How to fix the “Error: Your NAT type is set to strict (or moderate).” error How to fix the “Error: Your NAT type is set to strict (or moderate).” error

Wednesday, 27 October 2010 06:55 Last Updated on Wednesday, 27 October 2010 07:20 Written by Joshua Harris

If you are getting the “Error: Your NAT type is set to strict (or moderate).” error message, Microsoft has released a troubleshooting guide to help you fix the problem.

Have you run the Network Troubleshooter and had it warn you about having a Moderate or Strict NAT (Network Address Translation)? There is a lot of information on the Internet that explains how to configure routers to fix this issue—for example, the Xbox.com support article “Error: Your NAT type is set to strict (or moderate).”  But why is this necessary? Why is an Open NAT better than a Moderate or Strict NAT? To give you a better understanding of why one NAT type is better for gaming than another, in this post I give you a peek under the hood to see what happens at the network layer when Xbox 360 consoles try to connect and communicate with each other.