10.0.0.0.1 Xfinity IP Administration

Port Forwarding Setup

Port forwarding technology is used to enable access from the external network to one of the internal network IP addresses. Typically, a local network is identified by one static IP address when it is connected to the internet. In order to connect to a specific device on a network a dedicated port is configured on a router to enable that connection. For example, if a router is connected to the internet using 200.2.3.4 IP address and port 9001 is configured to connect to an internal 192.168.1.20 IP address then all traffic which comes to 200.2.3.4:9001 will be routed to a device identified by 192.168.1.20 IP address.

Port forwarding could be very useful in multiple scenarios:

• Remote configuration of devices on the local network
• Remote device access and administration
• Enable game servers running on the local network

Port forwarding potentially represents a security risk because it enables a remote access from the internet to a device on a local network. This potentially enables a hacker to get access to a local network through the compromised device. Make sure that login credentials are enabled on the device. Also, it is recommended to use a whitelist of IP address which restrict devices which connect to that specific device.

New routers enable automatic port forwarding using UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) technology. UPnP allows compatible software to automatically setup port forwarding rules for itself.

To configure port forwarding navigate to "Internet->Security->Port forwarding". Click on “Create new item” and specify the following connection details as shown on a screen below.

• Name of the port forwarding connection
• Protocol used by the port forwarding connection
• WAN Host IP range of external devices which can connect using this port forwarding rule
• Lan Host IP of a local device to which external port forwarded traffic will be forwarded
• WAN Port Range specifies a range of external ports which could be used to connect to a device
• LAN Port Range specifies a range of internal ports to which traffic will be forwarded.