Your Nighthawk XR500 router helps to protect your network by blocking incoming internet connections. This is an important feature that helps you to control which applications have access to your network. Sometimes you want to allow network access to a specific application in order to play a game, connect a device, or use an app. The Netgear Nighthawk XR500 can unblock certain incoming connections through port forwarding or by opening a port. You can open ports in your Nighthawk XR500 by assigning specific ports to an IP address. Forwarding these ports directs incoming data to a specific device or application.
In order to open ports in your Netgear Nighthawk XR500 router, you need to:
- Go ahead and set up a static IP address on the computer or device that you are forwarding these ports to.
- Go ahead and log in to your Netgear Nighthawk XR500 router.
- Navigate to the Port Forwarding section in your Netgear Nighthawk XR500 router.
- Find the Advanced Settings tab at the left of the screen and click it.
- Click on the Port Forwarding link, which is at the left of the screen.
- Create a port forward entry.
If the process of forwarding ports in your router seems difficult to you, you are not alone! Do not get discouraged. Let us walk you through the steps for opening a port in the Netgear Nighthawk XR500 router. Just follow along as we lead you through the process of opening a port in your router.
We think that forwarding a port should be easy. That's why we created Network Utilities. Our software does everything that you need to forward a port.
When you use Network Utilities you get your port forwarded right now!
Step 1 - Setup a Static IP Address
Set up a static IP address in the device that you are forwarding a port to. This is an important step that keeps your ports open even after a reboot, power outage, or another type of device or router disconnect.
-
Recommended - Our free program will setup a static IP address for you.
â Download Network Utilities today!
-
Or follow our Static IP Address guides to setup a static IP address.
After setting up a static ip address on your devices you need to login to your router.
Step 2 - Login to Your Netgear Router
The Netgear Nighthawk XR500 router uses a web interface to display router settings. In order to login to the Netgear Nighthawk XR500 router you need to use a web browser.
Open your favorite web browser. If you don't have a favorite or are not sure what this means, open up Chrome, Firefox, or Edge. If you are already in a browser window, go ahead and open up a new tab.
We have simplified this step for you with this link: Login to your Nighthawk XR500 Router
Find the address bar in your browser window. This is usually found at the top of the page, like in the image below.
Unlike other routers, this router uses routerlogin.net to login. In your web browser please enter routerlogin.net in the address bar, similar to the picture above.
Go ahead and enter the username and password for the Netgear Nighthawk XR500 router in the spaces available. Remember if you have changed them in the past, you need to enter those values.
- The default Netgear Nighthawk XR500 Router Username is: admin
- The default Netgear Nighthawk XR500 Router Password is: password
Enter your username and password, and then click the Login button to log in to your Netgear Nighthawk XR500 router.
Netgear Username and Password Trouble
If the username and password that you typed in did not work, check out our Default Netgear Router Passwords page for other ideas about possible passwords.
If, after trying the above list of passwords you still can't log in, you may need to reset your router. Learn how to do that by reading our How to Reset a Router guide. After resetting the Netgear Nighthawk XR500 router your username and password are reverted back to factory defaults. Router settings may also change when you reset, so make a note of your current router settings before you reset.
Step 3 - Find the Port Forwarding Section
After successfully logging in to your Netgear Nighthawk XR500 router you should see the router's home page on your screen. Find the Port Forwarding section of your router.
Find the Advanced Settings tab located near the left of the screen and click it.
Find the Port Forwarding link at the left of the screen and click it.
You should now be on a page called Port Forwarding.
Step 4 - Create A Port Forward
Forwarding ports in your router creates a path that allows data to get through your network firewall, and this could lead to malicious traffic on your network. So make sure that you must forward a port before actually doing so. However, the risk is very low, so do not let this warning stop you from making this change if you need to.
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
Don't forget to sign up for NordVPN's promo deal before it's gone.
You might notice that most of our site doesn't have ads on it. This is because we use partnerships with companies like NordVPN to keep the site running. Thank you for supporting us by using our referral links.
Click the Add Custom Service button at the right of the screen.
In the Service Name box, type in a name for this forward. This will serve as a reminder to you in the future as to why this forward was set up, so give it a name that makes sense to you.
Choose All from the Protocol drop-down list.
The External Port Range box accepts either a single number or a range of numbers. If you are forwarding a single port number, then enter that port number into the External Port Range box. If you are forwarding a range of ports such as 1000-2000, then you can enter the lowest number of that range into the External Port Range box, followed by a hyphen, followed by the largest number.
Make sure that the box called Use the same port range for Internal port is checked.
Find the Internal IP Address box and enter the IP address that you want ports forwarded to. This can be either the IP address of your computer or any other IP address for devices on your network that you want to forward ports for.
To apply these changes, remember to click the Apply button at the middle of the page when you are completely finished.
Test Your Open Ports
Finally, test your network to see if you have forwarded ports in the Netgear Nighthawk XR500 router correctly. To do this you can use Network Utilities, which includes a free Open Port Checker tool. Open Port Checker is the only online port-checking tool that has Guaranteed Results.
Check Out These Helpful Guides:
- Our software called Network Utilities does all of this and more.
- Find detailed tips on how to Setup your router.
- A great list of games and applications that require port forwarding along with their related port numbers.
