How to Open a Port in Your Router for WireGuard

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Port Forward Staff
June 02, 2022 (Last Updated: ) | Reading Time: 1 minutes
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You might need to forward some ports in your router when you use WireGuard. A port forward allows incoming connection requests from the internet to go straight to WireGuard.

By default routers do not allow incoming network requests. Forwarding ports can work around this limitation.

Before Forwarding a Port Checkoff This To Do List

Before forwarding a port make sure that you know these things:

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:

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.

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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

We have free Router Detector software to help you find your router's IP address. It is part of our Network Utilities suite of tools and is free for you to use it.

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

Setting Up a Port Forward for WireGuard

We have Network Utilities software that can forward ports for you. With Network Utilities, you can easily forward ports and also un-forward ports quickly so that you can keep your network up to date with the ports that you need forwarded and 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:

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 WireGuard:

List of Routers - Customized for WireGuard

Setting Up a Port Forward for WireGuard

The incoming ports that need to be forwarded for WireGuard are:

WireGuard - PC

  • TCP:
  • UDP: 51820

Those are the steps for forwarding ports in your router for WireGuard.

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