# \#ports **URL:** https://community.whatismyip.com/tag/ports/37.md [Latest](https://community.whatismyip.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://community.whatismyip.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://community.whatismyip.com/tags.md) --- ## [What is a port number and why does it matter?](https://community.whatismyip.com/t/what-is-a-port-number-and-why-does-it-matter/70)
**Author:** [@wimiadmin](https://community.whatismyip.com/u/wimiadmin)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [June 4, 2026, 2:20pm UTC](https://community.whatismyip.com/t/what-is-a-port-number-and-why-does-it-matter/70 "2026-06-04T14:20:56Z")
A port number is a way for computers and devices to identify specific services and applications running on a network connection. You can think of an IP address as the address of a building, while port numbers help direc…