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Making sure you have the correct ports open and forwarded to compliment Microsoft’s gaming internet is absolutely paramount.
NAT systems allow different clients and platforms to communicate securely.
Opening up your router to support “Open Nat” on Xbox can vastly improve your experience.
Having closed ports is generally important for security, particularly in the commercial and industrial space.
These steps work for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles, as well as Xbox 360.
This somewhat represents your compatibility with other players, with stricter NAT types often experiencing issues with multiplayer connectivity.
Call of Duty will play much better if you have an Open NAT type.
A good way of showing how NAT influences connectivity is through this handy grid.
This shows the compatibility between NAT types and why aiming for Open NAT makes for the best overall experience.
Put simply, users with an Open NAT will have the best experience overall when playing multiplayer games.
Maximize your connectivity in games like Overwatch, Halo Infinite, and more.
Here, we’re mainly focused on Xbox.
UPnP is another modern system for making communications for gaming more simple on modern routers.
This is when port forwarding comes into play.
Xbox network settings.
Understanding port forwarding
Put simply, ports are basically digitalized channels for your router.
They sort incoming and outgoing internet traffic and connections.
Port forwarding will open specific ports used by specific services for make communication more seamless.
Port forwarding is a usually failsafe way to ensure your Xbox can communicate properly on the world wide web.
Port forwarding can be more failsafe, though, and stable, if done correctly.
Preferably a Windows laptop.
We have a guide onhow to set up a static IP address on Xboxright here.
