Having trouble with online multiplayer titles on Xbox ? Are you unable to connect to other users due to disconnections and errors of various kinds? Don’t panic. If the connection works regularly with the other devices in your home, you may have to deal with common problems of NAT (acronym for Network Address Translation , i.e. translation of network addresses). Don’t you know what I’m talking about? I’ll explain immediately what it is.
As you may already know, each device that is part of a network (e.g. your computer and your console, which are connected to the Wi-Fi network generated by your router) are identified by an IP address, which uniquely identifies them all. internal network external. To communicate externally – therefore with the Internet – the router conveys all these local IPs to a single public IP address (which is what is seen by the resources to which you connect via the Internet) and then sorts the various communications through, in fact, the NAT.
When there are problems in these communications – often due to an incorrect configuration of the router ports – errors such as those that prevent you from playing correctly online are encountered. The purpose of this tutorial will therefore be to explain how to open the NAT on Xbox by acting on the router settings that may affect this mechanism. Follow everything carefully and you should be able to solve your problems in no time. Happy reading and good luck for everything!
Index
- Preliminary information
- How to check NAT on Xbox
- How to open the Xbox NAT
Preliminary information
Soon I will go into the details of the procedure on how to open the NAT on Xbox , but first I want to give you some basic information on the subject.
The NAT (network address translation) is a mechanism that deals with hiding the IP addresses of devices connected to the local network within the data packets sent over the Internet .
In this way, the identity of the specific device that sent them does not appear in the packets, but only the public IP address that the operator who owns your Internet subscription (the so-called ISP , i.e. Internet Service Provider ) has assigned to the connection.
Active by default on all routers, this mechanism can cause various problems to a gamer. For example, NAT is known to “throw a spanner in the works” for anyone who wants to host a multiplayer session of a particular game, as well as generate general inconveniences related to the console’s online functionality. Put simply, it is necessary that connections from the outside are accepted correctly.
There are three types of NAT that you can have on Xbox: Open , Moderate and Limited . The first is the best situation, since there are no problems of any kind with online features and especially with connecting to other users. Connections from the outside, such as those related to games, are well received. Open NAT may not be exactly easy to obtain, also given some restrictions related to certain ISPs, but it is the best situation and in reality many players manage to achieve it with a few simple steps that I will show you in the course of the guide.
Moving on to Moderate NAT , the latter allows you to play quietly in some situations, but there are contexts in which it could cause inconvenience . This is one of the most popular solutions among gamers, as with some ISPs it is much easier to get this type of NAT than Open. Having a Moderate NAT doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be able to play properly, but there may be some ports not open and therefore limitations in playing with other users. It is generally not possible to play with those with Limited NAT.
Speaking of Limited NAT , this is the situation you should avoid if you want to have the best of online fun. In fact, it is often not possible to obtain a satisfying experience, as connections from the outside are limited. This means that it is not possible to play with many users. In reality, some online features are still accessible, but such a NAT can significantly compromise the gaming experience.
Put simply, if you have limited or moderate NAT, it is advisable to aim for an open NAT to avoid having problems when gaming online.
How to check NAT on Xbox
How do you say? Do you get the feeling that the console-related connection problems are due to NAT but you don’t know how to check if the NAT is closed, moderate or open? No problem, I’ll tell you how to do it right away!
To proceed, once you have turned on the Xbox and logged in with your profile , go to the console settings (via the gear icon) and press the A button on the pad on the General item .
Move, therefore, to the right and press on the Network Settings box . Here you will see all the information related to your connection, including the NAT Type . If you think this is outdated information, just press the A button on the pad above the NAT type test box to start a new test .
In a few seconds the system will give you precise information on the NAT: just press the CONTINUE button to return to the previous screen once the test is finished.
How to open the Xbox NAT
Before proceeding with the advice to open the NAT, I would like to clarify that, since this is a question related to the Internet connection, the procedure is the same for each type of console. This means that, even if I used an Xbox Series S to write this guide, in reality the indications that I will give you are feasible even if you are interested in understanding how to open NAT on Xbox One , Xbox 360 or other models of Microsoft consoles. Clear? Well, let’s get started.
As mentioned above , the situations from which you have to “escape” are always those relating to the Moderate and Limited NAT . Since to play it is necessary to correctly accept connections from the outside, generally the problem is related to the configuration of the modem router , and more particularly to the open ports in the device management panel.
If, by going to Settings> General> Network Settings , you have noticed that you have a NAT problem , you have probably also noticed that the console provides some indication of the possible cause .
For example, UPnP failed appears on the screen for many users , along with the advice to take a look at the guidelines of the official Xbox site .
UPnP is a network protocol that allows different terminals to connect to each other: the problem is exactly that of opening the ports.
If you also have a problem of this type, you must use any browser to access the configuration panel of your modem router, which generally corresponds to 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 . If you have difficulty logging in, try following the directions in my tutorial on how to log in to the router .
Once you have logged into the router management brush using the appropriate username / password combination (often the default one is written directly under the modem router and corresponds to admin / admin or admin password ; in case of problems read mine guide on how to find out the modem password ), go to the section to enable the ports (for example, Internet> Enablements ) and activate the automatic port enabling , obviously selecting the Xbox console as a device.
By doing so, the console can now automatically open all the ports by itself it needs to get an open NAT . Generally many users solve the problem in this way: to check that everything is correct, I recommend that you follow the procedure I have included in the chapter on checking the NAT .
In any case, enabling UPnP is not always frowned upon by users, as it could potentially represent a security problem . Let me explain: once this option is activated, applications can easily open TCP or UDP ports at will . This means that a malicious app could potentially do damage.
In any case, you don’t have to worry too much: In this case it is an Xbox console and all the apps are downloaded directly from the Microsoft Store, so the security is generally higher than on an ordinary PC.
However, if you want to be 100% sure that the console only uses the ports it needs, you can keep UPnP disabled and proceed with port forwarding , that is, opening specific ports .
To proceed in this sense, once you have accessed the modem router configuration portal, just go to the section to open the ports (for example by following the path Internet> Enablements or Port forwarding / Opening doors ) and select the item to start creating a new rule .
Once this is done, it’s time to configure the ports to be enabled. Generally those useful for NAT are 88 UDP , 3074 UDP and TCP , 53 UDP and TCP , 80 TCP , 500 UDP , 3544 UDP and 4500 UDP . Just create a rule for each port, entering the values just indicated in the fields relating to the start / end or internal / external port and the Xbox IP address in the field of the destination IP or Server IP address .
The procedure changes depending on the modem router at your disposal and, unfortunately, I cannot give you more precise information. For further information, however, you can consult the tutorial on how to open the NAT in which I have clearly illustrated the steps to be taken on various models of modem / router.
Perfect, now you know the procedures that usually allow you to get an open NAT on Xbox . If you want to learn more, you can take a look at the official guidelines drawn up by Microsoft .
Also, since you usually play from the Microsoft console, I would recommend that you take a look at the page of my site dedicated to Xbox , where you can find several guides that could be for you.
