Antsmarching.org Forums - Dave Matthews Band Discussion - View Single Post - How do I forward the ports for my software firewall?

**Matt** · 12-14-2006, 06:04 AM

Software Firewalls
A software firewall will work one of two ways, it will either imitate a hardware firewall and block all traffic on all ports unless told otherwise; or it will only allow specified applications access to the internet. The Windows XP firewall works on port configurations, and something like Zone Alarm works by granting programs access.

When using something like Zone Alarm, you just need to give your BitTorrent Client (like uTorrent) permission to access the internet.

What ports should I use?
The default ports are 6881-6889. But that does not mean to say that you have to or should use them. Some ISP's throttle bandwidth on these ports, and some trackers have banned them because of that. So choose 10 ports of your own (10 is enough) between 50,000 and 60,000. This is considered to be a safe zone and any 10 ports you choose should not already be in use.

In order to change the ports all you need to do is choose 10 ports. Now open them up in your router or firewall as covered above, and then change the settings in your client to reflect the new ports being used. Each client is different so it is best to search your specific client's support site for information on how to do this.

12-14-2006, 06:04 AM	#1
Matt Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 11,754 Shows Seen: 89 DMB Hub Stubs: 28 My Tour Central Stats	How do I forward the ports for my software firewall? Software Firewalls A software firewall will work one of two ways, it will either imitate a hardware firewall and block all traffic on all ports unless told otherwise; or it will only allow specified applications access to the internet. The Windows XP firewall works on port configurations, and something like Zone Alarm works by granting programs access. When using something like Zone Alarm, you just need to give your BitTorrent Client (like uTorrent) permission to access the internet. What ports should I use? The default ports are 6881-6889. But that does not mean to say that you have to or should use them. Some ISP's throttle bandwidth on these ports, and some trackers have banned them because of that. So choose 10 ports of your own (10 is enough) between 50,000 and 60,000. This is considered to be a safe zone and any 10 ports you choose should not already be in use. In order to change the ports all you need to do is choose 10 ports. Now open them up in your router or firewall as covered above, and then change the settings in your client to reflect the new ports being used. Each client is different so it is best to search your specific client's support site for information on how to do this.