Windows 7 - Windows 7 cannot open a port

I have spent the last two hours trying to open a port for a remote control application.

I have tomato 1.27 running on an asus wl500gP router.

I am running windows 7 ultimate

i have an Arris voip modem through comcast

The problem is this, i forwarded the port correctly in tomato yet the port is still closed. I have tried the following:

Enabling DMZ
Disabling windows firewall by either the control panel or through services.msc
Enabled UPNP in the application, it opens the port according to tomato yet external port testers still say its closed
reset the router and pc numerous times
hard reset the router
Hooking PC directly into cable modem

I believe that this is strictly a windows 7 issue now as the router is out of the equation. The only security software I have is Avira free edition, windows defender, and (disabled) windows firewall.

Can anyone give me help as to why I cannot open a port? It would be greatly appreciated as I am leaving for a trip in 36 hours and would like to be able to remotely control this application