In reference to my dsl modem, what is port forwarding and when and how would you do that?

Question

Under what scenario would you want to do this?

Answer 1

In regard to a DSL modem, you do not need to use it. Port forwarding is only necessary if you are connected on a network using a router.

If you are using a router, you would need to access its configuration menu. Access to the configuration menu varies by brand but all are opened via the browser. If you type, "ipconfig" at a command prompt, the address listed as the Default Gateway should be the address of your router. You can open a command prompt by going to

Start >> Run >> "cmd"

Once you've found the Default Gateway address, you would enter that into the Address Bar in your browser. The address should resemble this example.

192.168.x.x

From there, you would look for the option for Port Forwarding and set the appropriate ports to your local IP address. Regarding port forwarding, you typically set a port to work with a specific program that you are using. You would need to set the port value in your program and in the Port Forwarding option on your router.