Linksys WRT54G Problems w/ Xbox 360 Live

[sorensen3021]

I have been having some very frustrating problems with my Xbox Live lately. I am able to do most things from playing online and joining games, but when it comes to joining games and private chatting with friends, I am unable to connect. It is also very strange because it only seems that I can't join with those people who live within 50 miles of me. I can easily join games with those who live in some other state and easily have private chat with them.

I have a Linksys WRT54G v3 Wireless-G Broadband Router and a Speedstream 5200 (060-E242-A24) Ethernet/USB ADSL Modem. Also, my ISP is Windstream.

I have also tried to do many solutions of my own. I started out by setting up a static IP on my Xbox 360, and then forwarding the necessary ports for Xbox Live and setting them up to the IP of the Xbox. When I go to test the connection then, it all connects, but it says my NAT is Strict. But when I set the IP on the Xbox to automatic IP assigment, it says it is open. So then I tried enabling DMZ to the IP of the Xbox 360, and still had no success. And I have made sure that UPnP is enabled and still nothing.

I have ran out of ideas, and I need some help...and anything is appreciated.

[johnwill]

Try connecting directly to the Speedstream 5200 and see if you still have the issue. Also, if that Speedstream 5200 is not bridged, you have two NAT layers between you and the Internet, which could be part of your XBOX troubles. I'd look into bridging the Speedstream 5200 so that you can properly configure only one router.

[sorensen3021]

Alright, it worked perfectly when I plugged it straight into the Speedstream 5200 modem. So does this mean I should just look at getting a new router?

[johnwill]

You might consider loading DD-WRT 3rd party firmware on your Linksys, it may be more compatible with XBOX.

[sorensen3021]

I was able to install the router firmware and everything perfectly. But I have ran into a problem with setting up the DMZ. I enabled UPnP so that my NAT wouldn't be Strict, which turned it to open. Then I went into my Xbox 360 network settings and changed the IP address to manual, set it to a specific IP address, and then I went in and turned the DMZ on and put it to the IP address of my Xbox 360. But then it said my NAT was now Strict, even though I have UPnP enabled. It seems that the NAT is only open when the IP address is set to automatic, but then I can't know the exact IP address to forward all the ports for DMZ.

What can I do to solve this?

Thanks for all the help so far

[johnwill]

The Speedstream 5200 is a modem/router, so you may have to bridge it to eliminate it's NAT layer. Here's one thread that describes configuring the 5200 into bridge mode. http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13765870


Alternatively, you could configure the secondary router as a WAP and eliminate it's NAT layer, which will also apparently accomplish the same trick.

Connecting two (or more) SOHO broadband routers together.

Note: The "primary" router can be an actual router, a software gateway like Microsoft Internet Connection Sharing, or a server connection that has the capability to supply more than one IP address using DHCP server capability. No changes are made to the primary "router" configuration.

Configure the IP address of the secondary router(s) to be in the same subnet as the primary router, but out of the range of the DHCP server in the primary router. For instance DHCP server addresses 192.168.0.2 through 192.168.0.100, I'd assign the secondary router 192.168.0.254 as it's IP address, 192.168.0.253 for another router, etc.

Note: Do this first, as you will have to reboot the computer to connect to the router again for the remaining changes.

Disable the DHCP server in the secondary router.

Setup the wireless section just the way you would if it was the primary router, channels, encryption, etc.

Connect from the primary router's LAN port to one of the LAN ports on the secondary router. If there is no uplink port and neither of the routers have auto-sensing ports, use a cross-over cable. Leave the WAN port unconnected!

This procedure bypasses the routing function (NAT layer) and configures the router as a switch (or wireless access point for wireless routers).

For reference, here's a link to a Typical example config using a Netgear router