Your TP-Link Archer C900 router protects your home network by limiting incoming connections from the internet. Sometimes it is necessary to unblock some of those connections like when you want to create a direct connection for gaming, use a specific application, or set up a new device on your network. This process is called forwarding or opening a port. In your TP-Link Archer C900 router you many need to open a port, which means assigning a port number or set of port numbers to a specific IP address. This routes the incoming data to the correct device on your network.
Follow these steps to open a port in your TP-Link Archer C900 router:
- Set up a static IP address on the computer or device that you are forwarding ports to.
- Log in to your TP-Link Archer C900 router.
- Navigate to the Virtual Servers section in your TP-Link Archer C900 router.
- Find the Advanced tab located near the top of the screen and click on it.
- Find the NAT Forwarding tab at the left of the screen and click it.
- Click the Virtual Servers tab at the left of the screen.
- Create a Virtual Servers entry.
The process of opening ports in your TP-Link Archer C900 router may seem daunting. Remember, however, that you are not alone and do not have to feel discouraged. Let us walk you through the steps for opening ports in your router. Let's get this figured out!
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
In order to ensure that your ports remain open in your device even after it reboots, it is important to set up a static IP address in your device.
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Recommended - Our free program will setup a static IP address for you.
→ Download Network Utilities today!
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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
Log in to the TP-Link Archer C900 router. To do this you need to use a web browser because the TP-Link Archer C900 router uses what is called a web interface.
It normally doesn't matter what web browser you use so go ahead and open up your favorite. If you don't have a favorite then open up Chrome, Firefox, or Edge.
If that is confusing to you, we have simplified this step with this link: Login to your Archer C900 Router
Once you have opened up a browser window, find the address bar. This is usually at the top of the page like the image below shows.
Above is an example of what a web browser address bar looks like. Find the address bar in your web browser and type in your router's IP address.
The TP-Link Archer C900 router's default IP address is: 192.168.0.1
Enter your router's IP address into the address bar of your browser and click the enter button on your keyboard. A box like the one below should appear.
To login, enter the username and password for the TP-Link Archer C900s. Important Note: If you have changed them in the past, you need to enter in those values.
- The default TP-Link Archer C900 Router Username is: admin
- The default TP-Link Archer C900 Router Password is: admin
Once you enter your username and password, click the Log In button.
TP-Link Usernames and Passwords
If the username and password did not work I recommend checking out our Default TP-Link Router Passwords page.
If, after trying the above list of passwords you still can't login you may need to consider a reset for your router. Learn how to do that by reading our How to Reset a Router guide. After resetting the TP-Link Archer C900 router your username and password are reverted back to factory defaults.
Step 3
After a successful login to the TP-Link Archer C900 router you should be on the home page of your router. Now you need to find the Virtual Servers section.
- Click on the Advanced tab at the top of the screen.
- Click the NAT Forwarding tab at the left of the screen.
- Find the Virtual Servers tab at the left of the screen and click on it.
You should now be on a page that says Virtual Servers.
Step 4
Opening a port to a specific device may solve problems that you are having on your network. Make sure that it is necessary though, before opening a port, because you are effectively creating a pinhole in the firewall portion of your router that could lead to malicious traffic on your network. The risk is exceedingly low, though, so don't let this warning stop you from making this change if you need it.
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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- Click Add.
- You can enter either a single number or a range of numbers in the External Port box. If you are forwarding a single port number, you can enter it into the External Port box. To forward a range of ports, you can enter the lowest number of that range into the External Port box, followed by a hyphen, followed by the largest number. An example would look like this: 1000-2000.
- Go ahead and enter the IP address that you are forwarding ports to into the Internal IP box. It is possible for this to be either the IP address of your computer or of any other device on your network that you want ports forwarded to.
- In the Internal Port box, enter the same values that you entered into the External Port box.
- In the Protocol dropdown box, select the protocol type of the ports you are forwarding. Choose Both if your router has that option. Otherwise, choose either TCP or UDP as needed. If you need to forward a port for both TCP and UDP and your router does not have the Both option, then you need to create two entries.
- Select Enabled from the Status drop-down box.
- Make sure to click the Save button at the bottom of the page to apply these changes, when you are completely finished.
Test Your Ports To See If They Are Open
Use our Network Utilities software, (which includes a free Open Port Checker tool) to test your network to see if you have forwarded ports in the TP-Link Archer C900 router correctly. 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. []
