How to Forward Ports in a Actiontec GT724WG Router

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Port Forward Staff
September 19, 2018 (Last Updated: ) | Reading Time: 3 minutes

Actiontec GT724WG routers include a very basic firewall that helps protect your home network form unwanted access from the internet. Since this firewall blocks incoming connections you may need open a port through it for certain games and applications. This process of opening a port is frequently called a port forward, since you are forwarding a port from the internet to your home network.

The basic process to open a port is:

  1. Setup a static IP address on either your computer or device that you want to forward a port to.
  2. Login to your Actiontec GT724WG router.
  3. Navigate to the port forwarding section.
    • Click the Security button.
    • Click the Port Forwarding link.
    • Click the User radio button.
    • Click the New button.
  4. Create a port forward entry.

While these steps might seem difficult at first, we will walk you through each step for your Actiontec GT724WG router.

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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.

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.

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Step 2

Now we are going to login to your Actiontec GT724WG router. Your router has a web interface, so you will login to it using your web browser. This can be either Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Edge. It usually does not matter which browser you choose to use.

Open up your web browser and find the address bar. It should look something like this:

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 Actiontec GT724WG IP Address is: 192.168.1.1

After entering the IP address of your router you can simply press enter. If all goes well you will see the following screen:

Actiontec GT724WG
Actiontec GT724WG.

You should see a box prompting you for your username and password.

Enter your username and password, and then click the Login button to log in to your Actiontec GT724WG router.

Actiontec Usernames and Passwords

If your username and password do not work then please visit our Default Actiontec Router Passwords page.

If you still can't login to your router because you forgot your Actiontec GT724WG router username and password, use our How to Reset a Router Password guide to set your Actiontec GT724WG router back to its factory settings.

Step 3

Now we need to find the port forwarding section in your router. Here's how you do it. Starting from the first page in your router:

Actiontec GT724WG
Actiontec GT724WG.

Click the Security button near the top of the page.

Actiontec GT724WG
Actiontec GT724WG.

Click the Port Forwarding link near the left of the page.

Actiontec GT724WG
Actiontec GT724WG.

Put a dot into the User radio button.

Click the New button near the bottom of the page.

Actiontec GT724WG port forward
Actiontec GT724WG port forward.

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:

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Put a name for this forward in the Rule Name box so that you can remember why you set this forward up. The name does not matter so pick something that has meaning to you.

Select the required protocol for these ports from the Protocol dropdown box.

If you are forwarding a range of ports separated by a hyphen then enter the lowest number of that range into the Port Map, Port Start box and the highest number of that range into the Port End box. If you are only forwarding a single port number then enter that number into both the Port Map, Port Start and the Port End boxes.

Click the Apply button when you are done.

Actiontec GT724WG
Actiontec GT724WG.

Use the PC Name box to choose a device to forward ports to. This box contains a list of device names that are visible on your network.

Select the applications you just created in the Available Rules list, then click the Add > button to move them to the Applied Rules box.

When you are finished, click the Apply button.

Test if Your Ports are Open

Now that you have forwarded ports on the Actiontec GT724WG you should test to see if your ports are forwarded correctly.

To test if your port has been properly forwarded, you can use our Network Utilities tool, which includes a free Open Port Checker. Our Open Port Check tool is the only online port checking tool with Guaranteed Results.

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