Ports are virtual gates that govern the entry and exit of certain types of data. Game publishers detail ports that the particular game uses for communication. It becomes difficult to connect to other players online or for them to connect to you when you are behind a strict NAT.īoth Sony and Microsoft give you a clear indication of the NAT type in use. Online gaming is latency-sensitive, and other functions such as voice chat require a less restrictive NAT for the best online experience. For example, while playing games online, it ensures that data is sent back to your gaming system, and not any other device that you may have connected to the router. The NAT table records requests being sent out and back in.

Since there is only one public IP address representing a private network of devices, NAT has to ensure that data is delivered back to the correct IP address (device). The router assigns unique IP addresses for a private network but uses a single, ISP-assigned IP address to communicate with the internet. Network Address Translation (NAT) is a functionality built into every router that connects to the internet. Internet Service Providers can assign one IP address per private network, and then NAT will handle the rest. The former is the local network that consists of known devices the latter is the internet, which consists of billions of devices. Networks can be divided into two groups: private and public. But the growing number of devices on the internet was an inevitability that was seen coming. The IPv4 protocol allows roughly 32 million unique IP addresses. But the protocol governing the distribution of IP addresses has its limit. It wouldn’t be a reliable way to communicate if your message landed on to the wrong recipient.

An IP address provides the distinction that’s required for data to arrive at the correct destination. The internet is not a single entity that’s serving billions of users worldwide, but it’s a global network of devices that communicate with each other through multiple routers and gateways. Before you learn how to configure the router and gaming system properly, an overview of NAT is in order.

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