Port forwarding on a NETGEAR router
Nighthawk and R-series, through the web interface at routerlogin.net.
This opens a door into your own network and you are responsible for what
comes through it. Read the warnings first if you have not.
Log in
1. Connect a computer to the router, wired or wifi. 2. Go to www.routerlogin.net, or routerlogin.com, or the router's address, usually 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1. 3. User name admin. The password is the one set during first-time setup, not the factory password. Both are case sensitive.
Forgotten the password? Click CANCEL at the prompt to reach Router Password Recovery, which needs the serial number and your security answers, and only works if recovery was enabled beforehand. Otherwise hold Reset for about 15 seconds, which erases every setting including your wifi name and password.
The router's own address is shown under ADVANCED, in Router Information.
Give the board a fixed address
A forward points at an address. If the board gets a different one from DHCP later, the rule quietly stops working.
1. Find the board under BASIC > Attached Devices. Match on MAC address. 2. Go to ADVANCED > Setup > LAN Setup. Some models label the first menu Settings rather than ADVANCED. 3. In Address Reservation, click Add. 4. Enter the IP Address you want, inside the router's own range, for example 192.168.1.50, and the board's MAC Address. 5. Click Apply.
The reservation applies the next time the board asks for a lease, so reboot it.
Add the rule
1. Go to ADVANCED > Advanced Setup > Port Forwarding / Port Triggering. 2. Leave Port Forwarding selected. 3. Port 6400 has no predefined entry, so click Add Custom Service. 4. Fill in: - Service Name: BBS - Service Type: TCP - External Starting Port: 6400, and the ending port field: 6400 - Leave Use the same port range for Internal port ticked - Internal IP address: the address you reserved 5. Click Apply.
NETGEAR's documentation names External Starting Port explicitly but not the label on the ending field, so that one is described rather than quoted.
Rules are matched from the top down and the first match wins, so keep specific rules above broad ones.
The Nighthawk app
NETGEAR's description of the app covers parental controls, Armor, guest wifi and general settings. It does not document port forwarding, and there is no NETGEAR article describing it there. Treat this as a job for the web interface.
Older genie firmware
The BASIC / ADVANCED layout is genie, and the path above is the same. On some older gateway and DSL models the equivalent lives under ADVANCED > Security > Firewall Rules, where you add a custom service and then use Inbound Services. If you see Firewall Rules instead of Port Forwarding / Port Triggering, use that.
When it does not work
- Double NAT. NETGEAR lists port forwarding among the things it breaks. If the NETGEAR sits behind an ISP gateway that is also routing, bridge the gateway or forward on it instead.
- CGNAT. If the WAN address does not match an external "what is my IP", or sits in
100.64.0.0/10, no setting will help. NETGEAR has no article on this. - Testing from inside. Many routers do not loop back, so your own public address may fail from your own network while working fine from outside. Test from a phone on mobile data. NETGEAR also notes its anti-port-scan feature can make external scanners report a working port as closed.
- A changing address. Unless you pay for a static one, your public address moves. Use dynamic DNS, or let the directory listing track it for you.
- The board itself. Check it is actually answering on your own network first.