When you use OpenELEC you may need to forward ports in your router. The purpose of forwarding ports is to make a direct connection from the internet to OpenELEC.
Routers generally do not allow incoming connection requests from the internet. Forwarding ports can work around this limitation.
Before You Forward a Port
Before forwarding a port make sure that you know these things:
- Your router's IP address.
- Your media server'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.
How to Locate Your Router's IP Address
The easiest way to locate your router's IP address is to run our free Router Detector utility. It is part of our Network Utilities suite of tools and is free for you to use it.
If you do not want to run the software, you can follow our Find Your Router IP Address guide.
Setting Up a Port Forward for OpenELEC
We have Network Utilities software that can forward ports for you. Our Network Utilities software allows you to add port forwards and also remove them when you no longer need them to maximize your network security.
Another option is to go through the process of forwarding ports one step at a time. The normal process for forwarding a port is:
- Begin by logging in to your router.
- Look for the port forwarding section in your router.
- Put your media server's IP address in the proper box in your router.
- It is now time to type the TCP and UDP ports that you are forwarding for OpenELEC 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 OpenELEC:
List of Routers - Customized for OpenELEC
Set Up a Port Forward for OpenELEC
The incoming ports that need to be forwarded for OpenELEC are:
OpenELEC - Default
- TCP: 1084, 1131, 1308, 8080, 9090
- UDP: 1900, 9777, 12374
That's all it takes to forward your ports for OpenELEC.
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