Fixing NAT w/ xbox 360

Currently it is on moderate, I have tried opening ports but that only changed my from strict to moderate, and I still cannot play with any of my friends, DMZ did nothing and neither did turning of the SPI, I have a linksys WRT300N if that helps

 

Since you seem to have covered most of the bases, it would be helpful if you gave a bit more detail about what you did to try out each of the options you list as not working.

 

Surely, I gave my xbox a static IP of 192.168.1.250, opened up three ports, 88, 2074, and 3074. Also I turned of the SPI firewalll built into the router, and then lastly I tried enabling DMZ. I didn't seem to need to restart my router, but I believe I did do it once during all of that.

 

What, exactly, happened when you tried to enable the DMZ?

 

Just an option on the router, said settings saved, tried the XBL test again, NAT was still moderate.

 

I believe it is safe to bump this...

 

May be a silly question, but since you have a WRT300N, do you have the NAT function enabled on your Router?

From the Admin Panel:

Click on Setup, Advanced Routing, NAT - Enable

Forget DMZ, it's a waste of time anyway. There's a few other tricks that will get you into the game faster than your enemies also.

For Linksys routers, your best option is Port Triggering or Port Forwarding. I've got a WRT600N Dual-Band (had a 300N, gave it to my parents), and Linksys helped me set it up for online gaming with my PS3. If you don't know which ports you need for the specific game you playing, you can email the game publisher and ask them - they'll send you the info. Typically though, for online communication you need at least Port 80, 443 and 5223 open for your NAT value to be a 2.

If it's a game listed on the Quality of Service menu, you can add them to the list and the Router will automatically Port Forward the correct ports for the game or application. At the very least, you should add your Xbox to the QoS list of systems that will get Internet Access Priority. To do that:

Click on Applications and Gaming, QoS. Enable Internet Access Priority. On the Category menu, select MAC (make sure you have your Xbox MAC address). Note: you can also set it to Online Game, and then Add a New Game, but by setting your MAC address it gives the Xbox priority access, not just the game.

Enter a Name: Xbox
MAC: Enter your address
Priority: Set it to Medium, not High.

The reason for setting it to medium is explained in the help section of the QoS.

Security - WEP and WPA Security with N routers usually causes online server drops when playing online, so it's better to switch it off. In its place, use MAC filtering instead. Just as good and without any interference. Nothing sucks more than kicking a$$ in an online game and having your system time out just before you win and get the points. Not to mention gloat.

MAC filtering works by having a list of authorized devices set in the Router. When you're done, only devices on that list will be able to access the Router - any other device won't even get so much as a look. Before you set it up, you'll need to get the MAC numbers from your XBOX and any other system you have connect to your network. For computers, you access the System Information (Vista anyway) it'll show you the MAC addresses for anything connected to it, along with the system's MAC itself. That includes the wi-fi adapter, etc.

WGA600N Gaming Adapter - If you don't have one by now, get one. Gaming adapters allow you to plug into the game system's Ethernet port and bypass the internal wireless adapter (which is only a G for the Xbox and PS3). By bypassing the internal adapter with an N device, you ramp up your connectivity to N speeds as the adapter connects to the Router via wireless.

If you REALLY want to get an advantage, go to a Dual-Band Network like I have. Get the 600N, not the 610 - it had problems in a recent InfoWeek DBN test. They themselves use a 600N for their own network. The setup is essentially the same as the 300, except you can access both the 5ghz and 2.4ghz frequencies for use with a dual-band adapter (like the WGA600N).

What that allows you to do is set up your gaming data on the 5ghz band, and route all other data in your house through the 2.4ghz band. If you've ever had data slowdowns during a game because someone else is downloading MP3's or something else, this gets rid of that problem. For your adapter, all you need to do is set it to receive on the 5ghz band.

Something else that helps is to give your console a different IP address. I set mine to 50 (you usually get 100 spots). Just remember it when you setup your Xbox network settings.

If you have any specific questions on setting up the 300N for gaming, PM me - I don't get back to posts sometimes if I get busy with other stuff, but I do respond to messages.