The following ports need to be forwarded for iChat:
iChat - PC
- TCP: 5190, 5220, 5222, 5298
- UDP: 5060, 5190, 5297, 5298, 5353, 5678, 16384-16403
Forwarding Ports for iChat
You may need to forward ports in your router when you use iChat. Forwarding ports is used to allow incoming connection requests from the internet to iChat.
By default routers do not allow incoming network requests. A port forward can overcome this limitation.
Before You Forward a Port
Before you can forward a port you need to know the following things:
- Your router's internal IP address.
- Your computer's IP address.
- A list of TCP and UDP ports that need to be forwarded.
Find Your Router's IP Address
The easiest way to locate your router's IP address is to run our free Router Detector utility. Our Router Detector tool is free to use and is part of our Network Utilities software.
We have a guide you can follow Find Your Router IP Address if you don't want to run the software.
How To Forward Ports for iChat
The easiest way to forward your ports is to use our Network Utilities software. Network Utilities lets you manage port forwards by putting them in when you need them and also removing the ones that you no longer need which maximized network security.
Another option is to go through the process of forwarding ports one step at a time. The process for forwarding a port is:
- Log in to your router.
- Locate the section in your router that deals with port forwarding.
- Type your computer's IP address into the correct box in your router.
- Enter the TCP and UDP ports that you need to forward for iChat in the corresponding boxes in your router.
Some routers need to be rebooted in order for the changes to be saved.
You can choose your router from our list to see exactly how to forward ports for iChat:
List of Routers - Customized for iChat
Those are the steps for forwarding ports in your router for iChat.