Halo: Reach Forum
This topic has moved here: Subject: Opening NAT for Dummies 2: Pimp Out Your Xbox Live for Halo Reach!
  • Subject: Opening NAT for Dummies 2: Pimp Out Your Xbox Live for Halo Reach!
Subject: Opening NAT for Dummies 2: Pimp Out Your Xbox Live for Halo Reach!

All I did was call my internet service provider and they did it for me for free without even having to come to my house. I think that's the easiest way to get it done. Took five minutes and all I had to do was reset my modem.

  • 11.05.2010 10:20 AM PDT

noah


Posted by: Da Master Chef
EDIT: i dont reply to pms, if i did i'd be a full time volunteer. This was designed to be a generalised, simple guide and it has achieved that if the thousands of appreciative comments are to be believed. It you're a kid it's fine to ask for dad's help with this. If you're having problems have a go fixing it by using great resources like the FAQ in the third post (which summarises the 60 pages of help given here) and portforward.com, the ultimate networking destination. Exotic queries/routers can be answered/troubleshot by wikipedia and google. (search for "<brand> <router model number> 'troubleshooting'") If all else fails you are welcome to leave a detailed description of your problem in the thread, though I stress googling your query will usually give you an answer instantly.


Hey Bungie.net Member. Master Chef SC here. Keep the credit to me and you can put this guide anywhere.
This is all about allowing everyone to directly connect to you in games like Halo Reach, so you don't have to settle for the scraps of Matchmaking. AKA Open NAT. You will not be vulnerable to hackers since you will only be allowing people into programs and games that you select. However, there are some side effects from learning how to get an Open NAT on your computer and xbox:

o - You'll remove any chance of connection problems with friends
o - You'll get better pings in all online computer games, because you can connect to everybody and so have more choice in matchmaking.
o - You'll stream your computer hard drive's videos, pictures and music onto your Xbox without any stuttering.
o - You'll maximise the speed of your peer to peer downloading including MSN file transferring
o - You won't pay an idiot 50 bucks every time something easy goes wrong.

The process is pretty technical but it'll try to explain it so you can understand it and it will pay back in huge dividends. Face it, you're living in an age of computers. Know how to pimp them.

Your Xbox 360's NAT could already be open without you realising. To check if it is, turn on your Xbox 360 and in the dashboard's My Xbox area, scroll right all the way to system settings. Select 'Network Settings.' Then select 'Test Xbox Live Connection.'

The Xbox will run a bunch of tests, the last of which is NAT. It could be Strict, Moderate or Open. If it is Open, the test won't even mention the word NAT. If so, stop reading this guide (either you have a Xbox live certified router or you have your Xbox directly connected to the modem. Please note that some, including my Xbox live certified router don't do their job of letting xbox live through the firewall). If it reads moderate or strict, then you are ripping yourself off.

To get yourself an open NAT, it's not quite as simple as ticking a box. That's why this essay is here. The first thing you have to do is make your Xbox 360's local IP address 'static.' Then you have to open a back door in the router's software to your Xbox.

If you don't know what a local IP address is, just think of your home network as a neighbourhood of mostly empty houses, labelled 1 through 255. For the vast majority of neighbourhoods like yours, the mailman lives at house 1 (he is the router) and he's the only contact with the outside world, which he accesses through the modem. If your computer, Xbox and laptop don't have a static IP, then they will live in a different house each time they're turned on and so need to tell the mailman where they live to be in contact with the outside world. If your Xbox or Computer has a static IP, they're always in the same house.

The second step is to open ports on your router. It'll make teleporters between the mailman's house and your Xbox's. You can see that if the Xbox is always in a different house then the teleporter that goes to house 5 will only work some of time. Further on, each teleporter, or port opened, only works for one certain type of internet traffic AND can only be set to one device, or house.

This number of the houses is the fourth in an "IP Address." The first three numbers don't ever change for the whole network. Example: 192.168.1.1 or 10.1.1.1. So change only the last number for different devices on the network, between 1 and 255. Your router will most likely be on 1, but whatever it is on, it will never change.

PART A- STATIC IP

Your computer and Xbox show a static IP as manually entering in IP settings and a non-static as them being set to automatic.

Now you need to know all the technical numbers with three letter acronyms (you gotta love em) necessary- to get the same IP address everytime. The easiest way to get these numbers is to go to your computer's start menu, click on run, type in "cmd" and then in the black box that pops up type "ipconfig /all". That's ipconfig space slash all. A rush of stuff will appear and you'll feel like a hacker. Look down towards the bottom and write down on paper your IP Address (aka IPv4), Subnet Mask, Default Gateway and DNS Servers. Any typos here would be tragic so triple check that you have them right. I'll explain what each of these mean:

IP address- What I was talking about at the end of the introduction. This is your computer's local IP address. For your entire network the first three numbers, say 192.168.1, will be the same. The last identifies to the router what device on the network it is.
Subnet Mask- Scrambles your IP address from outsiders.
Default Gateway- The local IP address of your router.
DNS servers- These are pass codes from your internet service provider. There will most likely be two. The first is called "Preferred/Primary DNS server" and the second is also known as the "Alternate/Secondary DNS server." Please note there may only be one. In this case please make the Secondary DNS the same number as the primary.

Now that we've got these numbers, we can go and make all of the computers and Xboxes that you want to open ports for static.

How to make your Xbox 360's IP address Static:
Now you are ready to go back to your Xbox 360's dashboard. In My Xbox, scroll right and select system settings, network settings, edit settings. There are two options- IP settings and DNS settings. Go into either, change the setting to manual and then enter all of the codes you have written down on your paper, with one difference. The last digit of the IP address needs to be changed to a number preferably between 50 and 250. Choose your favourite and write it down on the paper as your Xbox's Local IP address. While you're at it choose the numbers of your computer/s too, the houses that they will live in.

If can reconnect to Xbox live, you have successfully made your Xbox IP's static.

Making your computer's IP address Static:
(For this section, If you don't have WIndows XP or prefer pretty pictures over a wall of text, check this out)
Go to your computer, click start, control panel, network connections (classic view). You now have some icons that probably say "local area connection" and "wireless network connection." Ignore the "Internet Gateway Internet Connection" icon up further up. You need to select the one of local or wireless or otherwise that you use to connect to the internet. IF you don't know which one it is, go ahead and right click on one and 'disable' it.

If your -blam!- stops downloading and you can't load up Google, it's probably the right one.

Right click on the icon that gives you life, go 'properties', within the 'this connection uses the following items' embedded list scroll down to Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and then click on properties, just a little down and right. You will now see a window similar to how you entered in your codes on your xbox, except its all compact and lacks style.

Here you will find if your IP address is static or roaming. If all the numbers are already filled in, its static and you should right down that computer's fourth number in its local IP address. This is old hat for you isn't it! If no numbers are filled in then do that yourself using all the numbers you wrote down on paper. Type in the DNS, Subnet, Gateway... it's all as easy as shooting a whale in barrel. If you're still connected to the internet then you haven't made any mistakes, because I sure didn't.
k thx

  • 11.05.2010 9:31 PM PDT

you sir are a real legend helping people that are less fortunate rock on bro

  • 11.06.2010 7:11 AM PDT

Relax. I'd rather not piss this thing off.

-Master Chief

Thanks for the save and also it worked thanks.

  • 11.06.2010 11:36 AM PDT

Hello, this is the first time I have ever asked for help on a forum before. I have a very specific problem with my matchmaking experience. I have open NAT, a good connection, and I am already port forwarding. However, every match that I play I get booted into the "Starting Game" screen multiple times. It is getting really annoying because it is impossible to enjoy playing a game when I spend a majority of the game in the "Starting Game" screen. Now, I'm fairly confident the problem is on my end because I am usually in party chat with my best friend and whenever I get booted into the "Starting Game" screen he describes what is happening in the game while I'm waiting to get out of the screen, sometimes I can stay in the screen for up to a minute or longer and it usually has nothing to do with someone quitting out. I do notice that usually one of the names on the list in the starting game screen will keep switching places with others at that particular name jumps up and down the list of players on a particular team.

I am using a Lynksys WRT54GL with DD-WRT firmware (it's only v24-sp1, I haven't yet upgraded the firmware to the newest sp2 version...perhaps this is the problem?)

Any help you could give me would be very appreciated! Thanks in advance.

  • 11.08.2010 6:59 AM PDT

Did not know the DMZ and Port Forwarding cancel each other out.
Gonna just use the DMZ, tried port forwarding, didn't get it to work, and I am kind of a geek :p

  • 11.08.2010 5:48 PM PDT

I'm bored.

Do I have to change my computer's settings too, or just the Xbox's? I don't feel safe opening my computer's NAT.

  • 11.08.2010 7:30 PM PDT
  • gamertag: Teolos
  • user homepage:

I need help connecting with certain people in particular. Me and my friend both have open NATs yet we cannot connect to each other. This problem isn't exclusive to the one friend (I have the same problem with someone else on my list, not sure if he has an open NAT though). Is there anyway to fix this?

  • 11.08.2010 9:22 PM PDT

Tried both DMZ and Ports, separately, and I still get Moderate.
Any help?

  • 11.09.2010 12:27 PM PDT

Hey I found a solution to my problems. My NAT is always open. The solution is changing the firmware on the router. I have a Linksys WRT54GL router and it was always giving me moderate or strict NAT with the factory installed firmware. Do a search for "dd-wrt" on google and you will find that people have written router firmware that will greatly improve your router's capabilities. So just get the latest firmware tailored to whatever brand and make of router that you have and then install it on your router. After that a simple port forward with port 3074 should work wonders and you will always have OPEN NAT.

  • 11.10.2010 9:06 AM PDT

youtube.com/whatsakillingspree

I got a new Cisco Valet router, and did everything. I even talked to my friend who is in IT and he brought me through everything. Still does not work. Here's a screenshot of my Router Admin Page:
http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae240/Noble_6/ROUTERPIC1.p ng

  • 11.11.2010 3:16 PM PDT

Everything is interesting if you go into it deeply enough.

Posted by: Screamo Luvr
I got a new Cisco Valet router, and did everything. I even talked to my friend who is in IT and he brought me through everything. Still does not work. Here's a screenshot of my Router Admin Page:
http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae240/Noble_6/ROUTERPIC1.p ng
I forwarded some ports for a friend with the same router, I think. It didn't work properly unless I forwarded the ports in a range, 79-81, 87-89 etc.

It's worth a try, at any rate.

  • 11.12.2010 7:32 AM PDT

youtube.com/whatsakillingspree

Posted by: Scapegoat413
Posted by: Screamo Luvr
I got a new Cisco Valet router, and did everything. I even talked to my friend who is in IT and he brought me through everything. Still does not work. Here's a screenshot of my Router Admin Page:
http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae240/Noble_6/ROUTERPIC1.p ng
I forwarded some ports for a friend with the same router, I think. It didn't work properly unless I forwarded the ports in a range, 79-81, 87-89 etc.

It's worth a try, at any rate.

An hour after I posted that my NAT was open. Unfortunately, my other XBox is closed and DMZ didn't work. But this is a stunning idea.

  • 11.12.2010 2:50 PM PDT

Old accounts: Sil3ntStorm, SnX Ko1212upt, OvK Pudds
Keeping the composure since Halo CE

Does this method work if my xbox360 is connected to a splitter which connects to a wireless adapter (Wireless-N Ethernet bridge) that is connected to my router? From what I can tell the method that has been explained only works if your xbox is directly connected to your router. I have followed this guide and compared it against others and still have not opened my NAT. Any suggestions??

  • 11.13.2010 1:18 PM PDT

well followed the instructions and nothing happened but after messing around, I found out if LOG is turned on in your router it causes the moderate nat and the overall slow internet speed, hope this helps some1

  • 11.14.2010 2:39 AM PDT

I have leaked images of your mother, Trebek!

~B.B.
I play League of Legends, you should too! | Win | Boycott DHL! |
~Scientia est potentia!~

I currently use my Evo 4g to get on the internet and to play xboxlive. My NAT is moderate...


will this work or am I doomed?

  • 11.17.2010 7:38 PM PDT

bevwilks@wowway.com

this forum is an mother -blam!- ass.

  • 11.18.2010 3:58 PM PDT

im bridging the connection off of my laptop that gets my neighbors wifi(he's cool with it i asked) and its closed, is their anything i can do on my laptop to open the nat?



  • 11.25.2010 10:43 PM PDT

This is an awesome thread and it was working great until you got to the part where you enter in your IP address into the search bar. My computer just came up with an error message like you would if you typed in any random numbers. I think this is because I have a Verizon MiFi card which is one of those things where you can take it anywhere and it's a mobile hotspot. It's great for browsing the Interwebz on the go but it sucks for Xbox, Unfortunately it's the best thing I can get where I live. Do you or anyone reading this know how to get to that settings page with my MiFi card? I'll try the static thing on my xbox in the morning, maybe that will do something. Excellent thread though!!!

  • 11.26.2010 9:53 PM PDT
  • gamertag: [none]
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HUGE fan of dubstep dating back to the birth of the genre in the late 90's, not into all that mainstream crap like skrillex etc, prefer the much old school vibes from artists like Benga, Mala, Digital Mystikz and Caspa. If your fan of dubstep, don't hesitate to send me a message!

I need help, when I go to test my connection via the dashboard it is "Open". Then when I put Halo: Reach in and load it up, it says "Moderate". How do i fix this?

  • 11.29.2010 10:12 PM PDT

Magic is magical, so are shoes... Along with plastic.
Don't forget to flush the toilet, because -blam!- stinks.

[Thread Saved] Thank you x1,000,000,000,000

  • 11.29.2010 10:20 PM PDT

check out my fileshare, some cool pics and clips on it

Thanks a lot! Had to figure some stuff out but worked out great!

  • 11.30.2010 8:59 AM PDT
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  • Noble Member

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everyone should click thie!!!!

  • 11.30.2010 1:24 PM PDT

good topic do you no when they updating bungie.net so you can see armor of spartan on halo reach

  • 12.01.2010 12:08 PM PDT

If you think Reach is bad... chances are, you're bad at it.

This is very useful. Thanks for the good post.

  • 12.06.2010 12:37 PM PDT