how do i change the NAT from moderate to open on a Netgear DG834GT router??

[rossy]

how do i change the NAT from moderate to open on a Netgear DG834GT router?? I would like it to be open as i cant connect to other people on xbox live any help will be appreciated thanx

[mitford]

http://www.portforward.com/english/r...x_Live_360.htm

[spangle]

I wrote this some time ago for an online gaming forum I run, a lot of people found it very useful.


This guide is a simple gamers guide to getting your xbox 360 working correctly on Live.

The steps:

1. Set a static IP address on the 360
2. Set up port forwarding
3. Turn on UPnP
4. Enable the DMZ

NAT in a nutshell...

NAT is an acronym for Network Address Translation.
It allows your home network to share the ip address given to you by your isp.
Additionally it keeps your network fairly safe from hackers.

As the internet can only see the shared IP address of the router, any data sent from Xbox Live needs to be directed to the Xbox on your home network. We do this with Port Forwarding.

All data on the internet is sent on a specific port, Xbox Live uses the following ports:

UDP 88
UDP 3074
TCP 3074

(It is very important to note the UDP and TCP parts, these are two different ways that data is sent.)

So, to make sure that the data we receive from Xbox Live is 'forwarded' to the Xbox on our network we need to map the route for those ports.

For port fowarding to work we need to set a few things up correctly.

Firstly we need to set a 'Static' IP address on the Xbox. Doing this may stop something else on your network to stop working so we just need to do a little planning first.

I'm taking it that your routers IP address is 192.168.1.1 which is pretty standard, it may be 192.168.0.1 or something similar in which case just change the address range that I'm using for your own. If you wish to use my proffered addressing then you will need to change the Static IP address of your router to 192.168.1.1 before doing anything else.

Log into your routers admin panel and take a look at the DHCP Server options, it will list a range of addresses. Set them as follows:

Start Range: 192.168.1.100
End Range: 192.168.1.200

Make sure the DHCP option is enabled, this will make sure that any computer or other device that is set to automatically obtain an IP address will get one and they won't be affected by us setting a static address for the xbox.

I would advise rebooting any computers you have on your network to make sure they renew they're IP address from the router to reflect the changes we've just made.

Now we need to set the static IP address on the Xbox, set it as follows:
IP Address: 192.168.1.10
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1 (this is your routers IP address)
DNS Server 1: 192.168.1.1
DNS Server 2: 192.168.1.1

We can now set the Port Forwarding up. In the router admin panel go to your Port Forwarding options and set up the following rules:

Protocol:UDP
Port:88
Local Address:192.168.1.10

Protocol:UDP
Port: 3074
Local Address:192.168.1.10

Protocol:TCP
Port:3074
Local Address:192.168.1.10

Save those settings and reboot your router.

Now run the Network test on the System Blade and wait for the NAT test to finish. Use the following status results to determine your next action:

Status: OPEN - Post a nice comment about me in the forum, then go play coz your sorted.
Status: MODERATE - Ooooo your nearly there, keep reading this guide.
Status: STRICT - Blimey, grab a coffee and your favourite drug, take the lot coz we're in for a long night! oh ok, just keep reading this guide

Port forwarding should work for most routers, for the tricky ones we have a few more options...

UPnP

Universal Plug 'n' Play, by default this should be set off on your router. What does it do? well it allows different networked devices to communicate with each without setting them up, you plug it in and it starts working as if by magic.

Turn on UPnP on your router and run the network test again.

Status: OPEN - Post a nice comment about me in the forum, then go play coz your sorted.
Status: MODERATE - Ooooo your nearly there, keep reading this guide.
Status: STRICT - Blimey, grab a coffee and your favourite drug, take the lot coz we're in for a long night! oh ok, just keep reading this guide

Well if you've got this far then it's time to bring out the big guns.....

The DMZ demystified

The final option we have is to put your xbox on whats called a DMZ, an acronym for Demilitarized Zone. Put simply, it means putting your xbox directly onto the internet. You don't need port forwarding as your router won't stop data on any port from communicating with the Xbox, it will pass anything to the xbox.

In your router admin panel go to the DMZ option and enter your Xbox IP address (192.168.1.10).

Retest the NAT and see what you get!

Status: OPEN - Post a nice comment about me in the forum, then go play coz your sorted.
Status: MODERATE - hmmmmmm, not a good result. It is possible that the Xbox isn't reading the results correctly. Open a game room and get a few friends in who know their NAT result, test a few games, if everything is ok then go play!
Status: STRICT - Give up, buy a branded router

Well that's not strictly true, if you still can't get the holy grail of NAT results (that's OPEN by the way), then you should try turning off SPI and also try what we've already done in different configurations like using port forwarding and UPnP without the DMZ.