Make Your Router Xbox Live Compatible
Submitted by Midnight on Tue, 01/30/2007 - 9:47pm.
Have you ever unsuccessfully tried to find a friend's game on Xbox Live even though you knew it was there? Have you ever been unable to join a friend's XBL game when he sent you an invite? Have you ever been in a pregame lobby and been unable to hear the voice communications of other players?
I think we've all experienced problems like the ones above. They are frustrating to encounter and even more frustrating to troubleshoot. However, most problems of this nature can be traced to NAT (Network Address Translation).
What is NAT?
From a helpful page on xbox.com:
When multiple devices share a single Internet connection (a PC and an Xbox 360 system, for instance), the networked devices typically rely on Network Address Translation (NAT) to prevent information traffic jams.
Routers with different NAT settings don't like to talk to each other. Think of this like high school cliques. The most snobbish NAT setting is "strict." Routers with this setting are like Abercrombie and Fitch models. In addition to being unusually thin, they are extremely discerning in whom they talk to, and when a router with a NAT setting of "open" asks to connect, it'll probably get rejected. The "open" NAT setting is the most forgiving.
Think of routers with this setting like a bus station skank. Yeah, it may catch a disease once in a while, but it sees a lot of action. It doesn't reject anybody, and besides its monthly trip to the clinic for free profilactics it's always available for online gaming.
Somewhere in the middle is the NAT setting of "moderate." Routers with this setting are like the kids that live at Hot Topic. These routers are very mysterious and often grow up to produce indie punk rock into their early thirties. Nobody really knows what's going on inside the "moderate" setting. It's more strict than "open" and it's more open than "strict." Exactly what level of noncompliance trips the switch to "moderate" is anybody's guess. Here's a handy chart of what NAT settings can talk to each other.
The bottom line is that if your network uses a router the following is probably true:
- It needs to use NAT.
- NAT may cause Xbox Live connectivity problems.
- You can fix the possible problems by tweaking a few settings.
How do you determine if NAT is the source of the internet gremlins that are stealin' yer voice packets?
One of the easiest ways is to see if your router has been certified by the Xbox team as Xbox Live compatible. This is a free program Microsoft offers to network equipment manufacturers to help them get their equipment XBL compliant. The company sends the Xbox team sample equipment and the Xbox team works with the company to get their router within spec. After it is compliant, the company can sport the "Xbox Live Compatible" logo. See the list of certified Xbox Live compatible routers here.
If you are one of the many people who's router is not on the "officially approved" list, like myself, then read on.
Power on your Xbox 360, boot to the dashboard, and pull up the "network settings" option inside the system tab. Perform the "Xbox Live Connection Test" and note the last field at the bottom of the screen for "NAT." If you connect successfully and the NAT value returned is "moderate" or "strict" then it is probably the source of your woes. As you can see below, my router returned a setting of "moderate."
Microsoft has a support page to help you with your NAT settings. The prescribed solution is to "open" the following ports on your router:
- UDP 88
- UDP 3074
- TCP 3074
By "open" I mean forward traffic on those ports to your Xbox 360 console. First, you need to find the local IP of your Xbox 360 console. You can get this from the network settings tab in the dashboard. It's probably 192.168.x.x. Now, login to your router's admin panel. If you've never done this, refer to your router's user manual. It's not difficult at all. If you're absolutely too lazy or unable to find the manual, try the following:
- Type 192.168.1.1 into your browser's address bar. If that doesn't bring up your router's admin panel try 192.168.1.100 or 192.168.2.1
- When you get the login screen for your router try the following common default user name/ password combinations UN: admin PW: admin UN: admin PW: blank (I mean literally, leave it blank) PW only: blank
- The above attempts are a last ditch effort because you won't Google your router's model number, so stop complaining that it doesn't work for you.
After you get logged in there are a plethora of settings to screw up...err... tweak. You're looking for a setting that says port forwarding, virtual servers, UPnP forwarding, or something similar. Bottom line is find a screen that looks like the one below, and enter the above settings in addition to your console's IP address. As you can see, my console's IP is 192.168.2.3.
Hit apply, submit, or whatever button is applicable and see if you broke anything. Nothing on fire? Good. Rerun the Xbox Live Connection Test in the dashboard and see if it improved your NAT setting. In my case, my Belkin router has a cool setting called "DMZ" under the firewall settings. It allows me to effectively place one local IP address (device) outside the NAT settings of the rest of the network. It appears to be specifically inserted for situations when the "NAT feature is causing problems with an application such as a game."
I'm not worried about the risks of someone hacking my Xbox 360, because if they do they've made a huge discovery and will be blogging about it at xboxscene.com anyway. I told it to exclude my Xbox 360 from NAT, reran the test, and my NAT setting changed to "open." Woot!
These directions won't work for everyone. Actually, there's a decent chance that you'll screw something up during this process and temporarily kill your XBL connectivity or even your internet connection. If you do, just find the hard reset button on your router (this will return the router to default settings) and cut your losses. You also may need to restart some or all of your networking equipment for the new settings to take effect. This is as easy as unplugging the device from AC power and plugging it back in. Networking is a mystical art full of surprises. Dive in, change some settings, and figure out what's happening inside that Pandora's Box of packets. There's nothing you can do that $60 and a trip to Best Buy won't fix.
This guide will show you how to connect to Xbox Live using your laptop with a wireless connection using Windows Vista.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| xbl-compatible.jpg | 5.6 KB |
Good article, Midnight. With the recent updates to Gears of War, some people are still having trouble. This article might help some of those people.
BTW: My NAT is OPEN. Unsure why sparda can't find me in GoW when he used to be able to.
It's because sparda's router thinks yours is 'such a tramp' and wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.
Nice info Midnight, glad we've got a fix for this now.
need sum help if anybody is using a lynksys router the BEFW11S4 with an OPEN NAT please HELP IVE TRIED EVERYTHING
i have nothing to add
do you think this will work with my netgear router? thanks, if you can email me with the answer
kdog679@aol.com
Just noticed that a FASA employee linked to this article in a networking FAQ on the Shadowrun website: http://forums.shadowrun.com/forums/thread/80294.aspx
My NAT is Open! Yaaay
Wow.
Thanks, after doing what you said, my NAT is now open. Those pics really helped.
^^ we seem to have a Roger Zelazny fan in our midst!
DJ
Hi I got a doosy for you. I currently runnig DSl with a Motorola 2Wire modem with a built in 4 port router. I then have 1 wire run to my room to a Netgear WGR614v4 router, then I have my computer and Xbox 360 off the router. Now in the living room my roommate has 1 wire off the modem into a Linksys WRT54G. She then has her computer and Xbox 360 off her router. In case your wondering the other two ports on the modem are used by two other individuals with pcs elsewhere in the house. Now the problem you described is the same problem we are having, we cannot hear each other or join each others room. If a person outside our network hosts the room we can join and play no problem. The problem only occurs when either of us try to host the room. Now if we bypass the routers and go straight of the modem, there is no problems. So we know it's the routers that are conflicting. Also if one of us is hooked straight to the modem and another is on the router, we can join the room together but the communicators are all weird she can hear me, but I can't hear or vice versa. This is only with the Xboxes, we can all in the house on our PCs at the same time no problem, it is only when me and roomate try and play Halo 2. If we both play a different game ie: me on battlefield, her on Halo, we are fine. There has even been times we have both played Halo in seperate rooms just fine. It only effects when we try to join up and communicate over the headsets. Also both of our Xboxs NAT are set to Open, and we have opened our ports on our routers using the 88 UDP, 3074 UDP and the 3074 TCP, well she did that, I am only allowed on my router to open 88 UDP and 3074 TCP, when I try and open the 3074 UDP my router say conflicting port. Please help us.
I started to recommend you make a diagram with powerpoint, word, etc in order to help me understand your network architecture, but to be honest I really don't think I can help anyway. You've done the obvious things. Only recommendation I have is to make sure the router connected to the primary router is just acting as a switch. Hell, even a cheap hub might resolve your problem. I definitely think you're at the stage to start throwing money at the problem (different equipment). Sorry. That's all the help I can offer.
Didn't work damn
I have a linksys wrt300n. It was reading open until about a week ago and then suddenly the nat went to strict I tried what you posted, but to no success. Does anyone have an idea how to fix this?
Here is a solution.
If you only have 2 xbox 360's and nothing else just get an extra ip address from your isp and a switch/hub and your set.
If you have a pc along with your 2 xbox 360's then you need something more complicated. You can only have port 88 open on one system at a time that is why a router doesn't work with one public ip address.
So what you do is have again 2 public ip addresses i pay an extra 10 bucks for mine.
Then you need 2 routers it will look like this
Cable/Dsl modem->Hub/switch->router#1->xbox 360,pc
See Above........................->router#2->xbox 360,wii,etc
I used Netgear RP614NT(49.xx @ staples) and its wireless counterpart the 54m wireless version(44.xx @ staples) each said vista live compatible. Just left everything setup for default and both xbox 360's report open ports. As each xbox has its own router and each router has its own public ip address there is no conflict for the ports.
PS make sure your bandwidth is at least 512 upstream preferably 768 or greater! the reason is your bandwidth is halfed when both systems are online and playing a multiplayer game.
any questions let me know
nospamfugazi70@nospamhotmail.com
this helps alot but the only thing is.. i cant type in my IP in the browser because it will never show up for some reason.. do u no how i can fix that
Your router is probably at another IP address that those mentioned above. You need to access your router's control panel. It's usually available as a web page and located on some IP address on your network.
If you are on Windows, hit the and . Type "CMD" in box and hit . This brings up a command prompt.
Type "ipconfig /all" and hit .
You should see the IP address of at least two devices on your network (your local machine and your gateway).
Note the IP address of the "Default Gateway". Also note the IP address of the "DHCP server" and "DNS server". You can try those if the Gateway IP address does not work.
Try typing in the IP of the "Default Gateway" in your web browser. If that is in fact the IP address of the control web page for your device, then you will be prompted for a username and password. Follow the instructions in the original post to learn what to do from here.
Finally, you can consult your products documentation. Look on the front and back of your device. Find how who made your product (e.g. Linksys) and what model it is (WRT54G v5). Go to the manufacturers website and locate the docuementation for that product. In that documentation they will tell you how to get to the control panel web page for your device.
ya see the only thing is is that my default gateway, my DHCP server, and DNS servers are all the same IP address and when i type it in to the browser it doesnt show up. do u think that i might have to open up a port or something to make the web page show up?
Hey poppabeartk, I've seen this 2wire thing before. I would recommend you put the 2Wire modem+router into modem only mode (called Bridged mode). There are lots of places on the web to learn how to do that, google it.
Then move your Linksys router to the same location so that it becomes the only router you need to use. A single router makes it easy to do the port forwarding.
It made mine worse. It was at moderate, but I did what you have up there and now its at strict :/
Uh oh. Make sure you have the port numbers correct (and in the right place)!
we have to 360's hooked up and when i changed the setting for the first xbox it worked, but when i entered the settings with the local ip for the second xbox, it changed the second ip address to strict. Does anyone have any advice/help for changing my second xbox to open. Please email me at willsocgv@yahoo.com or call 616-889-9537, id like to get this fixed asap. Thanks.
Nate
sorry about the double posting, i just looked up and realized that someone had already posted something about two xboxes...my bad. So i have to call comcast, my isp and just ask for a second IP address, and then i have to get ANOTHER broadband router, does that mean i will have two cable modems?
nate
nate, do not buy anything from your cable company. You might have to buy another router (I did recently) for the 2 xboxes problem, I've had this problem with my linksys for years until I bought a d-link. Once I got the new router, it worked perfectly. It has to do with port forwarding and how the router handles multiple IPs with ports forwarded. My problem was that it could only forward to 1 Xbox at a time, but it would work fine for just one box.
Your router will assign the xboxes a local IP address through DHCP, something like 192.168.1.100, and 192.168.1.101. Your router will only need to grab 1 IP address from the cable company to represent your whole network on the "outside". Local IP addresses don't matter to the outside world.
"Oculus is just this guy, you know"
Why are people so quick to give out their email addresses and phone numbers lately?
Fantastic! Thanks for the article, it worked! My PC's still (relatively) secure... right?
Hey, for everyone who is having problems, I reccomend making sure your router/hub watever is updated to its latest firmware. I had two friends with Netgear routers(diffrent models though) and with factory firmware they were both on NAT Strict. But after each of them updated they are now both NAT Open. Hope this helps.
I have a belkin f5d8233-4
I've tried opening ports (didn't work)
Tried UPnp ( still didn't work)
DMZ worked but then i lost connection on my computer
i typed in 192.168.2.1 and all the other and i either got a blank screen or a password box with a blank screen. what am i doing wrong?
Find the make and model of your equipment. Go to the manufacturers website and search for the users manual. Read the manual to discover the IP address you must enter to access the administration page.
There is a small chance that the IP address was changed to something other than that mentioned in the manual. If you don't mind losing the settings that you may or may not have already entered into the router, you can reset the router to the factory defaults. For directions on how to do that, read the manual.
-----
currently playing: Halo 3, Shadowrun, Call of Duty 4 MP beta
currently supporting: Ron Paul - r3/\O¯|ution
how do i find my ip fr the 360 i have that dmz thing to
There are several ways to do this. The easiest way is to go to your SYSTEM blade and check your NETWORK SETTINGS. Your IP address of the XBOX 360 is listed in there.
-----
currently playing: Halo 3, Shadowrun, Call of Duty 4 MP beta
currently supporting: Ron Paul - r3/\O¯|ution
Ok so i have two 360s and i'm trying to make it so my little brother can have an open Nat like i do. But to add an extra problem to the whole situation if he signs on i get kicked off XBL and vice versa.I have a Linksys WRT54G router. Do i need to buy another IP address and another router? Or is there another simpler less expensive solution?
I tried everything here and even some stuff that wasn't to no success. Finally, I updated my router's firmware and it magically switched to Open.
Hey thanks alot for posting this i used to have a linsys router(crap) but i just got my belkin G+ mimo router and i was upset cuz it was running moderate and i ha no idea if i would even be able to make it run open and was getting ready to go out and purchase a XBL compatible router but because of your site i dont have to go waste more money thanks man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have a Linksys befsr41. I have open NAT, but still am missing voice packets. I enabled NAT, uPnP enabled, uPnP forwarded 3074 and 88. If I configure anything further, I lose all connectivity on my xbox and computer for less than a second every 5 minutes or so.
Should I forward the ports 88 and 3074 on port range forwarding, or on uPnP forwarding? Is uPnP forwarding for basically torrent tracking, for example, and port range forwarding for games, xbox, etc.?
You saved me $200 in new routers and game adapters. I have a Belkin router. This worked. unbelievable. Even xbox says Belkin won't work. You are amazing. Thanks.
I did the port forwording. I'm not using a router but my modem is a netopia 224in. It didn't work. Do I have to reset the device or send it to NASA. What do I have to spend money on to get this thing to work.
I have a problem. Up until a certain point, everything was working well for me. Then, on my Netgear router setup page, it said that I couldn't use the UDP triggering port of 3074 because I had already used it for the TCP 3074 port. After that, I tried to get it right, but now I think I have to reset my router. Also, it said that I couldn't name 3 things the same name, is this a problem?
dude you are god!
Hey guys, it seems my problem MAY be answered in this thread because it is very similar (but no one has mentioned the exact same problem as this):
I have 1 router, and two xbox 360s connected to it, each using a PCs wireless internet connection. (as in, 1 360 plugged into PC, and two network connections allowing sharing, and the same again for the other 360)
Everything works fine online, both at the same time as well, but the only problem we have found is we cannot both party up with each other, so far we've tried in Halo 3 and CoD 4, and neither let us party up. Even if another friend is hosting from a seperate connection, it will only let 1 of us join the party.
All the NAT settings are fine, and everything works fine, just this one problem of playing together. Which seems stupid because we are both on the same network!
I hope someone can help,
Thanks,
Joey
okay guys i have a Us Robotics MAXg 5461 router and...i forwarded all those ports and did the DMZ thing and it still is at moderate, ive searched EVERYWHERE and i cant find anything explaining it...can someone help me????
I've also got a Belkin Router and for the most part, the majority of these settings have allowed my NAT settings to view as 'OPEN' but when i invite my friends to play COD4, he can join the party, but gets 'kicked out' as soon as we connect to a match. But when the situation is reversed and i join his party, i can still play.....
I've tried putting ports 88, 3074 etc etc.. but when i click "apply changes" a message comes up saying it cannot use '88' because belkin is currently running on the same port and may cause conflict... how do i get around this problem??? i'm guessing this might be the reason why my xbox live isn't FULLY open yet?? i'm living in the UK and have Virgin Media as my ISP if that makes any difference...
Thanks for this information, but here is my problem. I have the Belkin F5D9230-4 Wireless G Plus MIMO router. I connect the XBox 360 to the router with the appropriate cable (not wirelessly). On the XBox console, I fail the connection test at the MTU spot, I can't get to the NAT portion of the test.
If one uses Dynamic DHCP, is there any guarantee that the IP address I see on my XBox will be the same today as tomorrow?
My router configuration screens looked just like yours prior to upgrading my firmware.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
I have a NetGear cg814wg router. I have my ports fowarding and my NAT is open. it is hard wired to the router. I turn my wireless computer off so it doesnt have to put out more than 1 IP. It lets me on xbox live for a minute then turns my internet connection off all together. Does anyone have any clue what is going on? I think it might be my router that my stupid internet company stuck me with and they insist Netgear works with xbox live.
It feels like I've tried everything!
please help
I ran into a site the other day that has port forwarding configurations, instructions, and settings for different apps.
http://www.portforward.com/
Good info. And not only does it have settings specific to pretty much any and all make/model router, but if you want it done for you, you can buy a program called PFConfig, dwnld it to your PC, and it configures your router for you. I wouldn't recommend it, as all the information most people need is on the site, and is free. But if you're just too lazy to do it yourself, then go for it.
Sounds like you guys have duplicate IP addresses. Change one of them, from the "Network Settings" option in the SYSTEM blade, choose "Edit Settings", set the IP to Manual, and assign it an address that is not already in use. You can usually do this by looking to see what it was when it was automatic, and then changing the last number (the 4th #, or "octet", i.e. the # that comes after the last period) to something different.
I have 1 router, and two xbox 360s connected to it, each using a PCs wireless internet connection. (as in, 1 360 plugged into PC, and two network connections allowing sharing, and the same again for the other 360)
Everything works fine online, both at the same time as well, but the only problem we have found is we cannot both party up with each other, so far we've tried in Halo 3 and CoD 4, and neither let us party up. Even if another friend is hosting from a seperate connection, it will only let 1 of us join the party.
All the NAT settings are fine, and everything works fine, just this one problem of playing together. Which seems stupid because we are both on the same network!
I hope someone can help,
Thanks,
Joey
It sounds like you need to bridge your modem. I had this same problem a while back. Just go in to the setting of you modem and bridge the connection. In my modem the steps are Expert setup>configure>connection>bridge (it takes a few min for the settings to configure). Once this is done you can no longer connect to the net directly through the modem. Now log into the router and change the internet connection type to pppoe. Enter in the username and password provided from your isp and click apply. You may need to restart the computer after this step but from here everything should be fine. Hope this works for you.
I fail the MTU, so never get to the NAT portion on the 360. I'm connected via Ethernet cable to my Belkin router (FSD9230-4).
If I use my older Linksys (.b) router, I can connect with XBox live and still be able to use the Internet on my computer. However, the Linksys does not have a strong enough signal for my wife's computer to pick it up wirelessly.
Here is my setup:
Actiontec DSL modem connected to the Belkin router (wired)
My PC connected to the Belkin router (wired)
Wife's computer connected to the Belkin router (wired)
XBox 360 connected to the Belkin router (wired)
With the above setup, the XBox can't connect to live. The only way to get Live to work is to plug the 360 directly into the Actiontec, replacing the connection to the router. Thus, no one can use the Internet when the 360 is connected.
Is there a way I can connect the Linksys between the Belkin and the Actiontec and leave all the PCs connected to the Belkin, but have the 360 connected to the Linksys and have everything function properly?
Thanks in advance!
I have a computer that is connected to my router wirelessly. Can I run a landline into this computer and pick up live on my 360, or will I have to buy the wireless networking adapter for my 360?
I have the same NetGear cg814wg wireless router through roadrunner. I get connected just fine to xbox live, NAT shows open in the test, but when I try to do matchmaking in halo 3 i almost always lose my entire internet connection (laptop on wireless internet too) for about a minute, enough to restart the matchmaking search. It just happens over and over.... about once in ten tries i can get into 1 quick game and then back to the same issues again. I think it's the stupid router.
First of all, I'd like to say thanks for the article. This was exactly what I needed to save me some dough.
Anyways, I have a few questions. I believe I have the same exact router that was used as demonstraton in the article. I followed the instructions precisely, yet my stuff is still running strict. I thought it would've been foolproof even after I used the DMZ settings you described.
Is the last digit in the FTP server always 6? How do I find the number to put in the Private IP address box in the first submission?
Any other helpful information about this specific router would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for yah time.
Fixed my connectivity problems and I can finally hear people talk. Thanks for the article.
moderate to open
hey, I have moderate and a belkin router, just like in the images^. But my 360 is connected through the pc, so th 360 has a different ip, instead of a 2 it has a zero and I can't change that number in "private IP Address" wich is predetermined a 2. What could I do?. I don't have much of a problem but sometimes I can't join parties.
Well this was kinda usefull on terms of opening my nat, only i still keep on geting laged off xbox live and i tryed the DMZ and when i did the MTU Failed on the xbox
hi i was just wondering if you guys can help. I have strict connection and would like it to be open. Ive tride port forwaring and stuff but it doesnt work. What exact measures should i take for my Linksys wrt45gs?
yes unpn is enabled.
firmware version is like 3.3 something
Thank you so much, Midnight. I have been having so many problems lately due to my moderate NAT. I have the same Belkin router you do, and never knew about its DMZ feature. Thanks!
Does anyone know what the problem with the Netgear CG814WG Router is? I have the same problem with getting on to Halo 3 Matchmaking and immediately losing my internet connection for a few seconds. I get back on and the same thing happens, but I can actually play CoD 4 with no problems. Strange?!? Does anybody know of anything to fix this besides getting a new router? I've set up port forwarding and it still has issues?!?!? Any help would be greatly appreciated. After being kicked out over 40 times I'm looking for some help!!! Thanks!!!
it says my mtu is failing now after i put it in the DMZ. i have a belkin thing like you do but my pages are different
I have a Belkin FSD8233-4. Ive tried everything you said in the article, even the cool DMZ thing and nothing changed. What could i be doing wrong?
Nate,
Can you tell me what D-Link router your bought?
I have a Linksys BEFSR81 and I can't have both of my xbox 360s online at the same time. It just kicks one of them after a few minutes. Port Forwarding doesn't work and Microsoft tells me that the problem is with my Router Capabilities.
I actually need a full 8 ports, so I think I may need to put in a router and switch? that's capable of handling two xboxes? Does D-Link make an 8 port that will work or the proper Router and switch?
I am so glad that you wrot this article. I was cluless on what to do to change my NAT. Thank you for doing this for the ones like myself who aren't very good with computer and internet tech stuff.
Thanks, Pat.
I have a BEFSR41 V3. I have a similar problem with the two xbox nat thing. What is weird though is I am used a wired router for my xbox and my computer. My brother is using a differant wireless router for his xbox and computer. When I sign onto xbox live by myself I get an open nat, but as soon as he signs on I go directly to strict, and he has an open one no matter what. I tried everything from DMZ to UpnP but nothing seems to work. Any suggestions?
Hey bro i recently got at&t uverse fiber optic internet with the 2wire 3800hgv modem/router...now i have a buddy that lives on the other side of town that has the same thing...we can't join each others party it gives a message that my NAT is open but his is not and visa versa for him...we have changed the ports to the ones you listed above, also we have the setting DMZ to open all ports...still nothing...i have called everyone on this and noone has a solution...the only way we can party up is if someone else hosts the game, we are able to talk to each other in the lobby but not during the game we can only hear and talk to the host...it would be great if you could help us...we have no problems joining anybody else but each other
I have a Belkin router and the original solution did not work at first. My mistake was setting a manual IP address for the xbox in the network settings blade, then using that IP in the DMZ and Virtual Servers section. For some reason the router does not recognize the manual IP address that the 360 assigns itself.
Go to the DHCP Client list and refresh the screen to get all your computers up. If you have an IP with a blank description, that's the 360. Use THAT ip address for the DMZ and Virtual Servers and you should be good to go.
Help me please !!!
My brother and I each have an xbox 360 and they are both connected to xbox live using one router. One xbox is connected to the router by the official xbox wireless adapter, and the other xbox is connected to the router by an ethernet cable. The router we are using is a D-Link DGL 4300, with firmware 1.6 (because it's the most recent firmware that is officialy compatible with xbox live). Both of our NAT's are open, and both of our xbox's can connect to xbox live no problem. We can also play on xbox live simultaneously with either the same game or different games. However, whenever my brother tries to invite me to join his room/lobby in Call of Duty 4, it say I am unable to connect to host. I'm able to play with him in the same room when i join his session in progress, but whenever he hosts a room and invites me, I'm not able to join. I have no idea what to do.
Again, we have two xbox 360's and they are both connected to the same router. We are able to simultaneously play games on xbox live, but i am not able to join his lobby when he invites me in COD4.
Please help me !!!
Thanks.
I too have struggled to get open NAT. I have two xboxes and a windows media center PC. I have a Vonage VWR router and a Linksys BEFSR41. If I use both routers I can get open NAT on both, but my xbox won't connect to my media center PC. I think Fugazi is correct in saying that you can't create a rule to forward the same port to two IP's. I have found out that Comcast won't give me another dynamic IP. They don't offer this service in my area. The best I can do and have everything working is Open on one and Moderate on the other. Anyone have any suggestions?
My router username and password are not working, this is not a correct site
Hi. I have a linksys Wireless-G router (WRT54GS) and i have a laptop and a Pc connected to it (wired), and my 360 connected to it (wireless). When i am playing XBL, my pc loses its internet connection, and does not work whatsoever. The Laptop's internet connection works just fine though while im playing. I don't know what to do with it, and it pisses my sister off, because she wants to play WoW and i wanna play COD4, but my XBL kicks her off, and she cant play unless im not playing, and i cant play unless shes playing. Could you help me?
Woo Hoo
V.Nice.
Don't be stupid like me and assume it ends in 2.3
Check your "system blade" under "network settings"
my open port should have been a "2" for the fil in spot.
Damn I tried but i cant "mess up" any settings with my router.it just shows me all the stats.eg:Time,ip,host name.Iv got a zyxel wireless 4 port router?!?!?!any ideas i would be real greatfull.
i had looked everywhere for help and even called my router people with no success, then i found this and it worked perfect, thank you
Thank u so much i have looked everywhere for this type of information it was brilliant information and i would recooment it to anyone now my XBL is running more efficiently
THANKS AGAIN
You absolute star - I discovered this page by accident when looking for a list of Xbox Live compatible routers, and this absolutely, perfectly solved the issue for my current router and saved me the trouble of having to fork out more cash for new hardware. Many, many thanks...
i have a belkin and my 360 is hooked up to my computer which is hooked up to the router wirelessly. the router is hooked up to a modem which is hooked up to a different computer. my nat is scrict and my 360 ip address is 192.168.0.123 so i cant put it in the dmz because it has to be 192.168.2.x. PLZ HELP!
ya but when i go to the client list none show up at all
hey, I have moderate and a belkin router, just like in the images^. But my 360 is connected through the pc, so th 360 has a different ip, instead of a 2 it has a zero and I can't change that number in "private IP Address" wich is predetermined a 2. What could I do?. I don't have much of a problem but sometimes I can't join parties.
same prob here except my nat is scrict
OK I have a di-624 d-link router one xbox 360 is wired the other is wireless we can both get on and play in the same room talk to each other and everything. only problem is that the wired xbox loses connection after about half a game of call of duty.
\
the wireless connection is setup with port fowarding but the wired connection is not. any suggestions on how to get both of them going without buying a new router or new modem from my isp
btw my isp is time warner and i get 15 meg down and 2 meg up so speed is not a problem
can you please email me at adam.peabody@twcable.com
hey, it sez my nat on is open the XBL test,
but everytime i start matchmaking on halo it sez WARNING nat type is not open matchmaking may be slow.
and i cant figure out how to fix it, ive tried everything, and i still have problems with inviting, or joining friends.
Hey if you wanna be (most of the time) connection host on your games you have to open up pretty much every port from 1 to 6000. Better game play. Just do port range forwarding. Not that hard. Im pretty much allways connection host and they get pissed when i beat them down first on halo 3 :)
Hi,
I got a WRT54G Linksis router and when I run the test on xbox live everything passes NAT is open. Problem, can't hear anyone, can't join a game and can't host a game. Do you have any idea what the problem would be? I have worked with xbox and linksis to no avial.
Have you ever disabled the UPnP cuz that router has problems with xboxlive because of the UPnP
I have a question too linksys have the DMZ too but when I try to host a IP the xbox can't find it. Someone plz help?
I gave up on the Lynksis router and bought a Netgear wpn824. Suppose to be compatible with xbox live. I hook that one up and it let me connect for about 15 minutes then it booted me off. I could not get into market place, not join games, There were a few download areas that work but not many. I reset the router and connected again, got as far as downloading a new game then got kicked off again. again could not get back online. I can always go back to my old neatgear router wgn624 and hook it up it it works everytime. Does anyone have any idea of what could be the problem with staying on line with the wpn824 router. I can't keep rebooting it just to get 15 minutes of online time. Any ideas????
Hi i see a few people talking about the linksys wrt54g, i have the same one but a "v8" and that model number is not compatable with xbox live. Me and my friend can get on and play other people but we can not play each other on any game we have online. We tried madden 08, 09 call of duty 4, and grand theft auto 4. We can't connect or get in a private chat room. Both of our NAT are open, what else could it be? Thanks for any help
mine is open, my frends is open. so why cant i conect through game invites or private chats?
all the chat ses is JOINING CHAT
can u help me if yes send me an email.
Whenever I enter in 192.168.1.1 it works, get the password in, but I get directed to a different site and doesn't have the options yours does. Help?
You likely have a different router make and model, thus you'll likely have a different administration screen. Midnight's technique still works on other routers but you are going to figure out how to navigate your administration pages on your router.
Checking the router's manual is a good place to start.
wow gow2, you sure want your NAT open
Linksys routers are usually 192.168.0.1
i "accidentally" turned off my nat and now my router doesnt work
any suggestions???
any suggestions???
I would suggest giving us more information. Make and model of your router?
plz need some help do i input the ftp server or somethign cause mines not working =\ and i realy need help can some plzz email me at ttsyoung@yahoo.com
Ok, here is my problem. I have I 2wire 100 modem. From that I have a Belkin G+F5D7234-4 Router. Which connects my desktop, my other desktop, and two xbox 360's. Anytime we try to connect we can and we can play online and everything. BUT everytime we try to join a friend of ours we can not. When we invite him it says it times out, and when we try to join him it says may have incompatible network type, your NAT type is open, which is the most flexible. Please refer to bungie.net/router for more information. But if he joins someone else, then they can join us no problem. Please if anyone can help I would much appreciate it.
I have a zyxel prestiage 600 series and I cant access a dmz screen and the changing of the ports doesnt work either. I dont know if its just my router or just cause life loves to take a fresh crap on my life everyday but help?
Help me plz.. Add me on messenger or Xbox Live.
I can reward you. ;D
hoe do you find the NAT settings on the xbox with the new guide??
Dude use's Midnight's guide to make a video showing how to use a wireless laptop to share out an connection to a 360:
Okay so,
How the hell do I even access my ROUTER settings? :S
Add my XBL gamer tag to talk to me :S
Xarious X
or add my email >_<
mdeldon98@hotmail.com
I've been using xbox live till yesterday.Woke up this mornin and now it says my MTU settings are not high enough.Need help.Usinging F5D8233-4 Belkin Wireless Router.
Thank you! I owe you a beer. I called XBOX Live support and talked to a "solution specialist"
His solution: "Make sure your modem is plugged in" That's when I hung up the phone and found your page by searching google. You da man.
hey so i have a linksys wirless G broadband router with srs
model # wrt54gx ver.2
im only using one xbox.
my internet play was great till we switched to clearwire (downgrade if ya ask me)
NAT now = moderate
i have no clue what to do or where to start.
just bought new live account &&dont wanna waste it
iIM HAVING WITHDRAWLS PLEASE HELP ME!
any suggestions?
thanks man , this is a good post ,
for more information about the best gaming xbox router visit
xbox router
I don't mean to repeat any questions (I saw a few that were similar, but no solutions worked for me,) but I'm not sure what to do. My brother and I each have our own 360. We're both connected to a Linksys BEFSR41 (ver 4.1) wired router that's connected to our modem. When only one of us is playing online, whomever is playing has an open NAT setting. Whenever both of us play, whoever connects to Xbox Live 2nd always has a strict NAT setting. The first to connect usually has an open setting. I've enabled UPnP and I'm pretty sure I enabled Port Forwarding. Any suggestions?
Fugazi's post from 8/07/07 is an option, I suppose. I just don't know how to do a few things. Here's what Fugazi wrote:
-----------------------------------------
"If you have a pc along with your 2 xbox 360's then you need something more complicated. You can only have port 88 open on one system at a time that is why a router doesn't work with one public ip address.
So what you do is have again 2 public ip addresses i pay an extra 10 bucks for mine.
Then you need 2 routers it will look like this
Cable/Dsl modem->Hub/switch->router#1->xbox 360,pc
See Above........................->router#2->xbox 360,wii,etc"
-----------------------------------------
-How do I purchase and set up a 2nd public IP address?
-Is the Hub/switch needed? I don't want to spend money on it just for this. :(
-How would I connect both routers simultaneously to my modem? (so I can have my pc and both 360's able to connect?)
At this point, I'm hoping if we just have seperate connections from seperate modems, routers and pcs, that everything will work out fine. Thanks for any help!. Curse you, silly NAT settings!
Thanks man... worked like a charm!
Love the writing style of your article. Thanks for the no-nonsense but not over-the-top trying to be funny thing... it speaks right to me... plain and simple.
Me too. As well being Strict.
hey guys can you help me me an my brother both have xbox 360s an running off netgear both nat ar strict but thats not half of wat we ar runing also a lap top of the same router aghhhhh its doing my head lol but when we reset both router an modem nat becomes open for a day then returns to strict i have tried opening ports an more or less every thing i thing an i an not a computer wizz help me please
Go into your router's configuration, 192.168.x.x, and enable UPnP. That's the most you can do. You can't forward ports/place an xbox in the DMZ if you have two xbox's within the same network. Picture the open port like an open door in a gigantic wall that only one xbox fits through at one time. If both xbox's are trying to get through at the same time, the xbox that makes it through first will get through without problems, but it will occupy that hole in the wall so that the second one can't get through. Just enable UPnP, and hopefully that solves the problem.
To Jimmy, you have to call your internet service provider and ask to be set up with a second IP address.
or you could just dmz your static ip. Then you won't have any problems with any game ever and you sign into live instantly when you turn your box on. XD
Thank you so much! i've been trying forever and my gateway is finally open!
I am using a direct connection with no routers and i added the ports in my firewall . Why cant i get a open nat ? i always got a strict nat even i switch off my firewall and antivirus
Thanks! I did what you said and it worked perfectly with my Linksys WRT300N Router.
hey I had problems with a netgear router, went and bought a new belkin f5d8236-4 router that best buy told me would work. Everything is hooked up and I am connected to xbox live with open nat. I've tried port forwarding, the dmz thing, upnp is enabled, but no matter what I can't find any matches on COD. Any help? dmaw2308@hotmail.com
Here is a weird one: My NAT settings were at "Moderat"e and I didn't have a whole lot of trouble but couldn't connect to some of my friends so I opened it up doing exactly this (I have a Linksys Wireless G Router). Did everything perfectly and the NAT settings opened right up. Now I am on Modern Warfare 2 on xbox live and it when searching for games it won't find a game at all. It keeps searching and searching but will never find a game I can join....is there a way to find out why this is happening, or to reset everything so that I am back to "Moderate"? Cause now I can't play at all even though the settings are "Open"...
thats close to the same problem i was describing above....everything is open but i'll search for hours for a game with nothing. is there any possibility that it could be the game? CODMW2 is the only game i play online so idk what to do. Yesterday i said i had a belkin f5d8236-4, i went back to best buy and bought a belkin f5d8235-4, supposedly for gaming and top of the line....still the same problem i had yesterday. tried everything described above, still nothing. any advice at all would be greatly appreciated. dmaw2308@hotmail.com
^^ I posted the comment above you and I think I figured out the problem. After 5+ hours on the phone with my ISP (CenturyLink) I found out that the solution to my situation was that my router was INTERNALLY BROKEN straight from the sealed box at Best Buy... I went through so much and now that I have everything set up and working I am about to go and test my xbox live - I will post up shortly what all the settings are. Yesterday my Nat settings were at Strict but when I searched for a game I found a possible 34/49 games that I could join....but when I had it on Open, like you, it took a long time to never find anything, lol. Also I don't know who your ISP is but some ISP's use the exact same IP Address as the Belkin routers (the IP address is 192.168.2.1) so if your ISP is using the same IP address you have to MANUALLY CHANGE THE IP ADDRES FOR YOUR ROUTER!! It is best to set it at 192.168.5.1 -- OR the alternate route, and what I found out is the BEST WAY FOR XBOX LIVE PLAYERS is to BRIDGE the modem to the Router - to do this contact your ISP because #1 - they will either do it for you or tell you exactly how to do it AND they need to know if your modem is bridged in case of future problems. I am off to test Xbox Live - wish me luck and I will post up more later!
After getting the new router set up and enabling the DMZ everything is working! My NAT settings stay open and everything is still going pretty good. I think something might be up with the router tho because every once in a while I will lag HORRIBLY on XBL and my parents have trouble loading the internet pages, but I doubt that has much to do with all the other issues.
I am running a WRT54G version 6, I am already enabled the ports as you have suggested above and my Nat type is open, but I am still getting the same problem, any idea how to fix it?
No, I have a "Netgear" router myself and I have encountered the problems over it with my Xbox. So what I did, for now, was I connected to my neighbors internet connection through my wireless adapter. And my neighbors is a "Linksys" and when I checked my "NAT" it was "Open". So for now I'm using his router, until I change my router.
One more question, I have tried directly connecting to my modem and my NAT suddenly changes to strict. Is there a way to remedy this?
i did this and went from strict to moderate i am using a belkin F5D7234 with qwest dhcp can you help
bought my xbox just before christmas and fairly sure my NAT was 'open' on the MW2 screen. Had no problems initially and for a week or so could instantly join TBOGT online freeplay. Then it started returning me to single player every time i tried to join a game and i have noticed my NAT has gone to 'moderate'. MW2 is still ok.
I have an orange livebox which has DMZ. question is if i enter the ip of the xbox in here will it change (dynamic) and not recognise it next time i use it ??
Have also been informed about 'ping' causing problems if its over 30ms, mines between 28 & 35....... anybody else heard of this ??
Copied the ip from the xbox360 into the DMZ on the router and bingo. NAT open. It automatically forwarded port 3074 in the up&p settings for me. I switched off the router a couple of times and it hasnt re assigned a different ip so all is good.
midnight can you tell me what model number your router is? Im trying to hook up 2 xbox 360's to the same router, any help would be great ty
same problem, did you solve it?
I have 3 xbox's and a computer working off my router. Is there any way to have all three xbox's have an OPEN connection? Please email me with any info dominic_drake@yahoo.com Thank you!
I hope when I go home to try this on my belkin router mine will OPEN also. I can not even watch HD movies via NETFLIX through my xbox360.
I am currently using a linksys befsr81 v2 router and can connect to xbox live on TWO xboxes at the same time but I get an error when trying to connect a third at the same time, connects to internet but NOT xbox live.
As two xboxes connect to xbox live but not THREE I assume I just need to change some settings any help would be appreciated
I NEED an 8 port wired router as I have 4 pc`s and 3 xboxes......have a 10mb virgin broadband connection
When i tried the 3 xboxes NO pc`s were on.
Can you advise of an 8 port wired router that is xbox live compatable and if not what my options are
Many thanks
Keithwthornton@hotmail.co.uk
just got new router yesterday its belkin. wireless is working for my four comps but not for my xbox help! foamy9999@hotmail.com
Hi all
I wonder if anyone can help me.
I currently have 3 Xboxs trying to connect to a wireless at the same time, I would like to know how to get the NAT to open status instead of moderate or strict.
I’m currently using a Belkin N1 F5D8632 wireless modem router.
I have tried multiple things such as port forwarding, DMZ, UPNP enabled etc and I can’t seem to get a configuration to work.
Anybody have any solutions??
Much appreciate if anybody can help me .
Cheers
Lee
Post new comment