RT-AC68U port forwarding just won't work

[ron_jeremy]

I've been trying to get port forwarding to work for a couple days now without any luck.
Note: I use custom DNS settings but no VPN stuff on the router or my laptop.

Router:
RT-AC68U running latest ASUS firmware 3.0.0.4.386_40558-gc48f410.
DHCP reservation (only for my laptop: 192.168.1.21).

• Port forwarding turned on.
• External Port: 50000
• Internal Port: blank
• Protocol: Both
• Internal IP: 192.168.1.21 (my laptop is also found in device drop-down list).
• Source (external) IP: blank

Macbook Pro:
Running macOS 11.1 Big Sur.
Connects to router via 5GHz band.
Mac software firewall turned off.
Macbook with confirmed reserved IP: 192.168.1.21

Port forwarding simply doesn't work. I also tried various online port checkers and they all confirm that whichever port I open still shows as being closed.

Adjustments that didn't work:

• adding 50000 also for internal port (instead of being blank)
• adding 0.0.0.0 as source IP (instead of being blank)
• adding separate entries for UDP and TCP (instead of single entry with 'Both" as the protocol)
• rebooting router
• turning off uPNP
• using older firmware
• many other port numbers

Any ideas?

 

[ColinTaylor]

What service are you running on your MacBook on port 50000?

Have you confirmed that the WAN IP address shown at Network Map > Internet status > WAN IP is the same as that shown by https://canyouseeme.org/ ?

 

[ron_jeremy]

Yeah, the WAN IP matches.

I got it working by turning port forwarding off. Yep, my problem was that I had port forwarding turned on. Once I turned it off (as shown in screenshot) it started working. Go figure.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Strange. Maybe there was a conflict with another rule. You can check the currently active rules at System Log - Port Forwarding.

 

[ron_jeremy]

I have not set any other rules but the port seems to be open now. If I enable port forwarding and recheck the port it goes back to "closed".

 

[ColinTaylor]

So what do you see under System Log - Port Forwarding in each of those circumstances. Does it confirm that the On/Off toggle is reversed?

 

[ron_jeremy]

I don't see anything there other than the column headers (even after refershing):

Source Destination Proto. Port range Redirect to Local port

 

[ColinTaylor]

I don't see anything there other than the column headers (even after refershing):

Source Destination Proto. Port range Redirect to Local port

That would be what you would expect if port forwarding was turned off (I assume it's currently off). What happens if you turn it on? Do you now see the rule in the log?

 

[ron_jeremy]

Here are my current working port forwarding settings:

 

[ron_jeremy]

At this point I don't want to turn anything on or off or mess with it in any way. In the future I'm going to restrict my ASUS purchases to motherboards and GPU's, and leave the networking equipment to others.