Port Forwarding

Port forwarding tells a router or firewall to send connections arriving on a given external port to a specific internal device and port. Because NAT normally hides internal devices behind one public address and blocks unsolicited inbound connections, port forwarding is how you deliberately expose a service — a game server, a home application, a remote-access tool — so that outside clients can reach it. It is about accepting inbound connections, which is the opposite of the outbound-only masking a proxy provides.

You configure a rule mapping, say, external port 25565 to an internal machine's port 25565; the router then relays matching inbound traffic to that device. This only works when you control a public-facing address and the router in front of it. That is precisely where carrier-grade NAT gets in the way: if your ISP puts you behind CGNAT, you share a public IP with many others and cannot forward a port, because you do not own an inbound-reachable address. A public, dedicated address solves that.

An outbound exit address does not by itself open inbound ports to your device. That requires separate supported routing and firewall configuration. A dedicated IP is exclusive during its assignment under the service terms. Prior history, assignment duration, availability and supported bindings still matter. Authenticated SOCKS5 (1080) and HTTP (3128) use the configured endpoint. Proxy credentials remain required when you choose another available exit. Related topics: proxies, VPN, CGNAT, dedicated IP.