In this Instructable I will show you how to port forward your own modem or router so it accepts connections from certain ports. In this Instructable I also have included some general ports that are used for some general things that need port forwarding, like MapleStory or RuneScape Private Servers, or engines that allow you to create your own MMORPG's like Eclipse or XTremeWorlds.

So lets get started, shall we?

Step 1: Opening the Run Dialogue

First you must open up the start menu, and select Run.

Note:
Run is disabled on some Vista computers by default, so to enable it, right-click the Task bar and select Properties. Next select the Menu Start tab on the top, and select the first button next to Menu Start, and then right above Documents, you should see enable Run. Select and press ok, and then select ok again to save & exit. Now it should be enabled.

Step 2: Start Up Command or CMD

Now, while you are in the Run menu, type command and press [RETURN]. This will open up the Command.com program witch you can use to find out the ip address of your modem / router. This is the IP we will be using for port forwarding.

Note:
On some computers just typing cmd and pressing [RETURN] will also do the trick.

Step 3: Finding Your Modem / Router's IP Address

Now, while the command.com window is open, type ipconfig and press [RETURN]. This will show a lot of information about your IP address, but all we need right now is the part that says Standard Gateway and the part that says IPv4 Address. Standard Gateway should say something like 192.168.2.1 and IPv4 Address should say something like 192.168.2.100. The Standard Gateway is the IP we are looking for. Write it down somewhere you will remember, as well as the IPv4 Address, as we need it in the next steps.

Note:
The IPv4 Address could also be named something else, like IPv3 Address.

Note 2:
If you need it on other tutorials, typing ipconfig/all will show the information you get with ipconfig in detail and more.

Step 4: Access to Your Modem / Router

Now, once you are ready (duh), open your Internet browser and type in the IP we just wrote down in the address bar at the top and press [RETURN]. Doing so will open up your moden / router's website, witch usually has the logo of your moden / router's provider. This Instructable is about the SMC version, but can be easily modified for other providers. Now once you are at your modem / router's website, you should see a login form. Usually it shows just one input box, for your password, but some times it asks for an username and a password, in those cases you can look them up on Google. Below i've included a link to a website that offers a list of standard usernames and passwords. These can only be used if your modem / router's login settings are not modified. If they are, you must contact the one who configured your network and modem / router. If you do not know who that is, i'm sorry, but you won't be able to port forward.

http://www.routerpasswords.com/

After entering the (username and) password, click login.

Step 5: Port Forwarding

Now you are at your modem / router's main menu, go to Advanced Settings -> NAT -> Virtual Server. Once you are there, you should see a list of empty input boxes (on the image some have been filled in, that's because I did this before). Now, in the first empty input box, put the last three numbers of the IPv4 Address. Like so: If the IPv4 Address is 192.168.2.100, you put 100 in that box. Then, in the drop-down box, select TCP&UDP. In the LAN PORT and PUBLIC PORT input boxes, enter the Port that needs to be accepted (in the last step I provided some ports used by common things). Now select the enable check-box and click Add.

Complete! You have successfully port forwarded your modem / router!

Now in the next step, I included some ports for you to enjoy... So you can add them for future usage.

Step 6: Some Default Ports

XTremeWorlds: 7234
RuneScape Private Servers: 43594
Eclipse Evolution: 4000 (or 4001)

Of course there are a lot more, just do a quick Google Search and you have enough to add!