How to Port Forward on Windstream
By Steve McDonnell
Whether you're hosting the company's Web server behind your Windstream router or an employee needs access to a specific port for Web conferencing, you can edit the router's setup options and forward a single port, a range of port numbers or multiple individual ports to one or more local IP addresses on your network. Your Windstream router will forward only the kind of traffic you designate, for example, TCP, UDP, TCP and UDP or ICMP.
Launch a browser, type "192.168.254.254" into the address bar and press "Enter" to access the setup screens for your Windstream router.
Type "admin" as the username. Enter the password you assigned to the router or type "admin" as the password if you haven't assigned one yet. Click "OK" to log in.
Choose "Setup" and "Port Forwarding."
Choose a service from Option A to forward a standard port such as HTTP. Select the protocol and enter a port range to manually select a port. Enter the same port number as the To and From ports if you only want to forward a single port.
Enter the IP address to which you want to forward the Internet traffic on the port you specified and then choose "Apply."
Warnings
Opening ports on your router creates a security vulnerability for your network and makes it more susceptible to some malicious attacks.
The instructions in this article apply to the Windstream 4200 and Windstream 5200 series routers. Instructions for forwarding ports on other Windstream models might vary.
References
Writer Bio
Steve McDonnell's experience running businesses and launching companies complements his technical expertise in information, technology and human resources. He earned a degree in computer science from Dartmouth College, served on the WorldatWork editorial board, blogged for the Spotfire Business Intelligence blog and has published books and book chapters for International Human Resource Information Management and Westlaw.