If online matches take forever to find, voice chat drops, or you cannot party up with friends, a strict NAT type is often to blame. NAT — network address translation — is how your router shares one public IP among all your devices, and when it is too restrictive it blocks the peer-to-peer connections many games rely on. Opening it up to Open or Moderate NAT smooths matchmaking and reduces disconnects. Here is how to do it safely.
Understand the three NAT types
Games usually report NAT as Open, Moderate, or Strict. Open connects to everyone freely and gives the best matchmaking. Moderate works with most players but may struggle to host. Strict only connects to Open peers and causes the most trouble. The goal is to reach Open or at least Moderate.
Why your NAT is strict
Common causes include a router with a restrictive default firewall, double NAT (two routers chained together, often your own router behind the ISP’s modem-router), or the game’s ports simply being blocked. Identifying which one applies decides your fix.
The safest fix: UPnP
Most routers support UPnP, which lets games open the ports they need on demand without you configuring anything by hand. Log into your router’s admin page, find UPnP (usually under advanced or NAT settings), and enable it. Reboot the router and recheck your NAT in-game. This resolves the majority of cases and is far less fiddly than manual port forwarding.
| Method | Effort | Risk | When to use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enable UPnP | Low | Low | First thing to try |
| Port forwarding | Medium | Medium | UPnP unavailable or unreliable |
| Fix double NAT | Medium | Low | Two routers in series |
| DMZ | Low | High | Last resort, not recommended |
Manual port forwarding
If UPnP is off the table, forward the specific ports a game lists to your PC’s local IP address. First give your PC a static local IP or a DHCP reservation so the address does not change. Then, in the router’s port-forwarding section, add the game’s TCP and UDP ports pointed at that IP. Forward only the ports the game documents — blanket-opening everything weakens your security for no benefit.
Resolving double NAT
If your ISP gave you a combined modem-router and you added your own router behind it, two NAT layers stack and force Strict. The cleanest fix is to set the ISP device to bridge or pass-through mode so only your router does NAT. Alternatively, put your router’s IP in the ISP device’s DMZ, though bridging is tidier and safer.
Wired connection and firewall factors
Once NAT is open, tidy up the rest of the path. A wired Ethernet connection will not change your NAT type, but it removes the jitter and packet loss that make an already-open connection feel unstable, so pair the two fixes. On the PC itself, make sure Windows Firewall is not blocking the game — add an exception for the game and its launcher so inbound connection requests reach it. If you use a third-party security suite with its own firewall, whitelist the game there too. Finally, after any router change, fully power-cycle both the router and modem: pull power for about 30 seconds, boot the modem first, then the router. Stale NAT tables cached in the hardware are a common reason a correct configuration still reports Strict until everything is restarted cleanly.
FAQ
Is enabling UPnP a security risk?
UPnP has had vulnerabilities historically, but on a modern, updated router it is a reasonable convenience for gaming. If you are cautious, keep your router firmware current and disable UPnP when you are not gaming, or use targeted port forwarding instead.
Will a wired connection change my NAT type?
No, NAT is a router-level setting independent of whether you use Wi-Fi or Ethernet. Wired helps latency and stability but will not move you from Strict to Open on its own.
Bottom line
Strict NAT blocks the connections games need, so aim for Open or Moderate. Try UPnP first, fall back to forwarding only the documented game ports to a static local IP, and if you run two routers, bridge the ISP box to kill double NAT. Avoid the DMZ shortcut unless nothing else works.
