An important aspect of having a TP-Link router on your home network is internet security. In general, routers block incoming internet connections and protect your network by only allowing the connections that you specifically set up. Sometimes it is necessary to unblock certain connections in your router or open a port in order to play a game or use an application. To help you get a better connection for gaming or using an application, you can open a port in your Archer MR500 and allow a direct connection.
To open ports in your TP-Link Archer MR500 router, follow the steps below:
- Set up a static IP address on the computer or device that you are forwarding ports to.
- Log in to your TP-Link Archer MR500 router.
- In your TP-Link Archer MR500 router, navigate to the Virtual Servers section.
- Find the Advanced tab located near the top of the screen and click it.
- Click on the NAT Forwarding tab, which is at the left of the screen.
- Click on Virtual Servers.
- Create a Virtual Servers entry.
Opening ports in a router can be a difficult process the first few times. Don't get discouraged! We will walk you through all the steps to open a port in the TP-Link Archer MR500 router.
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!
Setup A Static IP Address
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.
Login To Your TP-Link Router
The TP-Link Archer MR500 router uses a web interface to display router settings. In order to login to the TP-Link Archer MR500 router you need to use a web browser.
Open your favorite web browser. If you don't have a favorite or are not sure what this means, open up Chrome, Firefox, or Edge. If you are already in a browser window, go ahead and open up a new tab.
We have simplified this step for you with this link: Login to your Archer MR500 Router
Find the address bar in your browser window. This is usually found at the top of the page, like in the image below.
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 MR500 router's default IP address is: 192.168.1.1
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.
Enter the username and password for the TP-Link Archer MR500 in the corresponding boxes. Important Note: If you have changed them in the past, you need to enter in those values.
- The default TP-Link Archer MR500 Router Username is: none
- The default TP-Link Archer MR500 Router Password is: created during initial setup
To log in to your TP-Link Archer MR500 router, enter your username and password, and then click the Login button.
TP-Link Usernames and Passwords
If the username or password did not work check out our Default TP-Link Router Passwords page.
If you are unable to log in even after trying the above list of passwords you may need to consider a reset for your router. Our guide How to Reset a Router can help you with that. After resetting the TP-Link Archer MR500 router your username and password will be reverted back to factory defaults.
Find the Port Forwarding Section
You should be on your routers home page once you complete logging in. Find the Virtual Servers section on the home page of the TP-Link Archer MR500 router.
- Click the Advanced tab, which is at the top of the screen.
- Find the NAT Forwarding tab located near the left of the screen and click it.
- Click Virtual Servers.
You are now on the Virtual Servers page.
Create A Port Forward
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 the Add link to start creating an entry.
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Type in a name for this forward in the Service Type box. Choose a name that will help you remember why this forward was set up since it does not affect the functionality of the forward.
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If you are forwarding a single port, enter that port number into the External Port box. If you are forwarding a range of ports separated by a hyphen, then enter the whole range into the External Port box.
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Enter the IP address that you are forwarding ports to into the Internal IP box. It is possible to forward a port to the IP address of your computer or to the IP address of a specific device on your internal network.
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Leave the Internal Port box empty.
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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.
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Check Enable This Entry.
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Click the Save button at the bottom of the page to apply these changes when you are completely finished.
Test Your Open Ports
Finally, test your network to see if you have forwarded ports in the TP-Link Archer MR500 router correctly. To do this you can use Network Utilities, which includes a free Open Port Checker tool. Open Port Checker is the only online port-checking tool that has Guaranteed Results.
Other Guides You May Be Interested In:
- We have software called Network Utilities that do all of this and more.
- Learn more about how to Setup your router.
- A full listing of all our games and applications that require port forwarding.
