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Port Forwarding (Open A Network Port) Guide

Port forwarding allows your device to accept incoming connections directly from other NoLimitConnect users.
Direct connections provide the best experience and allows you to host services.

📡 Why Port Forwarding Matters

NoLimitConnect attempts to connect users directly whenever possible.
However, most home networks use NAT (Network Address Translation), which blocks unsolicited inbound traffic.

If your port is not open:

  • You can still use NoLimitConnect
  • A host you connect to will forward your traffic automatically
  • Performance may be slower compared to direct mode
  • You cannot become a host but can still share, stream etc. with others.

Opening your port allows:

  • Direct peer-to-peer connections
  • Hosting groups, chat rooms, random connect and private networks
  • Better speed and reliability

🔍 Step 1 — Check Your Port Status

Your connection bar color indicates the current network mode:

  • 🟡 Yellow – testing your network
  • 🟠 Orange – port closed, using relay
  • 🟢 Green – port open, direct connection enabled

You can view the test result in the Network Status Bars in the title bar of the app. Network Status

If the bars are orange proceed to Step 2

🌐 Step 2 — Enable UPnP (Automatic Open A Port Method)

🚀 Option 1 — The easy way

  1. Install hide.me VPN → VPN (Hide.me)
  2. Restart NoLimitConnect

🚀 Option 2 — The hard way

Most modern routers support UPnP (Universal Plug and Play).

  1. Open your router’s admin page
  2. Find UPnP settings
  3. Enable UPnP
  4. Restart your router
  5. Restart NoLimitConnect

If UPnP works, the connection bar should turn green shortly after startup.

🚧 Step 3 — Manual Port Forwarding (Advanced Method)

If UPnP is not available:

  1. Open your router’s admin page
  2. Find Port Forwarding, Virtual Server, or NAT settings
  3. Add a new rule:
Setting Value
Port Your NLC port (shown in network settings)
Protocol TCP
Internal IP Your device's LAN IP address
Description “NoLimitConnect”
  1. Save and reboot the router
  2. Restart NoLimitConnect

Your status bar should turn green once incoming traffic is allowed.

📱 Mobile Hotspots and LTE Devices

Most mobile carriers use carrier-grade NAT, which does not support port forwarding.

In these cases:

  • Direct mode is not possible without a VPN that supports UPnP
  • Relay mode will be used automatically if port is not open
  • NoLimitConnect will still function normally

🛠 Troubleshooting

If your port still appears closed:

  • Restart your router
  • Reboot your device
  • Ensure no VPN or firewall is blocking the port
  • Ensure you forwarded the correct internal IP address
  • Verify that two devices on the same network cannot test each other
  • Try a different LAN cable or Wi-Fi band (2.4 GHz vs 5 GHz)

For the best performance, use UPnP or manual forwarding on a stable home router.