Unfinished

I have 3.3.166.

Is there any known issue that causes the R2 to lose IP address allocation? I have an inverter that seems to lose connection occasionally and another smart home device that too lost its IP address and I have to reboot the router to get it reallocated.

They want to lab test some consoles back at base in a similar config to mine. It also seems that there may be another customer with a similar situation. It's nice to see them taking an active interest and not trying to fob customers off. It will pay dividends in the long term for them though. The UPnP situation seems odd too, as it wouldn't allow an open NAT, the ports had to be manually opened and have UPnP off. I'm convinced that it is due to CG-NAT.

All Microsoft recommended ports were opened to obtain the open NAT and it stayed open even after closing the ports and leaving UPnP off, but is that perhaps something to do with NAT session timeout and maybe a red herring? No screenshot anyway, as at that time we switched to the ISP router and all the forwarded port rules were deleted again. The important bit, I think, is that when the second XBOX was switched on, the NAT went to moderate, also, tech support used the supplied router and another brought with him and neither of those could be configured to give anything other than strict NAT.

Some extra info, the ISP router will not currently give anything but a strict NAT. The R2 will give an open NAT, but under the circumstances listed in my post above.

With one of the XBOX's in the DMZ, I can get an open NAT and it is repeatable if I switch the DMZ on and off. During testing with tech support here, one XBOX went to open NAT with UPnP disabled, no port forwarding and no DMZ. Switching on a second wired XBOX took both to moderate NAT. To get the open NAT outside of the DMZ, all relevant ports were opened UPnP off, and then ports closed to find a potential problem with a port, but once open, the NAT stayed open, even with all ports subsequently closed.

Ok, thank you. They know about the R2 and are not that bothered. It was easy to determine that the issue is with their end, as reconnecting the ISP router gave the same strict NAT. Apparently other customers have not had the same issues with static IP addresses and have open NATs. I'll know more tomorrow, but good to see that they are customer focused. Edit: I couldn't see the DMZ for looking, I can now though, thanks.

Thanks for the info. I'll not post any more comments here, as I've got a similar thread running on the R2 forum.

Responded to a similar thread of mine about what issues strict NATs can cause and this is the text... "It is an IP address on their network, but supposedly setup to be open, I cannot really comment in any meaningful technical way, as this is beyond my knowledge. Configuration changes their end gave me a moderate NAT and I have tech support attending in person tomorrow to try and get a handle on what is going on. I'll update when I have more info. On another note, is it possible to setup devices in the DMZ on the R2? If so, how, as I couldn't see where this could be done."

It is an IP address on their network, but supposedly setup to be open, I cannot really comment in any meaningful technical way, as this is beyond my knowledge. Configuration changes their end gave me a moderate NAT and I have tech support attending in person tomorrow to try and get a handle on what is going on. I'll update when I have more info. On another note, is it possible to setup devices in the DMZ on the R2? If so, how, as I couldn't see where this could be done.

They did confirm that they use CG-NAT and as a new startup, probably only this, but I did find out that they will be gearing up for IPv6 soon, so that should resolve the issue. My static IP either hasn't gone live yet, or it just isn't giving me an open NAT, so likely just an assigned address behind their routers and still on CG-NAT. Why would they give me a static address on a CG-NAT network? Wouldn't that be pointless? I will have a chat with them tomorrow.

Under Network Settings > WAN > Network Do I now need to select Static, or leave it on DHCP? Is this the problem?

Just tried. No dice! I think I'll need to speak to my ISP tomorrow, as it looks like I still have an address on their CG-NAT network. Edit: ...and presumably, still behind their routers?

I have apparently been issued with a static IP address, but it doesn't look different from before, unless it hasn't yet been activated for some reason. Is there anything I need to do to change the config of the R2 if I do now have a static IP? I have just checked my NAT type and it is still strict, so not sure what is going on at the moment.

Well, the reason for asking is that the move from FTTC at 7mbps to full fibre at 200mbps, hasn’t resulted in night and day differences yet. I can still see packet loss, although the game does seem to be smoother. Having dealt with the ISP tech support, they were working on a solution to provide an open NAT. This could only be by allowing specified ports or devices through their network unimpeded. Interestingly their supplied gateway did on one occasion, allow an open NAT, but I don’t know why that would have been? In the meantime, I’ll try a rented IP address and see how that goes.

Thanks Fraser, I was wondering if it cause latency or packet loss in some cases.

As per the title, what issues are likely to be experienced with a strict NAT type, specifically for games such as Apex and Warzone? Is there going to be a real and noticeable difference, or is it mainly just theoretical?

Unfortunately a second line is also a no go, as with three xboxes, that's a lot a data transfer for updating. I'll give the ISP a ring later. Thanks for the help.

There is no other option. Either FTTC, 1 mile of copper line away, or Wildanet fibre. OpenReach are only planning on reviewing the situation 2-3 years from now. So, it looks like forking out for a static IP.

Tracing route to 100.X.X.X over a maximum of 30 hops 1 3ms 6ms 3ms 100.X.X.X (my WAN IP address shown on R2) Trace complete Edit: This might be why tech support suggested I request my own public IP address. Edit2: What'smyIP shows 185.X.X.X owned by my ISP Wildanet. I reckon I have CG-NAT, now what? 😒

Would this have anything to do with a 100. series IP address?

Thanks for the info, but I have no means to connect directly to the ONT. I do not have any laptops with ethernet connections. Edit: In fact, other than a Surface Pro tablet, I have no windows devices at all.

I can, but I have 25 devices (and counting) on the network, so this will be a major PITA (again). What is a factory reset likely to do by the way? Edit: I also do not like the idea of port forwarding and DMZ.

I have no acces to the router or the ONT, it's closed and I have to go through Wildanet to get anything done. What exactly are my options to getting this all working properly, as I feel a bit deflated having waited so long for a decent internet connection, for there now to be another issue. Currently my R2 is connected directly to the ONT. The Wildanet gateway (router) also gives strict NAT types, so I think the problem is in the ONT, but I know very little about this subject. Also, I don't know if this has any bearing on the situation, but with the fibre connected, the R2 will no longer run a connection benchmark or complete an auto-QoS setup.

The router/ISP uses DHCP and I have spoken with them to allow the specific MAC address of the R2, to be able to use that. It's up and running, but the XBOXes now have a strict NAT type, which they didn't before. I've checked that UPnP is enabled and it is. I have not yet setup port forwarding, as I haven't needed to up until now.