Nintendo Switch Port Forward: Why You Shouldn’t Do It

A lot of Splatoon 3 players want a better online experience, and Nintendo suggests you tweak the port ahead. But you will be surprised to know the real steps given by Nintendo. And yes, it’s on the official website, which makes it even more disturbing. So, in this guide, let’s quickly check why you shouldn’t be transferring your Nintendo Switch.

Why You Should NOT Transfer Your Nintendo Switch

The problem with the Nintendo advice is that it tells you to open ports 1 to 65535. This is bad because Nintendo asks you to open all ports for your Nintendo Switch. It would be different if Nintendo told you which ports to open and forced you to open a certain number of ports. And while you might say that this is only for your Nintendo console, there is still a risk. And the risk is that some hacker will find a potential exploit that could allow them to access other networks on your system because of all the open ports.

When you port forward, you are basically allowing other people access to your network. So the general rule of thumb should be to keep as few ports open as possible to limit any unnecessary access. Thus, when you open all ports on your Nintendo Switch, you are putting your safety net at risk. And another problem with opening all ports is that all UDP traffic will be sent to your switch from your network. This may result in blocking other services.

As a user, the best thing you can do is check your router’s UPNP (Universal Plug and Play) settings. Instead, you should go to your router settings and turn it on. Since this will eliminate the need to configure the port ahead.

That covers this guide on why you shouldn’t be transferring your Nintendo Switch and how it’s a bad idea.

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