When you use a QNAP TS-212 device you may need to forward ports in your router. A port forward allows incoming connection requests from the internet to go straight to a QNAP TS-212 device.
Routers do not generally allow incoming connection requests from the internet. By forwarding a port you can overcome this limitation.
Remember to Do These Things Before You Forward a Port
Make sure that you know these things before forwarding a port:
- The IP address of your router.
- Your NAS's 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
You can run our free Router Detector software to locate your router's IP address. Our Router Detector tool is free to use and is part of our Network Utilities software.
Otherwise, you can follow our guide Find Your Router IP Address.
Forwarding a Port for a QNAP TS-212 device
The easiest way to forward your ports is to use our Network Utilities software. 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.
Another option is to go through the process of forwarding ports one step at a time. The normal process for forwarding a port is:
- Log in to your router.
- Locate your routers port forwarding section.
- Type the IP address of your NAS into the correct box in your router.
- Enter the TCP and UDP ports that you need to forward for a QNAP TS-212 device in the corresponding 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 a QNAP TS-212 device:
List of Routers - Customized for QNAP TS-212
Setting Up a Port Forward for a QNAP TS-212 device
The incoming ports that need to be forwarded for a QNAP TS-212 device are:
QNAP TS-212 - PC
- TCP: 21-22, 25, 80, 443, 445, 873, 3306, 6881-6999, 8080, 9000, 13131, 55536-56559
- UDP: 6881-6999
That's all it takes to forward your ports for a QNAP TS-212 device.
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