DD-WRT Port Forwarding guide for absolute beginners

The Linux-based open source firmware, DD-WRT provides an efficient and simplified working mechanism for access points. It upgrades your router’s original firmware and expands its capabilities. DD-WRT supports various models for different routing devices. 

However, you might face some difficulty connecting to a specific service even with the upgraded services of DD-WRT. That is totally fine! You just need to allow external access requests in your network. That can be easily managed by DD-WRT Port Forwarding.

This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about it.

What is DD-WRT Port Forwarding

Simply putting it, Port Forwarding makes your device accessible to other systems situated outside your network. Now ports, which are mapped to specific services on your system, are thus enabled to receive data freely. 

Such a configuration for the DD-WRT router would help to form a specific pathway for communication requests to travel through without getting blocked by your router’s firewall.

Why is DD-WRT Port Forwarding even necessary

To put its significance into perspective. Let us consider a scenario. Imagine you are trying to connect to your favorite game but can’t. It may be that the gaming server is unable to connect or more likely unable to get through your DD-WRT router’s firewall. 

Why is that so? Well, your network’s firewall tends to block connection requests that are initialized by unknown external devices. This reality hinders the accessibility of your system. To prevent this, we use DD-WRT Port Forwarding. 

What do you need for DD-WRT Port Forwarding

If you are new to all of this, the configurations can seem overwhelming. However, you don’t need much to get the job done. Just a little snooping around and you will have all you need for the Port Forwarding DD-WRT router. Here is a complete list :

• DD-WRT Router’s IP address – Needed to log into the DD-WRT’s dashboard.
• System’s internal IP address – Used to make a new Port Forwarding entry.
• TCP and UDP ports – Used to forward specific ports mapped for specific services.

How to find your router’s IP address

You can easily get your router’s IP address from the back of your router. However, this method is not considered reliable for a router’s IP address changes. And since that’s the case, we use a different method to find our DD-WRT router’s IP.

Follow the steps below to get the IP address for your DD-WRT router.

1. Go to the Search Menu.
2. Type cmd.
3. Select the command prompt icon.
4. Type ipconfig.
5. Hit Enter.
6. Now look for the Default gateway section.
7. Note down the IP address beside it.

How to set up a static IP address for your system

Setting up a static IP address for your system is really necessary for DD-WRT Port Forwarding. Why? Well, because it allows users to forward ports corresponding to a fixed IP as opposed to one that needs to be manually updated.

1. Open up a browser.
2. Type your DD-WRT router’s IP address in the URL field.
3. Press Enter.
4. Log into your router’s settings using your password and username.
5. Once logged in, look for the DHCP reservations tab.
6. Here you can simply enter a static IP address for your system, against your MAC address.

Steps for DD-WRT Port Forwarding

Port Forwarding would most likely be the solution for your connectivity issues, so why not give it a go. Even if you haven’t messed with network configurations before, it wouldn’t be hard for you to follow along.

The detailed steps for DD-WRT Port Forwarding are as follows:

1. Open up a browser.
2. Type your DD-WRT router’s IP address in the URL field.
3. Press Enter.
4. You will now be directed to your DD-WRT router’s log-in page.
5. Log into your router’s settings using your password and username.
6. Once logged in, select the NAT/ QoS tab.
7. Now you can choose Port Range Forward, which allows you to forward a range of ports.
8. Or you can select Port Forward which allows you to forward a single port.
9. Now that you made your choice, set a relevant application name.
10. Enter ports specific to the service for which you are trying DD-WRT Port Forwarding.
11. Forwarding a Range – Enter the smallest number in the Start field and the largest port number in the End field.
12. Forwarding a specific port – just enter the same port number in both fields.
13. Enter the IP address of your system.
14. Select enable to set the changes.

Is DD-WRT Port Forwarding safe

Well, the question is a little more complicated than that. There is no straight forward answer for this. Simply put, Port Forwarding DD-WRT routers would be extremely risky if you do not have proper security set up for your network. We are essentially creating holes in the DD-WRT router’s firewall – that is a big red flag.

But there are times when Port Forwarding becomes a necessity. Then the only way for you to safely forward ports on your network is by maintaining a reliable security system. DD-WRT Port Forwarding is perfectly safe when you are using a reliable VPN service, like Pure VPN. 

And you are done! You have successfully performed DD-WRT Port Forwarding. If you want to learn more about the subject, check out our comprehensive guides for other routers and games!