Router ports: which ones to open and how to do it to improve the connection

What are ports

We can say that the router is the most important device to be able to surf the Internet. It is the device that you have in your house and to which you connect from other devices, either by cable or through Wi-Fi. It will be in charge of managing the data we send and receive. For example, when you enter the website of this article, the router will act as an intermediary between the page servers and the computer or mobile you use.

But what are ports? They are the doors that the router uses so that all that information passes. All the information we send or receive from the network will pass through here. As you can imagine, if those ports are open or closed it can be decisive for the data to enter better.

A home router, any ADSL or fiber optic router you have at home, will have a total of 65,536 ports . You will not use all of them, nor will you have to open all of them. Many of them have a certain function that is important, but most of us do not really use them.

These ports will act for data input and output . Therefore, if you have any closed when using an application that needs it, you can see that the connection is slow or there are cuts. For example when downloading files or starting a video call. You will need to know exactly which program each program uses. The information that is exchanged with the connection could be blocked and even not reach the destination, regardless of whether it works better or worse.

In the latter case is when we will need to take action. We must know which ports are used by a certain application, for example, and open them correctly in the router. We will see that there are different types and also methods to open them, in addition to thousands of ports available.

Port types

The ports are supervised by IANA, an entity that is in charge of assigning them globally. There are some that are used by certain services of the system, the router itself or protocols. Others, on the other hand, are used for applications that connect to the Internet. For example video call programs, games, downloads…

• Well-known or system ports : in the first place we have those that go from 0 to 1023. They are the ones reserved for the operating system and different protocols. For example, 20 is used by FTPS, 21 FTP, 22 SSH, or 25 SMTP.
• Registered ports: Registered ports are used by programs or games that we install. Normally, they are configured during the installation process of that application. They range from 1024 to 49151. For example we can name 1194 used by OpenVPN on some NAS or 6881 used by BitTorrent.
• Private or Dynamic Ports – On the other hand, 49152 to 65535 are the applications that connect to a server. We will also use them in some applications that we install.

how to open them

After explaining how many ports a router has and the different types, we are going to talk about what we have to do to open them. It is a simple process and that at a given moment we may need to carry out in order for a program to work correctly or to improve performance.

Although the process will depend on the router we have, something essential is to know the default gateway . It is usually 192.168.1.1, but we can have a different one. To find out what it is in your case, in Windows you can go to the Terminal and execute the ipconfig command. Different connection data will appear and one of them is the gateway to access the device.

Therefore, the first thing is to put the default gateway and enter the router configuration. You also need to know the data to enter. The password, if you have not changed it, is usually of the type 1234, admin123 and similar. However, we recommend that you change that password and never leave the one that comes from the factory.

You may also need to know your private IP. You can also get it with the ipconfig command . It will depend on the device, but for example in the Movistar HGU router they do ask to fill in this field. Basically it is the IP of the device where you are going to play or you are going to install the program where you need to have those ports open.

When you have this and you have entered the router, you will have to go to the corresponding section. It may be enough to click on the menu and go to the Ports section. Once you are inside, the essential data is to put the port number (you can also put a range of several), the protocol it uses and the IP address. You can also give it a name to know in the future which application or service they belong to.

In some models you will see that default applications come. This facilitates the task of opening the ports, since you simply check the Default option and it displays a menu with different programs and you choose the one that interests you. This will apply the corresponding changes without having to put anything manually.

It is important that you keep in mind that you should only open ports if the connection is from the Internet to us through NAT. Also, it is a mistake to open more ports than you really need. After all, the more you have open, the more exposed you will be to possible attacks on the network. Think of your router as if it were a large building that you want to protect; the fewer tickets you have open, the better.

Enable UPnP

An alternative option is to use the UPnP protocol . It is not something that is in all routers, but it is in many. It comes from Universal Plug and Play and its function is to open or close router ports automatically when we install an application that needs them. It is very interesting since we do not have to touch anything manually.

For example, if you use a game console or a computer game, having it activated means that it will open the necessary ports automatically. In addition, the good thing is that when they are not used, it closes them again without us having to do anything. It will also help reduce the risk of security issues appearing.

To activate the UPnP protocol in the router, you must access the configuration and enter advanced settings. It will depend on the exact model, but you have to search for UPnP and activate the button. Once done, you will have to apply the changes for them to take effect and you will be able to open or close ports automatically.

which ports to open

You may be wondering which ports you should open. There are thousands, as we have indicated. Logically it is not good to have all open for security. In fact, the ideal is to open only those that we are really going to need . For example the specific ports for an application or some protocol.

Therefore, we are going to see the main ports that you are going to have to open to correctly use some devices or services. For example, a printer, a Skype video call or connecting a video game console to the network and that the games work smoothly, without any cuts.

for the printer

When connecting a printer on the network , connectivity problems may appear and one of the causes is not having the ports open. It is important to know which ones you use and open them in the router if necessary and thus make it work in the best possible way. In the instruction manual or by doing an Internet search you can see exactly which ones it uses.

However, the usual port you need to open for the printer to work properly is 9100 . Other common ones are 9101, 9102, 2501, 5001, 9600, 631, 6310 or 161. All of them work for certain processes and models.

However, if you decide to open the ports, you must take into account the importance of updating the printer and making sure that it is protected at all times. There have been cases of cyber attacks that, for example, took advantage of vulnerabilities and had port 9100 open and that affected brands such as Canon or HP. You should always have all the patches installed to correct problems of this type.

Play online on PC

Another reason for wanting to open router ports is to play online games on your computer . This can be essential to get the ping as low as possible and not dropouts. The goal is to achieve a smooth connection and for data to travel easily. Keep in mind that our team will have to connect to the game servers.

Now, what ports to open to play over the Internet? This will depend on the game itself, so you’ll need to know what ports it uses. However, there are some general ports that are often required: 53, 80, and 443. They are used by the DNS service, browsing over HTTP, and browsing over HTTPS, respectively. Some games are as follows:

• In the case of Fortnite , the necessary ports are: 53, 80, 99, 443, 5222, 5795, 5800 and 5847.
• To play Minecraft : port 25565 TCP and 19132 UDP.
• Call of Duty : 3074, TCP 27014-27050; 3478, 4379-4380, 27000-27031 and 27036 UDP.
• Steam : 80, 443, 27015-27030, 27036 TCP; 27000-27100, 27031-27036 and 4380 UDP.

Connect game consoles

In addition to opening ports to play over the Internet from the computer, it is also important to take into account which ones we should open on video consoles. Each one will have a series of ports that we must open so that they work as well as possible and not have any type of cut or speed failure. You must know what the IP is in each case to be able to configure it. Let’s talk about the main ones:

• PS5 : in the case of PS5 you have to open ports 80, 443, 3478-3480 TCP; 3478 and 3479 PDUs.
• PS4 : for the PS4 it is convenient to open ports 80, 443, 5223 and 10070-10080 TCP; 3478, 3479, 3658 and 10070 PDUs.
• Xbox 360 : here you will have to open ports 53, 80 and 3074 TCP; 53, 88 and 3074 UDP.
• Xbox One : for it to work correctly, it is advisable to open ports 53, 80 and 3074 TCP; 53, 88, 500, 3074, 3544 and 4500 PDUs.

P2P Downloads

When downloading through P2P applications , it is also very important to open the ports. If you have ever used programs like eMule or Lphant, surely you remember the bandage that appeared next to the icon. That meant ports were closed and downloads were very slow.

Therefore, if you use P2P programs to download files, whatever it may be, you must take into account what ports you use and open them on the router so that the speed is adequate and problems do not appear.

For example, in the case of BitTorrent , which is one of the most popular applications, TCP ports 9881-9999 are used. However, you should know which ones the program you are going to use uses and thus prevent it from malfunctioning. You can notice a significant difference in download speed whether or not you have the ports open.

video calls

When you make a video call you need the connection to be optimal. At the end of the day you are sending and receiving a lot of data and it is important that the image is not cut off. Therefore, you are also going to have to open certain ports so that the connection is fluid and achieve a good result.

• Skype : In the case of Skype, the ports that you must open are 443 and 3478-3481 TCP; 1000-10000, 16000-26000 and 50000-65000 UDP.
• Meet – You should also open some ports in Meet. In this case port 443 TCP and ports 19302-19309 UDP.
• Zoom: If you use Zoom, it is convenient that you open ports 80, 443, 8801 and 8802 TCP, as well as ports 3478, 3479, 8801 and 8802 UDP.
• Discord – Another app you can open ports for is Discord. In this case the ports 443, 6457-6463 TCP and 6457-6463 UDP.
• FaceTime – For the FaceTime app you can open TCP ports 443, as well as UDP ports 53, 80, 5223, and 16393-16472.

Conclusions

Therefore, as you have seen on many occasions, it is necessary to open the ports of the router. For example to play games on the Internet, to use video call applications or P2P downloads. It is important that you know exactly which ones you should open and, depending on the device you have, carry out the necessary steps.

However, as we have explained, you must take into account that opening the ports must be an exception. That is, you should not leave more ports open than you really need as you could be exposing security and end up being a problem instead of a solution or an improvement.

As an option to having to open the ports manually, we have also explained the alternative of the UPnP protocol to open and close ports automatically when necessary and free us from having to do it or get confused. It is a feature that is present in many routers.