Have you had problems playing your multiplayer online games on your Xbox? Has your games been complaining about a strict or moderate NAT Type when playing online? Then try the following steps to change your NAT Type to Open.

Method One – Reset Xbox Networking Settings

These steps will be performed on your Xbox 360

1. Before following these steps, please be sure to write down your network settings, these steps will clear out these settings and restore them back to factory defaults. If you are connecting to a secured wireless network, you will also need the password you use to connect to it.
2. Start by accessing the Xbox Guide by pressing the Xbox logo on your controller. Select Settings then System Settings
3. Select Network
4. If your Xbox is connected via a wired connection select Wired, else select the wireless network name that corresponds to your wireless network. E.g. linksys, netgear, 2wire####.
5. Select Configure Network
6. On the Additional Settings tab, select Restore to Factory Defaults. When prompted, select Yes, Restore to Factory Defaults.
   This will just reset the settings for the network configuration.
7. Power Cycle your Xbox: Turn off the Xbox and power it back on
   Wireless only: You will receive a message to configure wireless settings. Follow the on-screen instructions to connect to your wireless network

Now test your Xbox Live connection

1. Press the Guide button on your controller, then select Settings, select System Settings, and select Network Settings.
2. Select the name of your “Wireless Network”, or select “Wired Network” for a wired connection.
3. Select Test Xbox Live Connection.

If this solution worked, your console will connect to Xbox Live.

To test if this fixed your NAT Type: load up an game and see what it reports your NAT Type as, if it still is Strict or Moderate continue to the next method.

Source: Xbox Live Support: I can’t hear my friends online, or I can’t join or host a multiplayer game on Xbox Live

Method Two – Add Port Forwarding Settings to your Router

Finding Your Router and Logging into it

1. The first thing you must do is find your router’s IP address, to find this follow these steps
   1. From your computer (Windows), Press the Window Key + R on your keyboard. The Windows key is between CTRL and ALT keys on the bottom left side of the keyboard with a image of the Windows Logo
   2. In the “Run…” dialog that will appear type: “cmd” without the quotes and press enter.
   3. Then a “Command Prompt” window will appear, type “ipconfig” (again without the quotes) and press enter.
   4. The command will return some information, you are looking for your “Default Gateway” under the heading of either “Local Area Connection” or “Ethernet Adapter Ethernet” – wired connection or “Wireless Connection” or “Wireless LAN Adapter Wi-Fi” – wireless connection. You may need to scroll up in the window to find this information. The default gateway may be: 192.168.1.1, 192.168.0.1, 192.168.5.1, 192.168.2.1, 192.168.1.254, 10.10.10.1, or another IP address.
   5. Please make a note of your default gateway and continue to the next step
2. Now that you have your default gateway IP address we can access your router. Open your favorite web browser (Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, etc.)
3. In your web browser’s address bar type in your default gateway IP address, e.g. http://192.168.1.1 – and press enter.
4. Assuming that the address you entered is correct, you should get a log-in prompt to access your router. If know your router’s username and password, enter now and continue to the next step. (NOTE: this password is usually not the password you use to connect to you wireless network.)

   Common Router Credentials

   Default Router Passwords – Use without quotes

   • Netgear
     • Username: “admin”
     • Password: “password”
   • Linksys
     • Username: “” (blank)
     • Password: “admin”
   • Other Possibilities
     • Username: “admin” or “root” or “” (blank) or “user”
     • Password: “admin” or “password” or “Password” or “root” or “” (blank)
5. Once you have accessed your router’s interface we can fix the NAT issue.
   Due to the numerous number of routers on the market today, the specific methods of changing the settings that we need to change are too numerous to include in a single guide. Because of this we will provide an generalized guide of the settings that need to be changed.
   When possible we will provide a link to a site where you can find the specific method of changing the needed settings for your particular router.
   To take advantage of this resource, you will need to find the following information about your router: manufacturer and specific model and version. This information can be found printed on either the top, front or bottom of your router – please make a note of this information. E.g. Linksys WRT54G, Netgear WNR1000v3, etc.
6. OPTIONAL: We need to turn on and/or confirm that UPnP is active. To do this, look for a menu item with the name “UPnP” (On Linksys Routers it’s under Administration), (On Belkin Routers it’s under System Settings). On that page confirm that UPnP is active and/or turned on. If you needed to change its status to Enabled, remember to save your settings before leaving the page. If you can not find this continue to the next step.

Set Your XBox 360 To Use An Static IP Address

7. We need switch over to your XBox 360 to set it to use a Static IP Address.
   1. Start by accessing the Xbox Guide by pressing the Xbox logo on your controller.
   2. Select Settings then System Settings
   3. Select Network
   4. If your Xbox is connected via a wired connection select Wired, else select the wireless network name that corresponds to your wireless network.
   5. Select Configure Network
   6. Highlight and Select the IP Setting
   7. Change this setting to Manual
   8. Now we need to change your IP Address, Select IP Address
   9. The IP Address you will enter will need to the follow the same format as your gateway from step one of this section. So if your default gateway was: 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.1.254, the IP Address you could enter is: 192.168.1.200. You can pick any IP Address between 192.168.1.2 – 192.168.1.254, however you should avoid address in the range of: 192.168.1.2 – 192.168.1.100. Assuming you don’t have any other static assigned devices on your network you could use: 192.168.1.240, remember to change the first three sets of numbers to your address block. E.g. 10.10.10.240, 192.168.5.240, 172.16.0.240. Once you enter your new IP Address on the XBox remember to make a note of it and move to the next step.
   10. After changing the IP Address lets move on to the Subnet Mask. In most case you may not need to change this but common Subnet Masks are: 255.255.255.0 for 192.168.x.x, 255.255.0.0 for 172.16-32.x.x, 255.0.0.0 for 10.x.x.x – where X represents any number.
   11. The final setting we are changing is the default gateway, in some cases you may not need to change this. You just need to enter the same Default Gateway you found in step one of this method – e.g. 192.168.1.1, 192.168.5.1, etc.
   12. After changing the default gateway, go ahead and select OK to save these settings.
   13. Now to make sure everything works, Select Test Xbox Live Connection and assuming things are all green you may continue to the next step.
   14. Troubleshooting: If you have problems, just repeat the above steps and confirm your IP Address looks like your Default Gateway and is between: x.x.x.2–254 and is _not_ your default gateway IP Address.

Port Forwarding

8. Now we are going to add the port forwarding rules to your router
9. Find an menu option entitled “Port Forwarding” or look up your specific router
10. You need to enter the following information into the Port Forwarding Page and for the IP Address use the IP Address you assigned to your XBox in Step 7.9 of this Method for each of the following rules.
    • Port 88 UDP
    • Port 3074 UDP and TCP
    • Port 53 UDP and TCP
    • Port 80 TCP
    • Port 1863 UDP and TCP
11. Now save and apply these settings to your router
12. If your Xbox was on while you were doing this, go ahead and restart it. Now load up a game see if your NAT Type is now set to open. If it still set as Strict or Moderate you may want to confirm that the port forwarding is set to the IP Address of your XBox and if those settings are still in the Router. Also you could try restarting your router and XBox, if you do this login back into your router and confirm that the Port Forwards are still there. Also Confirm that the IP Address is same on your XBox.
    If you still are having problems, please read through the Source Links at the end of this section for additional help.

Sources

• Xbox Live Support: Network ports used by Xbox Live
• PortForward.com – How to set up a static IP address on your Xbox 360