Create a Port Forward for rTorrent in your Router

When you use rTorrent you may need to forward ports in your router. Forwarding ports is used to allow incoming connection requests from the internet to rTorrent.

Routers are not designed to allow incoming network requests. By forwarding a port you can overcome this limitation.

Make sure that you know these things before forwarding a port:

• The IP address of your router.
• Your download client's IP address.
• The TCP and UDP ports that need to be forwarded.

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.

We have free Router Detector software to help you find your router's IP address. Our Router Detector tool is free to use and is part of our Network Utilities software.

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

A smart way to forward your ports is to use Network Utilities. 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.

Port forwarding can also be set up step-by-step by hand. The process for forwarding a port is:

• Start by logging in to your router.
• Look for the port forwarding section in your router.
• Put your download client's IP address in the proper box in your router.
• Put the TCP and UDP ports for rTorrent 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 rTorrent:

List of Routers - Customized for rTorrent

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

rTorrent - PC

• TCP: 50000
• UDP:

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

Are you using a VPN with your torrent client? If not, you really should be. A VPN solves many of the issues surrounding torrents, including:

• A VPN hides your identity from other torrenters and from your ISP.
• A VPN increases your torrent download speeds by preventing your ISP from throttling your download speeds.
• A VPN allows you to improve your seed ratio by allowing incoming connections to your torrent client.

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.

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