XBOX 360 & Windows XP Bridging & Strict NAT

[Nick Le Lievre]

I have my xbox 360 connected to my laptop via crossover cable and then the
wired and wireless adapters in the laptop are bridged so that I can connect
my 360 to my wireless router thru the laptop.

When I test the xbox live connection it says strict NAT but when I had the
360 connected directly into the ethernet port of the router the NAT status
was open.

Having a stict NAT prevents me from connecting to some other users so
somewhere in creating the bridge and passing network traffic through it to
the router my NAT has become strict.

Is there anything I can configure on the laptop in order to return the the
NAT status of open. I tried disabling the laptops firewall but that didn't
help. Why is the NAT now strict when going thru the bridge?

 

[Yousuf Khan]

I have my xbox 360 connected to my laptop via crossover cable and then the
wired and wireless adapters in the laptop are bridged so that I can connect
my 360 to my wireless router thru the laptop.

When I test the xbox live connection it says strict NAT but when I had the
360 connected directly into the ethernet port of the router the NAT status
was open.

Having a stict NAT prevents me from connecting to some other users so
somewhere in creating the bridge and passing network traffic through it to
the router my NAT has become strict.

Is there anything I can configure on the laptop in order to return the the
NAT status of open. I tried disabling the laptops firewall but that didn't
help. Why is the NAT now strict when going thru the bridge?

That's because now you are travelling through two separate NATs, not
just one. When you use the laptop's Internet Connection Sharing to
connect the Xbox, you are sending the Xbox through a NAT connection in
the laptop. Then the laptop itself is using a NAT connection from the
router. So you have a double NAT. It's not impossible to get port
forwarding going on a double NAT, but it's a bitch and a half. You're
better off leaving the Xbox directly connected to the router, even if
it's not convenient.

Yousuf Khan