Forward Ports on Your Router for ZyXEL NSA221

You might need to forward some ports in your router when you use a ZyXEL NSA221 device. Forwarding ports is used to allow incoming connection requests from the internet to a ZyXEL NSA221 device.

By default routers do not allow incoming network requests. A port forward can overcome this limitation.

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

• The IP address of your router.
• The internal IP address of your NAS.
• 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. It is part of our Network Utilities suite of tools and is free for you to use it.

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

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.

You can also choose to set up port forwards manually. The normal process for forwarding a port is:

• Log in to your router.
• Look for the port forwarding section in your router.
• Type your NAS's IP address into the correct box in your router.
• Enter the TCP and UDP ports that you need to forward for a ZyXEL NSA221 device in the corresponding boxes in your router.

Usually you have to reboot your router in order to save the changes.

You can choose your router from our list to see exactly how to forward ports for a ZyXEL NSA221 device:

List of Routers - Customized for ZyXEL NSA221

The ports that need to be forwarded for a ZyXEL NSA221 device are listed here:

ZyXEL NSA221 - PC

• TCP: 21, 80, 445, 3999, 8082, 9090
• UDP: 21, 80, 445, 3999, 8082, 9090

That is the process required to forward ports in your router for a ZyXEL NSA221 device.

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