Some of your have probably noticed that when your NAT is strict you can't join your friends with the same NAT. Well, there's two ways to fix it -- port forwarding and setting a DMZ. The latter is the easiest so I'll post how to do that first.

Firstly what you need to do, is go here:

http://www.portforward.com/english/a...e_360index.htm

And choose your router. On the page, look at the first couple of steps. It will tell you to enter an IP address into your browser (ie 192.168.1.1) and then enter the username and password. Do that until you get to your router settings. Stop following that guide afterwards, because it's for port forwarding and not DMZ'ing.

Once you're in the router settings you need to find the "DMZ" page. Have a look through the menus -- it's probably under "Security", "NAT", "Gaming and Applications" or something like that.

You will know you've found it when you simply see a box to enter in an IP, and sometimes a check box saying "Enable". When you find the box, enter 192.168.1.50 into it. That's it, just save if you can.

Easy eh? Not finished just yet though. Now you need to go to your Xbox so you can setup a static IP for it. Go to the last blade, the settings one, and choose Network Settings. From here choose Edit Settings and choose IP Address. Set it to manual and use these settings:

IP Address: 192.168.1.50
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: Use the IP address that you typed into your browser to get your router settings up. Normally 192.168.1.1.

Now try to connect. Your NAT should be open. If it isn't, restart both your router and Xbox 360.

If your DNS fails then do this:

Go to Start > Run and type "cmd". Then type "ipconfig /all". Take a note of your DNS server(s) in there.

Then go to your Xbox, settings, network settings, edit settings, DNS Server, manual and use:

Primary DNS: whatever you took note of from ipconfig /all
Secondary DNS: not needed.

If your NAT is still strict or moderate, then you can now follow the guide on portforward.com. The problem with portforward.com is that they don't show (or tell) you to set up a static IP for your Xbox so it's pretty useless. But now that you've set one up, you can follow their port forwarding guide.

__________________

Never thought I'd say this to a Mod, but...threads already been made about this

Yeah, except this is how to DMZ, which is MUCH better than port forwarding.

Portforward.com doesn't tell you that you need to give your Xbox a static IP either, so it's pretty useless.

__________________

It worked perfectly fine for me.

Pretty useless for those with routers that have a DHCP server with a lease time of 1 or 2 days I meant.

Most routers assign each device a different IP whenever it's turned on. So if you forwarded the ports to 192.168.1.2 for example, but leave the Xbox on Automatic, it's very likely the DHCP will change that IP to a different one. Meaning the ports are no longer forwarded to the correct IP.

__________________

Would I do this same thing for people to join my game on XBC for Halo 1? Cause I've asked and everyone says I have to foward my ports.

Nice tutorial though.

__________________

It's better to port forward XBC. DMZ wouldn't work too well.

Port forwarding XBC is awkward though. You need to set a static IP for your computer, which is a pain and is almost always problematic. Click the "Click here to setup a static IP" on portforward.com. Try and do that, if it works, then just follow the XBC port forward guide on the site.

__________________

sweeet i always wondered how to fix that it was soo annoying

__________________
Message me at poseidon660@aol.com

or

GT: Itz Pozeidon

wait will this help/hurt my utorrent download speeds?

__________________
Message me at poseidon660@aol.com

or

GT: Itz Pozeidon

Alright. Thanks man.

__________________