarding a single port number then enter that number into both the Start Port and the End Port boxes. If you are forwarding a range of ports separated by a hyphen then enter the lowest number of that range into the Start Port box and the highest number of that range into the End Port box.
The protocol that you want to forward is selected from the Protocol box.
You need to enter the IP address that you are forwarding ports to in the Device IP# box. It's possible for this to be either the IP address of your computer or any other IP address on your network that you want ports forwarded to.
Put a checkmark in the Enabled checkbox.
When you are all done click the Save button.
When you're finished, click Ok near the bottom of the screen to save your changes.
Test if Your Ports are Open
Now that you have forwarded ports on the Linksys EA8500 you should test to see if your ports are forwarded correctly.
To test if your port has been properly forwarded, you can use our Network Utilities tool, which includes a free Open Port Checker. Our Open Port Check tool is the only online port checking tool with Guaranteed Results.
