problems connecting to game xboxlive ??

[Robotic Pope]

Originally Posted by FOZ_1983

Mate if theirs no triangle then your NAT settings are open and your good to play online

Mine is the same, but every now and again i have issues connecting to someone online. Its just one of those things. I wouldnt bother with that link now, you might end up causing some damage that could seriously screw up your connection to live lol.

Ive found that that isn't always true. When my netgear router was blocking me from certain people on xbox live the dashboard test always showed ports open. I had to upgrade the firmware on my router to get it to work. You can't really do anything that will damage it in the settings. And the firmware upgrade works fine if you follow the instructions and just let it do it's thing.

[FOZ_1983]

fair play. I'll leave him in youre capable hands then

[Robotic Pope]

Ok I found the web page that helped me back then. http://www.rasmithuk.org.uk/?page_id=81%3Cbr%3E

My router is a Netgear WGR614 v6 . In its original firmware it used something called a symmetrical shaped NAT which you can read about in Russ' blog. So I HAD to have a strict NAT on xbox live even though it was telling me it was open but I was always getting blocked from joining any game which had my friend, that knew his NAT was moderate, already in it. I had tried all the static adresss, DMZ, port forwarding tricks which only caused the dashboard test to say I had a Strict NAT. I had to use PnP to get the dashboard to falsely claim an open nat.

Anyway I later found that the newest version of firmware for my router enabled it to be switched to a Cone shaped NAT. So I downloaded it wrote down all my IP and security settings and installed it from the routers upgrade section, it was very easy. Router then rebooted, and I re-did all my security settings and addresses. I then found the new cone shaped NAT box and ticked it. Since then ive never failed to join a game, I still only use PnP so I don't need to open ports or mess with the DMZ.

[FOZ_1983]

ive got UPnP enabled so i also generally have no problems connecting to games, which is usually a good thing because with it enabled yoy dont have to mess about with settings etc so much

[dazz1971]

thanks pope did some searching after reading russ blog and it seems sky are the only isp providers that dont let you upgrade your router flippin great i told you just me luck ??

[Raw Kryptonite]

That blog is a little excessive. It's just not that complicated.
Access your router via it's IP address (your "gateway address"), not the application interface and locate the DMZ settings. If it allows you to put in the MAC address of the 360 (or wireless adapter if you use that), find that on the network tab and put it in. Now ALL ports are open, no need for forwarding. If you have to put in an IP address (not all consumer routers allow you to input a MAC) then there is a catch: you have to assign your 360 a static IP (you set it to "manual" not "automatic" and use an IP address outside of the range of addresses used by the DHCP server in your router. If you leave it on automatic, in a few days the lease on this IP address to your 360 will expire and it could very well be assigned a different IP address by the router (DHCP server). That negates your DMZ setting, since the IP you have in the DMZ is no longer referring to your 360.

If you reflect as open, but someone else is moderate or strict, you're still likely to have issues with that person. Not your fault, they need to get to work on their situation.

If you set up the DMZ properly, but still show moderate/strict, if on DSL, then you need to look into your modem. DSL modems have a built in router, which could be screwing things up even if the rest of your network is set up correctly. You'll access it similarly to the router and it should have some basic settings to take care of this, usually a drop down box or something which lets you refer to Xbox Live.

[dazz1971]

Originally Posted by Raw Kryptonite

That blog is a little excessive. It's just not that complicated.
Access your router via it's IP address (your "gateway address"), not the application interface and locate the DMZ settings. If it allows you to put in the MAC address of the 360 (or wireless adapter if you use that), find that on the network tab and put it in. Now ALL ports are open, no need for forwarding. If you have to put in an IP address (not all consumer routers allow you to input a MAC) then there is a catch: you have to assign your 360 a static IP (you set it to "manual" not "automatic" and use an IP address outside of the range of addresses used by the DHCP server in your router. If you leave it on automatic, in a few days the lease on this IP address to your 360 will expire and it could very well be assigned a different IP address by the router (DHCP server). That negates your DMZ setting, since the IP you have in the DMZ is no longer referring to your 360.

If you reflect as open, but someone else is moderate or strict, you're still likely to have issues with that person. Not your fault, they need to get to work on their situation.

If you set up the DMZ properly, but still show moderate/strict, if on DSL, then you need to look into your modem. DSL modems have a built in router, which could be screwing things up even if the rest of your network is set up correctly. You'll access it similarly to the router and it should have some basic settings to take care of this, usually a drop down box or something which lets you refer to Xbox Live.

thanks raw kryptonite i did what you said i gave xbox a static ip and did the dmz thing .....but then you mention changing settings on modem ??? i dont have modem ?? or am i missing something ?
all i have is the black router that sky gave us ? my laptop and kims lappy connect to it wireless and the xbox is plugged straight into the back using the cable as i was told you get a better connection less lagg if you use cable over wireless ??

also not i could be talking out my ass im not up on networking

[Raw Kryptonite]

Sounds good, they just incorporate the modem in with the router. If you've done all of that, you should be good to go.

*AFTER* you have confirmed all of that and that you're running well (open) and backed up the profile settings in your router, there is something else we could look at: QOS---Quality of Service.
Check your router again for this feature. It will, like the DMZ, allow you to input either an IP address or a MAC address--you'll use what you used before for the DMZ. Then you select High/Medium/Low. Set it to at least medium, but high is better, especially if you have no crucial devices using your interenet connection while gaming (like a VOIP phone, which needs priority).
What QOS does is to prioritize a device's use of your connection. For instance, if I'm on the 360 hosting a round and things are going fine, then my wife gets on her laptop online, the room I'm hosting may crash due to the condition of my share of the line changing. With my 360 preferred on the network under "high" or "medium"(possibly good enough) then my wife can get online and my connection has priority, it does not change and any fluctuations are on her end. I call it the Marriage Saver. Anyone who hosts rooms in a game should look into this to maintain the quality and stability of the 360's connection when hosting a room.
For example: If you stream Netflix HD video content on your 360, sometimes when another device is active on your network, you may get a pause in the video due to your connection "slowing" so it stops to buffer it. Set this up and you will almost eliminate that from happening, if not cut out that issue entirely.

[Robotic Pope]

Originally Posted by Raw Kryptonite

That blog is a little excessive. It's just not that complicated.
Access your router via it's IP address (your "gateway address"), not the application interface and locate the DMZ settings. If it allows you to put in the MAC address of the 360 (or wireless adapter if you use that), find that on the network tab and put it in. Now ALL ports are open, no need for forwarding. If you have to put in an IP address (not all consumer routers allow you to input a MAC) then there is a catch: you have to assign your 360 a static IP (you set it to "manual" not "automatic" and use an IP address outside of the range of addresses used by the DHCP server in your router. If you leave it on automatic, in a few days the lease on this IP address to your 360 will expire and it could very well be assigned a different IP address by the router (DHCP server). That negates your DMZ setting, since the IP you have in the DMZ is no longer referring to your 360.

If you reflect as open, but someone else is moderate or strict, you're still likely to have issues with that person. Not your fault, they need to get to work on their situation.

If you set up the DMZ properly, but still show moderate/strict, if on DSL, then you need to look into your modem. DSL modems have a built in router, which could be screwing things up even if the rest of your network is set up correctly. You'll access it similarly to the router and it should have some basic settings to take care of this, usually a drop down box or something which lets you refer to Xbox Live.

I'm sorry but you are just wrong. Did you even read the blog, NAT shape DOES matter. I've been there. Tried everything you said there and it didn't work for my router. Just shoving your xbox in the DMZ doesn't always work.
It wasn't my modem because xbox live ran perfectly straight from the modem, it was only though the Netgear router that I had problems joining certain people. It was because the router used a symmetric shaped NAT that NOTHING could be done to make the NAT actually open. Once I upgraded the firmware the router automaticly recognised an xbox connecting to it and forwarded the correct ports for it using the Cone shaped system. It made a huge difference trust me. If you really do have an open NAT you should be able to connect without a problem to people on xbox live that have the strictest of NAT's. If you ever find yourself not being able to acept an invite you must have at least a moderate NAT whatever the dashboard says.

Don't always trust the dashboard NAT test. It can lie. Before the router upgrade the live test told me the NAT was open but all other signs pointed to a strict NAT.

[SEE]

useful post this as I have experienced the same problem. Sometimes I lose connection during a game session (which is even more annoying!). I just hope the others don't think I've quit (which I never do).