Linksys WRT54GS Router Open Port Guide

This Linksys WRT54GS router includes a very basic firewall that helps protect your home network from 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.

In this guide I will show you how to port forward on the Linksys WRT54GS router. This guide covers how to:

setup a static IP address on the device you plan on forwarding these ports to.
login to the Linksys WRT54GS router web interface.
find the port forwarding page in the router's web interface.
setup a port forward for the online game or program of your choice.

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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.

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TIP: Write this address down and keep it for later use.

Step 2

It is now time to login to the Linksys WRT54GSrouter. This router uses a web interface which means you ned to use a web browser. It normally doesn't matter which browser you decide to use, simply pick your favorite such as Internet Explorer, Chrome, or Firefox.

Open up your web browser and find the address bar. It should look something like this:

Image of a browser address bar — Browser address bar

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 WRT54GS IP Address is: 192.168.1.1

After entering the IP address of your router you can simply press the Enter key. If all goes well you will see the following screen:

Screenshot of Linksys WRT54GSv4_-_Gargoyle.

You should see a box prompting you for your username and password. If you do not, it may be that the incorrect IP address was entered. Use our How To Find Your Router's IP Address guide to figure out what is currently is.

The Default Linksys WRT54GS Router Username is: admin
The Default Linksys WRT54GS Router Password is: password

Enter your username and password, and then click the Login button to log in to your Linksys WRT54GSrouter.

Having Trouble?

This is a pretty common place to get stuck. If you find yourself here, don't panic, there are a few things you can try:

First, check all the different Linksys default combinations. Here is our list of all known Default Linksys Router Passwords.

Second, try and guess what the password/username was changed to. Use our Find Password App to make this step easier.

Finally, if you still are stuck after trying both of the above options, it may be time to consider a factory reset for the Linksys WRT54GSrouter. Learn more about this option on the How to Reset a Router page.

Step 3

Now we need to find the port forwarding section in your router. Here's how you do it. Starting from the Status page of your router:

First, click the Firewall option in the left sidebar.

You should now see a new menu. Click the option of Port Forwarding.

Screenshot of Linksys WRT54GSv4_-_Gargoyle port forward.

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

Put a name for this forward in the Application Name box so that you can remember why you set this forward up. The name does not matter so pick something that has meaning to you.

Enter the same port number to be forwarded into the External Port and the Internal Port boxes.

Use the Protocol dropdown box to select the protocol type of the ports you are forwarding.

Enter the IP address that you want to forward these ports to into the To IP IP Address 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.

Verify that you have the Enabled checkbox checked.

Forwarding a Port Range

Create a name for this forward and put it in the Application Name box. The name is only used as a reminder and has no effect on the port forward.

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 To IP Address 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.

In the Enabled checkbox put a checkmark.

Test if Your Ports are Open

Now that you have forwarded ports on the Linksys WRT54GSyou 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.