3DS Port Forwarding – A beginner’s guide

The handheld gaming console by Nintendo was first introduced in 2011 in Japan. Since then, the 3DS consoles went on to become one of the most successful releases by Nintendo with over 76 million units sold worldwide. 

It incorporates elements of 3D visualizations along with the ability to easily download games. But if specific ports for the 3DS console are not forwarded, you might have difficulty connecting to gaming servers at times.

This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about 3DS Port Forwarding.

What is 3DS Port Forwarding

If you are a beginner, 3DS Port Forwarding can be somewhat confusing. However, the primary goal for Port Forwarding is pretty simple. You are basically allowing external devices to access your network. That’s about it. 

To elaborate, Port Forwarding allows data to travel in and out of your local network in a way that it reaches devices external to the said network. Services of various kinds are mapped to specific ports on your device. These ports, once forwarded, can help to communicate with external sources such as gaming servers.

Is Port Forwarding necessary for the 3DS console

An external server’s connection requests are being struck down by the firewall – that may be the source of your connectivity issues. A router’s firewall would reject any access requests from external servers that are not already specified for the said system.

Thus, Port Forwarding the 3DS console opens up specific pathways to help said servers access your device. It is frequently used by gamers to improve connectivity and reduce lag.

What do you need for Port Forwarding 3DS

All that is required for 3DS Port Forwarding is some basic information about your network configurations.

The detailed list is as below:

1. You will need the IP address of your router to log in to your router’s dashboard.
2. The internal IP address of your console to configure a new Port Forwarding rule.
3. The TCP and UDP ports for 3DS Port Forwarding.

Step 1- How to find a router’s IP address

Your router’s IP address allows you to access your dashboard and configure settings to eliminate issues. We have elaborated the procedure which uses the command prompt. The steps are as follows:

1. Go to the Start Menu.
2. In the search bar, type cmd.
3. Open the Command Prompt.
4. Type ipconfig.
5. Hit Enter.

You will now see a bunch of information about your network’s configurations. We are concerned with the default gateways’ IP.

6. Scroll down to the Default Gateway section.
7. Note down the IP address mentioned beside it.

Step 2 – Set a static IP address for your system

While 3DS Port Forwarding would work with a dynamic IP address as well, however, it is difficult to keep track of.

Hence it is always recommended to use a static IP address for 3DS Port Forwarding. You can easily set one using the DHCP reservations tab:

1. Open up a web browser.
2. In the URL, type in your router’s IP address which you noted earlier.
3. Press Enter.
4. Log into your router’s dashboard using your credentials.
5. Look for the DHCP reservations tab.
6. In the said tab, enter a static IP address against your system’s MAC address.
7. Save changes.

Step 3 – Steps for 3DS Port Forwarding 

While network configurations can be daunting, it is actually not difficult to find a way through. The steps for 3DS Port Forwarding are pretty straightforward. Just follow along and you will be done in no time!

1. Open up a web browser.
2. In the URL, type in your router’s IP address which you noted earlier.
3. Press Enter.
4. Log into your router’s dashboard using your credentials.
5. Once you have access to your dashboard, look for the Port Forwarding tab (The exact location might differ depending on your router but it mostly corresponds to tabs named Firewall, Applications and Gaming, etc.)
6. Create a new Port Forwarding entry for the 3DS console.
7. Assign a relevant name for your Port Forwarding rule.
8. Enter the smallest port number in the Starting Port field and the largest one in the Ending Port field. 
9. Now select the appropriate protocol. Nintendo suggests you forward ports from 1 – 65535 and set them to a UDP protocol.
10. Enter the 3DS console’s assigned IP address.
11. Select Apply to save changes.

Is Port Forwarding safe for Nintendo’s 3DS console

Well, it depends. Port Forwarding is a big no if you have insufficient security set up for your local network. And as Nintendo suggests, you might need to open ports for the entire range of 1 – 65535. That is clearly risky.  But since Port Forwarding is necessary for certain situations, we need to make sure our network’s security isn’t compromised.

Is Port Forwarding Safe?

That is where a VPN comes in. A reliable VPN service, such as PureVPN, provides you with optimal network security for 3DS Port Forwarding. It also masks your IP address to hide your activity on the internet from unauthorized snooping. Hence, Port Forwarding using a reliable VPN service is relatively easy and secure to implement.

And that’s about it! Now that you know all about 3DS Port Forwarding, you can easily eliminate connectivity issues for other devices and applications. If you are looking for details, check out our comprehensive guides for other games and routers.