Simple Asus RT-AC68U Router Port Forwarding Guide

In this guide I will be showing you how to port forward the Asus RT-AC68U router.

To understand what port forwarding is you need to first know that your router has a firewall. This firewall blocks most connections from the Internet to protect your home network from unwanted access from the Internet. Sometimes a game or application requires you to unblock some of these blocked connections. The process of opening a port or connection is called a port forward because you forward a port directly to a device on your home network.

The basics to open a port are:

Setup a static IP address on the computer or device you want to forward a port to.
Login to your Asus RT-AC68U router.
Navigate to the port forwarding section of your router.
- Click the WAN button.
- Click Virtual Server/Port Forwarding.
Create a port forward.

Don't panic, scroll a little farther down this page and we will walk you though each of those 4 steps.

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Step 1

It is important to setup a static ip address in the device that you are forwarding a port to. This ensures that your ports will remain open even after your device reboots.

Recommended - Our free Static IP Setter will set up a static IP address for you.
Another way to get a permanent IP address is to set up a DHCP reservation.
Or, manually create a static ip address with our Static IP Guides.

This step is important because you want a permanent IP address in your device. If you do not set up a permanent IP address in your device, then when you device reboots it may get a new IP address.

Use a VPN Instead

Have you considered using a VPN instead of forwarding a port? For most users, a VPN is a much simpler and more secure choice than forwarding a port.

We use and recommend NordVPN because not only is it the fastest VPN, it includes a new feature called Meshnet that makes forwarding a port no longer necessary for most applications. With NordVPN Meshnet, you can connect to your devices from anywhere in the world, completely secure, over a highly encrypted VPN tunnel.

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Step 2

Let's login to the Asus RT-AC68U router. Your router uses a web interface, meaning you need to login using a web browser. This can be done by using Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or any other web browser you know of. It really shouldn't matter what browser you want to use.

After opening the web browser look for the address bar. This is typically at the top of the page like the image below:

Image of a browser address bar — Browser address bar

Above is an example of what a web browser address bar looks like. Find the address bar in your router and type in your router's IP address.

The default Asus RT-AC68U IP Address is: 192.168.1.1

If you have changed the router's IP Address in the past and don't recall what you changed it to, we can help you find it. Learn how on the How to Find Your Router's IP Address page.

After typing in the router's IP Address click the Enter key on your computer keyboard. If all goes as it should you will see a screen similar to the one below:

You are on the right track if you see a box asking you for a username and password.

The Default Asus RT-AC68U Router Username is: admin
The Default Asus RT-AC68U Router Password is: admin

Go ahead and enter the username and password and click the OK button to access your router's web interface.

Having Trouble Logging In?

If you can't login to the router because the username and/or password are wrong then we recommend trying other Asus default usernames and passwords. Find our list of them on this Default Asus Router Passwords page.

If you still can't login it might be that you have changed the username and password in the past and have forgotten. We recommend trying our Find Password App. It will help you crack a password on your home network.

As a last option, if neither option above worked then it might be time to consider a router reset. This erases all personal data in your router and returns it to factory defaults. This should be used as a last resort. Learn how to do this in our How to Reset a Router guide.

Step 3

You should now be logged into the Asus RT-AC68U router. It is time to find the port forwarding section of your router. Starting from the page you see below:

First, under the Advanced heading click the WAN button in the left sidebar.

Screenshot of Asus RT-AC68U port forward.

Now click the Virtual Server/Port Forwarding tab at the top of the page.

Step 4

Here are the ports to forward for Xbox Live:

TCP Ports: 3074

UDP Ports: 3074

If you are looking for the ports for a different application you can find it by either:

Browsing our List of Games

Check out our our List of Games by Genre

See our List of all Applications

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Make sure that the Enable Port Forwarding Yes radio button is selected.

Create a name for this forward and put it in the Service Name box. The name is only used as a reminder and has no effect on the port forward.

If you are forwarding a range of ports, enter the port range into the Port Range box. The lowest port in the range should be entered first, then a dash, and then the highest port in the range. For example, you can enter 500-600 to forward all ports between 500 and 600.

Enter the IP address that you want to forward these ports to into the Local IP box. Note that if you are forwarding ports so you can run a program on a device other than your computer then you can enter your device's IP address into that box instead.

If you are forwarding a range of ports enter the port range into the Local Port box. The lowest port in the range should be entered first, then a dash, and then the highest port in the range.

The protocol that you want to forward is selected from the Protocol box.

When you are finished, click the Add button.

When you are completely finished click the Apply button at the bottom of the page to save your changes.

How to Tell If Your Ports Are Open

Now that you are finished forwarding ports on the Asus RT-AC68U router, how do you know they are forwarded correctly? One way to do this is download our Free Open Port Checker. It is part of our Network Utilities tool. Our Open Port Checker is the only one online that has Guaranteed Results. Learn more about this on our How To Check For Open Ports page.