On this Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 router, you have a firewall that helps protect your home network from unwanted Internet access. The router's firewall does this by blocking connections both to and from your network. In order to unblock these connections for a game or other program to run well you need to make a port forward on the Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 router.
We will walk you through the basic process to open a port:
- Setting up a static IP address on whatever device you plan on forwarding these ports to.
- Logging into your Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 router.
- Navigate to the port forwarding section.
- Click the Advanced link.
- Click the Advanced Setup link.
- Click on Port Forwarding / Port Triggering.
- Click the Port Forwarding radio button.
- Click the Add Custom Service button.
- Creating a port forward entry.
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
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.
Every time you click on one of our affiliate links, such as NordVPN, we get a little kickback for introducing you to the service. Think of us as your VPN wingman.
Step 2
Now that you have setup a static IP address for the computer you are forwarding these ports to, let's login to the Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 router.
Your Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 router uses a web interface, which means you need to access the router's setup pages using a web browser. It should not matter what browser you decide to use, simply pick your favorite. Some of the more common web browsers include Internet Explorer, Chrome, Edge, and Firefox.
Once you have opened the web browser you need to find the address bar. The address bar is normally at the top of the page like this:
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 Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 IP Address is: 192.168.1.1
Type this address into the address bar and click the Enter key on your keyboard. If everything went as it should have, you will see the following page:
Go ahead and enter the username and password and press the login or OK button to login to the Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 router.
- The Default Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 Router Username is: admin
- The Default Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 Router Password is: password
Having Trouble Logging In?
This is a very common place to get stuck. Here are a few things you can try:
First, we strongly recommend trying other Netgear username password combinations. If you have a slightly different firmware version then you may also have a different username and password. Here is our list of Default Netgear Router Passwords.
If the first troubleshooting idea did not work, it is because you changed them in the past and don't remember what you changed them to. You can try guessing what you changed them to or you can use our Find Password App to help you figure it out. This password cracker automates the process of guessing thousands of different combinations. Learn all about it on our Router Password Cracker page.
Finally, if you are still stuck, it may be time to consider a factory reset. When you reset the Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 router, it erases all previously configured settings. Everything goes back to factory defaults. We recommend exhausting your other options first. To learn how to reset the Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 router, read this How to Reset a Router guide.
Step 3
In this third step we need to find the port forwarding section of your Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 router. To help you we begin on the Basic Home page.
On this page, you first click the Advanced option at the top of the page.
On this new page, find the Advanced Setup option in the left sidebar.
Clicking that option opens up a new set of choices, pick the one labeled Port Forwarding / Port Triggering.
You should now see a page similar to the one above. Put a dot in the Port Forwarding radio button.
Then click the Add Custom Service link in the center section 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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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.
Enter the name of the program into the Service Name box. It doesn't really matter what you put into this box, but something that will remind you why these ports are being forwarded is be a good idea.
Select the required protocol for these ports from the Protocol dropdown box.
Put the ports to forward into the External Port Range box.
You can enter the ports as a list separated by commas, a range separated by hyphens, or a combination of both.
Make sure that the Use the same port range for Internal port checkbox is checked.
Enter the IP address that you want to forward these ports to into the Internal IP Address 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.
After you are done click the Apply button.
When you are finished, click the green Apply button at the top of the page to save your changes.
Your ports should now be open. It is time to test them.
Test if Your Ports are Open
Now that you have finished with the port forwards, you need to check your work. In order to check them you need to see if the ports are open. We recommend using our Open Port Checker. It is free and part of our Network Utilities. Our port checker is one of the only ones online that uses a local application to see if the server is listening on the selected ports. This makes it guaranteed to be accurate.
More Info...
If you are still having trouble why not give our Port Forwarding Software a try. Our port forwarding software includes everything you need to diagnose, troubleshoot, and fix any port forwarding issues you might have.
Don't forget to check out our other guides for gaming, networking, and firewalling. Here at portforward.com we are your computer information source.
For guides written specifically for your router, check out setuprouter.com We have guides for securing your WiFi network, changing your wireless channel, and much more.
