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Asus WL-500W Port Forwarding Instructions

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Setup Router Staff
(Last Updated: ) | Reading Time: 3 minutes

This page will show you how to setup a port forward on the Asus WL-500W router.

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.

When shopping for a VPN, make sure that they meet the following criteria:

  • Your VPN provider should have a no-logs policy. This means that they do not keep any logs of any kind.
  • Make sure that your VPN provider has lots of exit nodes all around the world.
  • Check that your VPN will not affect your speed.
  • Verify that your VPN provider uses WireGuard as the underlying protocol.
  • Many people prefer a VPN provider that is not based in the United States.

This is the list of requirements that we used when we were shopping around for a VPN provider. There are lots of free, shady VPN providers out there that we looked at and dismissed.

Based in Panama, using diskless servers, and with over 6,100 servers in 61 countries, we can safely say that NordVPN satisfies all of these requirements.

NordVPN is the fastest VPN!

Once you've set up your NordVPN account on multiple computers and enabled Meshnet, you can seamlessly access all of your devices as if they were on the same network. You don't even have to log in to your router. It's very simple.

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.

If you are not sure what port forwarding is you can read our What is Port Forwarding guide to help get started.

Other Asus WL-500W Guides

This is the port forwarding guide for the Asus WL-500W. We also have the following guides for the same router:

Configure your Computer to Have a Static IP Address

Port forwarding the Asus WL-500W to your computer can be more reliable if you first configure a static IP address on your computer. We have instructions to setup a static IP address for Windows 7, Windows 8, and a variety of other devices on our Static IP Address Settings page.

Please note that while setting up a static IP address on your computer is optional, it is still a very good idea to go ahead and do it. In the long run it will make your port forward much more reliable.

Login To The Asus WL-500W

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To get started forwarding a port you need to login to your Asus WL-500W router. If you are already logged in you can skip this step.

To login to the Asus WL-500W, follow our Asus WL-500W Login Guide.

Forward a Port on the Asus WL-500W router

Find The Port Forwarding Section of the Asus WL-500W

router status mac address internet IP
This is the status page from your Asus WL-500W router.

After you log into the Asus WL-500W you begin on the Home page of this router. In the purple bar to the left, click the link labeled NAT Settings, then Virtual Server.

Configure the Port Forwarding section of your Asus WL-500W

Now to forward a port, make the following changes:

port forwarding nat screenshot
This is the port forwarding page from your Asus WL-500W router.

First, make sure that the button labeled Yes is marked next to Enable Virtual Server?.

Next to Well-Known Applications is a drop down menu. Choose User Defined.

Under this are six boxes, in Port Range and Local Port enter the port numbers you are forwarding. If you are forwarding a single port, enter that number in both boxes, if you are forwarding multiple ports, enter the range of ports in both boxes, such as 500-600.

Next is Local IP, enter the IP Address you are forwarding these ports to in this box. If you are forwarding ports to run a certain program on your personal computer, then you need to use that computer's IP Address here.

Under the heading of Protocol, use the drop down menu to choose the type of protocol you wish to use to forward your ports.

Finally you have Description. Enter something that reminds you why you are forwarding these ports, such as a program name.

Click Add, in the yellow bar, and you are done.

Test if Your Ports are Open

Now that you have forwarded ports on the Asus WL-500W you should test to see if your ports are forwarded correctly.

To test if your ports are forwarded you should use our Open Port Check tool.

Other Asus WL-500W Info

Don't forget about our other Asus WL-500W info that you might be interested in.

This is the port forwarding guide for the Asus WL-500W. We also have the following guides for the same router: