How to Create a Port Forward in Your Router for SmartSDR

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

Routers are not designed to allow incoming network requests. By forwarding ports you can work around this limitation.

You need to know the following things before you can forward a port:

• The internal IP address of your router.
• Your computer's internal 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.

To find your router's IP address the easy way you can use our free Router Detector software. Our Router Detector tool is free to use and is part of our Network Utilities software.

You can also follow our Find Your Router IP Address article.

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 way to forward a port is:

• Log in to your router.
• Look for the port forwarding section in your router.
• Type the IP address of your computer into the correct box in your router.
• Put the TCP and UDP ports that you are forwarding for SmartSDR in the correct boxes in your router.

Some routers need to be rebooted in order for the changes to be saved.

You can choose your router from our list to see exactly how to forward ports for SmartSDR:

List of Routers - Customized for SmartSDR

The following ports need to be forwarded for SmartSDR:

SmartSDR - PC

• TCP: 4994
• UDP: 4993

That is the process required to forward ports in your router for SmartSDR.

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