Simple Port Forward

Admittedly, I don't comprehend the need for third-party port forwarding utilities. Port forwarding and port triggering are standard features in most consumer and business routers. A possible use case scenario is the need to port forward on a router you don't have access to (in testing, I discovered that you do need to be able to log in with Simple Port Forwarding). In some cases, a router's management interface may make port forwarding tricky to setup and a third-party device many be easier for users to work with. Simple Port Forwarding is a free utility for Windows designed to help you set up port forwarding on a router. Besides a sharp, modern UI and tons of help in explaining how to port forward, as a utility, I found Simple Port Forwarding unnecessary to use for port forwarding in my router.

Availability and Download
Simple Port Forwarding comes in two varities: Ffree, and a $12.95 Pro edition. Both versions provide some extra functionality besides port forwarding, such as remote port forwarding from a browser, built-in port forwarding tester, access to guides and screenshots of port forwarding on the major routers out there, and more.

The free version is a quick download and install. As soon as you launch the program it updates a database of routers and applications that require port forwarding rules to work. This database is used to populate a drop-down menu from which you select your router and the application you are trying to port traffic to so you don't have to do any manually entry. However, adding an application from the drop-down list is only available in the paid version?in the free version I tested you still have to manually create a port forwarding rule. As far as detecting the router, Simple Port Forwarding automatically picked up and displayed my Netgear N600 WNDR3700 and its IP address.

Upon launch, the Simple Port Forwarding app opens a checklist users can follow to automate the port forwarding process. The features in the checklist, such as adding a rule from the drop-down menu are only available, again in the paid version. In the free version, there's another console for adding port forwarding manually, writing the rule to the router, and accessing other tools such as ping and a port forwarding test utility.

The UI is slick . You can even click a button "Show your router" which will display an actual image of your router make and model (as long as it's in Simple Port Forwarding's database). It's a sharp-looking interface that is more attractive and intuitive than many router interfaces, so I can see why a user may want to manage port forwarding through Simple Port Forwarding than many router management consoles.

The Test
However, looks aren't everything. Through the app, I could not add a port forwarding rule to my router using the free version?which the website states is supported.? I attempted to add a custom rule to port forward FTP traffic. After specifying the start and end ports as well as the destination IP, I clicked a button in the UI to add the newly created port forwarding entry to the router. I received a message stating that the rule was already created each time I tried to update to the router. The message persisted although an FTP port forward setting was not defined on the router's interface and a router reboot did not help.

The Verdict
If you can't port forward with Simple Port Forwarding, a port forwarding utility, you must consider the app useless. Yet, besides the cool interface, there is one good use of the app?it provides lots of tutelage on port forwarding. The app even guides you to links with step-by-step instructions with images on how to port forward on almost every major router interface on the market.? If you want to find out more about port forwarding or how to port forward your particular router, Simple Port Forwarding's website is a great destination. I didn?t test the paid version, but I would hope that if such care is taken to the website and design, support for this product would be decent.

However, the purpose of the software is to port forward your router, and the free version of app just did not work for me. Since the interface is well done, there are some tools to help you troubleshoot connections, and there's an abundance of help on port forwarding?all in the free version, Simple Port Forward gets 2.5 stars not so much for functionality but for its feature set.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/GX9CpXw-O30/0,2817,2409217,00.asp

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