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.

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