Hello @Lars_Sven_Willumeit
That behavior, where the router wipes the port numbers when you confirm, usually means it rejected something in the form and cleared it rather than telling you why. Here is what to check, starting with the most likely explanation.
Make sure you are creating a new rule, not editing an existing one.
Two things commonly cause exactly what you are describing. If you are working in the Games and Apps section you found earlier, those are preset templates with their own fixed ports, so anything you type over them gets reset to the template values the moment you confirm. And if the list you are editing contains entries the router created automatically through UPnP, those are usually read only, and the router will quietly discard your changes rather than refuse them outright.
So please look for a section named something like Port Forwarding or NAT, use whatever option adds a new custom rule there, and give it a name of your own such as Roon ARC. If you have already created partial or broken entries while experimenting, please delete those first so they cannot conflict with the new one.
Tell us the exact router.
Please send us the model of your Salt router and its firmware version. They are usually on a label underneath the unit, or on the router’s status page. The port forwarding form varies quite a bit between models, and we would rather advise on yours specifically than in general terms.
Check for an existing rule on the same port.
Please look through all the forwarding sections, including Games and Apps, for anything already using port 55002. Many routers silently refuse a new rule that collides with an existing one, and clearing the fields is a common way for them to do it.
Variations worth trying, one at a time.
Leave the external host field empty rather than entering *. Some routers treat * as invalid input and clear the form.
If there is a dropdown listing the devices on your network, please select your Mac mini from it rather than typing 192.168.1.5 by hand. Several routers only accept forwarding to a device they already recognize.
If the port fields expect a range, please enter 55002 as both the start and the end.
Give the Mac mini a fixed address.
In your router’s DHCP settings, please add a reservation for the Mac mini at 192.168.1.5. Some routers will not save a forwarding rule pointing at an address they consider temporary, and even where they do, the rule stops working later when that address changes.
If it still will not save.
Please send us two screenshots: the form filled in exactly as you enter it, taken just before you confirm, and the same screen immediately afterwards. Between those two we should be able to see what the router is objecting to.
One thing for afterwards.
Once the rule is in place and Roon ARC connects, please set your router’s security level back to where it was. A single forwarded port for Roon Server is all that should be needed, and running the whole router on low security is not a trade you should have to make for this.
On your earlier suggestion about Salt adding a Roon ARC entry to their Games and Apps presets, that is a sensible idea and we have noted it internally. It is not something we can arrange quickly, since it depends on the router vendor rather than on us, but it is worth having on the record.
