If you’ve started taking an interest in Port Forwarding, chances are you’ve already come across the term Port Triggering. This Port Forwarding vs Port Triggering article aims to cover the three most important factors involved in Port Triggering and Port Forwarding. At the same time, it also highlights the key differences when it comes to the Port Forwarding vs Port Triggering debate.
What is Port Forwarding?
Port Forwarding, otherwise known as Port Mapping, is a technique that allows you to forward data from a particular port on one node to another. Data is intercepted from one computer and then redirected towards another. Port Forwarding is mostly used when you want to access a networked device, such as a gaming server, security cameras, or shared computer, from a remote location.
The three most common kind of Port Forwarding techniques include:
- Local Port Forwarding: Sends data from one client app to another within one system. Helpful in sidestepping local firewalls.
- Remote Port Forwarding: Allows server-side applications on SSH to access data and devices on the client-side.
- Dynamic Port Forwarding: Most commonly used to bypass NAT by creating a tunnel for secure connections.
How Does Port Forwarding Work?
On a standard TCP/IP network, data is transmitted via different means. However, data is always broken down into different packets to make transportation easier. Each packet has relevant information about where it is eventually headed.
These packets travel between network devices via routers. Routers send and determine routes of all packets. The router accesses the packet information to determine these destinations and routes.
Port Forwarding intercepts these packets while they’re in transit. The intercepting app takes on the role of a router and records the original route before rerouting it. Then it sends the packet to the router that reads the amended information and sends it to the new destination rather than the original one.
An example would be when you try and access a remote security camera that is not on the cloud and instead is only accessible via a specific port on your local network. If you’ve enabled Port Forwarding on the network the camera is connected to, you can easily access the camera’s footage whenever you want. This is because, thanks to Port Forwarding, this feed will be redirected to your end.
Setting Up Port Forwarding
The first thing you’ll need is a device that uses a static IP Address. You can then configure these IP addresses from your computer or from within the router itself. You’ll need to have admin rights and look for a client list, DHCP pool, and DHCP reservation. Once done, look for the IP address of the device you want to forward to. Click on Add or Reserve to select that specific IP Address.
Log in to your router and find the Port Forwarding settings. You will need to type in the port number or range you want to forward to. The port numbers you enter will depend on the kind of service you want to run via Port Forwarding. Next, select TCP or UDP (or both; TCP is usually sufficient for most activities) and enter the IP address of the device, as mentioned earlier. To finish the process, select Enable or On and voila! You’ll have enabled Port Forwarding on your preferred device.
An Example
Let’s give a quick example. If you have a computer on your local network that resides at IP address 192.168.3.165 that you have created for an SSH server, you would go to your router’s backend and make sure 192.168.3.165 becomes a reserved IP address (which means the reservation never changes for whatever reason due to the DHCP lease expiration, and then whenever you reboot this computer or your router, the IP always stays the same).
The next thing you’d need to do is enable port 22 which is the typical SSH port. When you go to the Port Forwarding section, you’d ensure port forwarding allows port 22 (TCP in this case) to be assigned to 192.168.3.165. Now, whenever people try to SSH to your public IP address, the router will direct the SSH traffic to this computer. Because you may have other computers on the same network, port forwarding is a necessary redirection mechanism which supports many different devices and ports.
What is Port Triggering?
Port Triggering is a more dynamic version of Port Forwarding. Port Triggering is used when the host needs access to multiple devices simultaneously. Moreover, Port Triggering can also be useful when the incoming and outgoing ports are different.
Network administrators use Port Triggering as a sort of digital mapping technique. This technique is particularly useful since it opens the ports when needed while closing them when not in use.
How Does Port Triggering Work?
The router monitors the traffic within the network when a user uses Port Triggering. A trigger port is then specified and then used for all outbound data. The router then logs the IP addresses of the computers that received that data and then opens an incoming port before it forwards the traffic to that location.
This is essentially what differentiates Port Forwarding and Port Triggering as the user can specify which ports they want to use for incoming and outgoing data packets. This ensures that any cyber-attack chances are minimized since the ports not being used are closed.
Setting Up Port Triggering
This process is just as simple as Port Forwarding. First, you’ll need to log in to the router’s web setup page. Go to the Port Forwarding settings, and you’ll see a Port Triggering option. The exact process might differ from router to router.
For instance, Netgear routers offer Port Forwarding/Port Triggering options right on top of the home page. Contrariwise, TP-Link routers might make you scroll down a bit and look for Port Forwarding and Port Triggering options from a list of other features available.
Is Port Forwarding Safe?
In short, completely. There are zero risks associated with Port Forwarding. When you compare Port Forwarding vs Port Triggering, both of them are completely safe and won’t put you in harm’s way. Almost all the rumors and supposed dangers of Port Forwarding belong to the age of modems. Most modern operating systems have resilient firewalls that eliminate even the remotest possibility of cyber-attacks.
Port Forwarding Hub 