The incoming ports that need to be forwarded for a Night Owl FS-8500 DVR are:
Night Owl FS-8500 - PC
- TCP: 80, 9000
- UDP:
Forwarding Ports for a Night Owl FS-8500 DVR
You might need to forward some ports in your router when you use a Night Owl FS-8500 DVR. A port forward allows incoming connection requests from the internet to go straight to a Night Owl FS-8500 DVR.
Routers are not designed to allow incoming network requests. A port forward can overcome this limitation.
Before Forwarding a Port Checkoff This To Do List
You need to know the following things before you can forward a port:
- Your router's IP address.
- The internal IP address of your DVR.
- The list of the TCP and UDP ports that you need to forward.
Find the IP Address of Your Router
To find your router's IP address the easy way you can use our free Router Detector software. It is part of our Network Utilities suite of tools and is free for you to use it.
If you do not want to run the software, you can follow our Find Your Router IP Address guide.
How To Forward Ports for a Night Owl FS-8500 DVR
The easiest way to forward your ports is to use our Network Utilities software. Our Network Utilities software allows you to add port forwards and also remove them when you no longer need them to maximize your network security.
Alternatively you can do it by hand. The way to forward a port is:
- Begin by logging in to your router.
- Locate the section in your router that deals with port forwarding.
- Put the IP address of your DVR in the proper box in your router.
- Put the TCP and UDP ports for a Night Owl FS-8500 DVR in the corresponding boxes in your router.
Frequently you have to reboot your router for the changes to take effect.
You can choose your router from our list to see exactly how to forward ports for a Night Owl FS-8500 DVR:
List of Routers - Customized for Night Owl FS-8500
That's all it takes to forward your ports for a Night Owl FS-8500 DVR.