TP-Link TD-W8961N Router Port Forwarding Guide

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Port Forward Staff
September 05, 2017 (Last Updated: ) | Reading Time: 4 minutes

Your TP-Link TD-W8961N router has a basic firewall that helps protect your home network from unwanted Internet activity. The firewall works by blocking all connections that are not authorized by the router. Since the firewall does block connections like this it may become necessary to open additional ports or connections to allow for a better online gaming experience. This process of opening ports is normally called a port forward.

In this guide I will be showing you how to properly port forward on the TP-Link TD-W8961N router. I will cover how to:

  1. Setup a static IP address on your computer or device that you want to forward a port to.
  2. Login to your TP-Link TD-W8961N router.
  3. Navigate to the port forwarding section.
  4. Create a port forward entry.

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Step 1

It is important to setup a static ip address in the device that you are forwarding a port to. This ensures that your ports will remain open even after your device reboots.

This step is important because you want a permanent IP address in your device. If you do not set up a permanent IP address in your device, then when you device reboots it may get a new IP address.

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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.

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Step 2

Now we are going to login to your TP-Link TD-W8961N router. Your router has a web interface, so you will login to it using your web browser. This can be either Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Edge. It usually does not matter which browser you choose to use.

Open up your web browser and find the address bar. It should look something like this:

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 router and type in your router's IP address.

The default TP-Link TD-W8961N IP Address is: 192.168.1.1

After entering the IP address of your router you can simply press enter. If all goes well you will see the following screen:

TP-Link TD-W8961N Login
Screenshot of TP-Link TD-W8961N Login.

You should see a box prompting you for your username and password.

If a login screen did not appear after you entered the router's IP address in the address bar, you need to find out what the router's IP address has been changed to. I recommend following the directions on the How To Find Your Router's IP Address page.

Enter your username and password, and then press the orange Login button to log in to your TP-Link TD-W8961N router.

TP-Link Usernames and Passwords

If your username and password do not work then please visit our Default TP-Link Router Passwords page.

Second, try and guess what the password/username was changed to. Use our Find Password App to make this step easier.

If you still can't login to your router because you forgot your TP-Link TD-W8961N router username and password, use our How to Reset a Router Password guide to set your TP-Link TD-W8961N router back to its factory settings.

Step 3

Now we need to find the port forwarding section in your router. We begin on the Status page:

TP-Link TD-W8961N Device Info
Screenshot of TP-Link TD-W8961N Device Info.

Begin by clicking the Advanced Setup link at the top of the page.

TP-Link TD-W8961N Firewall
Screenshot of TP-Link TD-W8961N Firewall.

Below that is a new menu, click the NAT option.

TP-Link TD-W8961N NAT
Screenshot of TP-Link TD-W8961N NAT.

You should now see the page above. Click the Virtual Server option in the center section of the page.

TP-Link TD-W8961N Virtual Server
Screenshot of TP-Link TD-W8961N Virtual Server.

Step 4

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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In the Rule Index dropdown box select an empty rule.

Make up a name to put in the Application box. The name does not have any effect on the functionality of the forward, it's simply there so you can know why it was created.

The protocol that you want to forward is selected from the Protocol box.

If you are forwarding a range of ports separated by a hyphen then enter the lowest number of that range into the Start Port Number box and the highest number of that range into the End Port Number box. If you are only forwarding a single port number then enter that number into both the Start Port Number and the End Port Number boxes.

Enter the IP address of the device that you want to forward ports to into the Local IP Address box. This can be either the IP address of your computer or the IP address of another device on your network.

When you are done click the Save button.

Your ports should now be open. It is time to test them.

Test if Your Ports are Open

Now that you have forwarded ports on the TP-Link TD-W8961N you should test to see if your ports are forwarded correctly.

To test if your port has been properly forwarded, you can use our Network Utilities tool, which includes a free Open Port Checker. Our Open Port Check tool is the only online port checking tool with Guaranteed Results.

More Info...

Check out our other guides here. We have a growing list of free gaming, networking, and software guides here at portforward.com.

Our other site setuprouter.com can help you setup a secure home network with your exact router.

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