Easiest Way to Forward Ports on the TP-Link Archer D5 Router

This TP-Link Archer D5 router includes a basic firewall. This firewall protects your home network from any unwanted access from the Internet. The TP-Link Archer D5 firewall blocks connections that you may want unblocked for a game or application. The process of unblocking a port or opening a port is frequently called a port forward since you are forwarding a port from the Internet to a device on your home network.

In order to open a port you need to:

1. Setup a static IP address on the exact device you plan on forwarding ports to.
2. Login to your TP-Link Archer D5 router.
3. Find the port forwarding section.
   • Click the Forwarding link.
   • Click on Virtual Servers.
   • Click the Add New button.
4. Create a port forward.

This probably seems difficult at first. We will walk you through each step in the process to get your ports opened on the TP-Link Archer D5.

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.

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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.

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

In this step we login to the TP-Link Archer D5 router. This router has a router interface, meaning you need to login using a web browser. It does not matter which browser you decide to use, any of the common browsers will work just fine. Here are a few examples:

• Edge
• Firefox
• Internet Explorer
• Chrome

Simply open up your favorite and locate the address bar. It normally looks 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 TP-Link Archer D5 IP Address is: 192.168.1.1

If you have changed the router's IP address in the past and don't remember what you changed it to, you can use our How To Find Your Router's IP Address guide to help you locate it.

After you type in the IP address, just click the Enter key on your keyboard. You should be shown a page similar to this:

You are on the right page if you see a box or page asking for a username and password. In this case you may see an image of a person (username) and an image of a key (password).

• The Default TP-Link Archer D5 Router Username is: admin
• The Default TP-Link Archer D5 Router Password is: admin

Go ahead and enter the proper username and password in the box and press the blue Login button to access the router interface.

TP-Link Password Trouble

This is a common place for people to get stuck. If you find yourself in this predicament, here are a few troubleshooting options to help you:

• If the username and password did not work then we recommend trying other common Default TP-Link Router Passwords.
• If you still cannot login to the TP-Link Archer D5 router then we suggest trying to crack it yourself. Too time consuming? Try our Find Password App. It automates the process of trying thousands of different combos for you. This app is perfectly safe to use. To prevent illegal activity, this app WILL NOT work over the Internet, it only works on your local home network. Learn more on this Router Password Cracker page.
• Finally if no other option has helped you, it may be time to consider a reset. We strongly recommend exhausting all other troubleshooting methods before you decide to reset. A reset like this erases all settings you have ever changed in the lifetime of the device. If this is something you must consider, read our How to Reset a Router guide.

Step 3

After you have logged into the TP-Link Archer D5 router you need to find the port forwarding section of the router. To do that let's start on the Basic Status page:

First, click the option of Forwarding in the left sidebar. In the image above it is in the lower left corner of the screenshot.

Now, you should now see a new set of choices. Pick the one titled Virtual Servers.

You should now be on the Virtual Server page. Select the button titled Add New in the middle 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

Don't forget to sign up for NordVPN's promo deal before it's gone.

Enter the same port number to be forwarded into the Service Port and the Internal Port boxes.

You need to enter the IP address that you are forwarding ports to in the IP Address box. It's possible for this to be either the IP address of your computer or any other IP address on your network that you want ports forwarded to.

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

Pick Enabled from the Status dropdown box.

When you are finished, click the Save button.

Make sure to click the Save button after each entry is complete.

Congratulations, you did it.

Testing if the Ports are Open

After you have port forwarded on the TP-Link Archer D5 router you need to test them to see if the ports were forwarded correctly. In order to do this properly we recommend using our Open Port Checker It is part of our Network Utilities free trial.

Our Open Port Checker tool is better than the others out there because we don't make assumptions about applications you may be using. Our open port tool uses a local application to see if the port is listening. This makes it guaranteed to work.

More Info

If you enjoyed this guide, here are some others you may like:

• Here are more guides written with your TP-Link Archer D5 router in mind.
• What is a Port?
• Learn How to Choose a Strong Password.
• Here are some Alternatives to Port Forwarding.