Simple TP-Link Archer C5400X Router Port Forwarding Steps

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Port Forward Staff
October 08, 2019 (Last Updated: ) | Reading Time: 5 minutes

A TP-Link Archer C5400X router protects your home network by blocking unwanted incoming internet connections and acting as a basic firewall. Sometimes you need to open a port in your router in order to get a good connection for a game or to use a specific device on your network. The Archer C5400X lets you choose the applications that are allowed to connect through an open port. By opening a port in your router you allow a specific application or game to send data from the internet to your home network.

In order to open ports in your TP-Link Archer C5400X router, you need to:

  1. Set up a static IP address on the computer or device that you are forwarding ports to.
  2. Go ahead and log in to your TP-Link Archer C5400X router.
  3. In your TP-Link Archer C5400X router, navigate to the Virtual Servers section.
    • Click on the Advanced tab, which is at the top of the screen.
    • Click on the NAT Forwarding tab, which is at the left of the screen.
    • Click on Virtual Servers.
  4. Create a Virtual Server entry.

The process of opening ports in your router may seem like a difficult task. If so, you are not alone! We are here to help walk you through the steps to open a port in the TP-Link Archer C5400X router.

We think that forwarding a port should be easy. That's why we created Network Utilities. Our software does everything that you need to forward a port.

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When you use Network Utilities you get your port forwarded right now!

Setup A Static IP Address

In order to ensure that your ports remain open in your device even after it reboots, it is important to set up a static IP address in your device.

After setting up a static ip address on your devices you need to login to your router.

Login To Your TP-Link Router

In order to login to the TP-Link Archer C5400X router you need to use a web browser. The TP-Link Archer C5400X router uses what is called a web interface where you can access and control router settings.

Go ahead and open up your favorite web browser. If you don't have a favorite or are not sure what this means, open up Chrome, Firefox, or Edge.

If this step is confusing, we have simplified it for you with this link: Login to your Archer C5400X Router

Find the address bar once you have opened up a web browser. This is usually located at the top of the page, like in the image below.

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 web browser and type in your router's IP address.

The TP-Link Archer C5400X router's default IP address is: 192.168.0.1

Enter your router's IP address into the address bar of your browser and click the enter button on your keyboard. A box like the one below should appear.

Basic Authentication

Go ahead and enter the username and password for the TP-Link Archer C5400X router in the spaces available. Remember if you have changed them in the past, you need to enter those values.

Enter your username and password, and then click the Log In button to log in to your TP-Link Archer C5400X router.

TP-Link Usernames and Passwords

If the username and password did not work I recommend checking out our Default TP-Link Router Passwords page.

If, after trying the above list of passwords you still can't login you may need to consider a reset for your router. Learn how to do that by reading our How to Reset a Router guide. After resetting the TP-Link Archer C5400X router your username and password are reverted back to factory defaults.

Find the Port Forwarding Section

After successfully logging in to your TP-Link Archer C5400X router you should see the router's home page on your screen. Find the Virtual Servers section of your router.

home
This is the home page from your TP-Link Archer C5400X router.

You are now on the Virtual Servers page.

port forwarding
This is the port forwarding page from your TP-Link Archer C5400X router.

Create A Port Forward

Opening a port to a specific device may solve problems that you are having on your network. Make sure that it is necessary though, before opening a port, because you are effectively creating a pinhole in the firewall portion of your router that could lead to malicious traffic on your network. The risk is exceedingly low, though, so don't let this warning stop you from making this change if you need it.

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:

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  1. Click on the Add button.

  2. In the Service Type box, type in a name for this forward. This will serve as a reminder to you in the future as to why this forward was set up, so give it a name that makes sense to you.

  3. The External Port box accepts either a single number or a range of numbers. If you are forwarding a single port number, then enter that port number into the External Port box. If you are forwarding a range of ports such as 1000-2000, then you can enter the lowest number of that range into the External Port box, followed by a hyphen, followed by the largest number.

  4. Go ahead and enter the IP address that you are forwarding ports to into the Internal IP box. It is possible for this to be either the IP address of your computer or of any other device on your network that you want ports forwarded to.

  5. Leave Internal Port blank.

  6. Select the protocol type of the ports that you are forwarding from the Protocol dropdown box. If your router has the option of Both, then go ahead and select that. Otherwise, select either TCP or UDP as needed. If you need to forward a port for both TCP and UDP, but your router does not have Both, then you will need to create two entries.

  7. Put a check in the box marked Enable This Entry.

  8. When you are completely finished, click the OK button at the bottom of the page to apply these changes.

Test Your Ports To See If They Are Open

Use our Network Utilities software, (which includes a free Open Port Checker tool) to test your network to see if you have forwarded ports in the TP-Link Archer C5400X router correctly. Open Port Checker is the only online port checking tool that has Guaranteed Results.

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