By default, your NETGEAR router’s firewall blocks all inbound traffic (connectionattempts by devices on the Internetto devices in your local network). However, in some cases, you might want to allow these connections. For example, if you have an IP camera or FTP server on your network that you want to be accessible via the Internet, your router must be set up to allow inbound traffic to such devices.
One of the ways that you can allow inbound connections to access your network is port forwarding. Port forwarding rules, also known as inbound firewall rules, check the header of each inbound data packet and either block or forward each packet to the specified devices on your local network. Packets with different characteristics can be forwarded to different devices on your local network based on the configured rules (source IP address, destination TCP port number, and other characteristics of the packet).
Before setting up port forwarding, you need to determine which type of service, application, or game you want to set up, and know the local IP address of the device that will provide the service. The server device must always have the same IP address. For information about reserving an IP address for your server device, see How do I reserve an IP address on my NETGEAR router?
For port forwarding setup instructions, see How do I set up port forwarding to a local server on my NETGEAR router?
In addition to port forwarding, the following methods also allow inbound traffic to reach your network:
- Universal Plug and Play(UPnP): If your router and the server device on your local network both support UPnP, and UPnP is enabled in the router web interface, the required router configuration for inbound traffic occurs automatically. For more information, see How do I enable Universal Plug and Play on my NETGEAR router?
- De-Militarized Zone (DMZ): Forwards all inbound traffic to a specified IP address on your local network. Unlike port forwarding and UPnP, setting up a DMZ removes all of your router’s firewall protection for a device. For more information, see What is the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) feature on my NETGEAR router?
For more information:
- How do I add a custom port forwarding service on my NETGEAR router?
- What is port triggering and how does it work with my NETGEAR router?
Last Updated:03/15/2022 | Article ID: 20917
