Hey Bungie.net Member. Master Chef SC here. I hope this doesn’t get buried underneath the crap on these forums. If a ninja sees this could they shuriken it to the board after skimming through to see how awesome it is? Keep the credit to me and you can put this guide anywhere.
This is all about making a backdoor for Xbox live through your router’s firewall so that you can connect to everyone and don’t have extra lag in games that have bad netcode like Halo 2. Aka Open NAT. Also if you’ve come that far you’ll know how to stream your computer hard drive’s videos, pictures and music onto your Xbox. You will also know enough to know how to maximise the speed of your torrent downloading, MSN file transferring and online computer games. 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 NAT could already be open without you realising. To check if it is, turn on your Xbox 360 and in the dashboard, scroll right to the system blade. 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 read Strict, Moderate or Open. If it is reads open, 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 automatically opening ports). 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 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. If your Xbox 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.
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 numbers necessary- to get the same IP address everytime. You could get these (1) off your computer’s network settings if the computer has a static IP or (2) off the router’s settings. You must have these numbers somewhere, otherwise you wouldn’t be connected to the internet.
(Written assuming you have Windows XP. If you don’t, use the search function in the start menu to look for “network settings”)
(1) – 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. Right click on one and ‘disable’ it. If your -blam!- stops downloading, it’s probably the right one. Right click on the right one, 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 the window that I have taken a screenshot of and attached to this post. This is what makes your computer’s IP address static or roaming. If it is set to manual, static. Automatic, roaming. If it is manual, copy down all the numbers and what they mean- IP address, Subnet Mask, Default Gateway, Preferred and Alternate DNS servers. The Xbox has a similar window where you can enter into the same numbers. Heres a quick and simple explanation of what they each mean.
IP address- The Xbox or computer’s specific local IP address. Example: 192.168.1.242. The 192 and 168 the same for everyone’s local IP address. The next number could be a 0 or 1, depending on the model of your router. The next number is a number of your choice between
Subnet Mask- Scrambles your IP address from outsiders. Just set it to 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway- The local IP address of your router. I’m going to explain how to find this is the very next paragraph.
Preferred and Alternate DNS servers- Pass codes. You get them from your internet service provider. You must have them on your router if you’re connected to the internet. (This is the thing that people who don’t know anything about networking ring up 50 dollar an hour nerds to ring up Telstra, ask for and then put them in. And the nerd doesn’t even fix up your ports, leading you to play halo 2 for a year and half with a closed NAT, adding 200ms of lag to every game and you can’t connect to your best friend. -blam!- you Matthew Klock.)
(2) Now we are going to go into your router’s software, which is located inside the router, not the computer. It can be accessed with firefox or internet explorer usually through either this address or this one . Remember if the 0 or the 1 in the third line works for you, remember it and use it for all your local IP addresses. If it works, you will get a login dialog box. If neither work, don’t fret. Here’s an easy way to find out what your internet gateway/ router’s IP address is. Kudos to OnePumpDump.
To find out your routers IP address, go to a computer on your network, Click Start, Run, then type in "cmd" (without the quotes) and then click OK.
A black window, called by all as the "command prompt" window will show up. At this point you can type in "ipconfig" (again, not with the quotes) and hit enter.
The "default Gateway" that is shown is your routers IP address. There is also the IP address of your computer and the subnet mask. Note that the IP address of your computer could be roaming or static depending on what you found in part (1), half a dozen paragraphs above. It’s probably worth it to write down the subnet mask to your piece of paper too.
The login box will ask you for a login and a password. If you or anyone else has never accessed your router’s settings before, these will be set to their default of login= admin and password=password/admin or nothing at all, depending on whether you have a netgear, linksys or a D-link router. If you have another brand, a good place to look for the default login and password is printed on the router itself or if all else fails, its manual! Select your router from
this list if you have any more problems; it has a specific guide for each router.
Now here’s where it gets harder to explain. You see, every company that makes routers makes their software look different. You are looking for the preferred and alternate DNS numbers. Look around internet settings, basic settings, advanced settings, wherever it is, one thing won’t change- the label of ‘DNS.’ Since mine is netgear, I can tell you its in the home page of the router that loads up, down the bottom. Shouldn’t be too hard to find, just be patient.
Now you are ready to go back to your Xbox 360’s dashboard. Scroll to the system blade, network settings, edit settings. Keep in the basic settings tab. There are two options- IP settings and DNS settings. Go into either, change the setting to manual and then enter:
IP address: 192.168.1.? or 192.168.0.? Note of course that all of the first three numbers match your router's IP address. The ? is a number between 2 and 255. I suggest you choose a number above 10, since below that you may have another device on your home network automatically choose your IP address
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: Whatever you address you were able to connect to your router’s software with. Example: 192.168.1.1
Primary DNS Server: What you found earlier in the router settings. Skipped it? Go back, amigo
Secondary DNS Server: What you found earlier in the router settings. Skipped it? Go back, amigo
If can reconnect to Xbox live, you have successfully made your Xbox IP’s static. Note that you now go to on your computer Start, Control Panel, Network Settings and so on to make your computer’s IPs static. This will be handy for opening other ports to maximise P2P speed. More on that later.
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