Linksys WRT54GS Router Open Port Guide

The Linksys WRT54GS router has a firewall that protects your home network by blocking incoming and outgoing connections that are not authorized. Some online games or programs require additional connections to be opened so they can run smoothly. The process of opening additional ports is called a port forward.

In this guide I will be showing you how to port forward on the Linksys WRT54GS router. The steps I will walking you through are:

setup a static IP address on the device you plan on forwarding these ports to.
login to the Linksys WRT54GS router web interface.
find the port forwarding page in the router's web interface.
setup a port forward for the online game or program of your choice.

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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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TIP: Write this static address down. You need it later in this process.

Step 2

Now we are going to login to your Linksys WRT54GS router. To open the router interface you need to open a web browser. It normally doesn't matter which one, simply pick your favorite such as Internet Explorer, Chrome, or Firefox.

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 Linksys WRT54GS 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:

You should see a box prompting you for your username and password. If you do not see a login window similar to the one above, the wrong IP address was used. To find out what your router's current IP address is follow the directions on this How To Find Your Router's IP Address page.

The Default Linksys WRT54GS Router Username is: admin
The Default Linksys WRT54GS Router Password is: password

Enter your username and password, and then click the Login button to log in to your Linksys WRT54GS router.

Having Trouble?

This is a pretty common place to get stuck. If you find yourself here, don't panic, there are a few things you can try:

First, check all the different Linksys default combinations. Here is our list of all known Default Linksys Router Passwords.

Second, try and guess what the password/username was changed to. Use our Find Password App to make this step easier.

Finally, if you still are stuck after trying both of the above options, it may be time to consider a factory reset. Learn more about this option on the How to Reset a Router page.

Step 3

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

Begin by clicking the Security option at the top of the page.

This takes you to the page you see above. Remove the checkmark from the Block Anonymous Internet Requests box.

Now, click the Save Settings button at the bottom of the page.

Then click the Applications & Gaming option at the top of the page.

A new menu appears. Click the option of Port Range Forward

You are now on the correct page to make a port forward entry.

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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Put a name for this forward in the Application 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.

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

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

Enter the IP address of the device that you want to forward ports to into the IP Address box. This can be either the IP address of your computer or the IP address of another device on your network.

Make sure that the Enable checkbox is checked.

When you're finished, click Save Settings near the bottom of the screen to save your changes.

Test if Your Ports are Open

Now that you have forwarded ports on the Linksys WRT54GS 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.