Looking for router with an Open NAT/DMZ port! Does it exist?

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ElektroDragon

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
192
Hello folks... I am sick and tired of constantly fiddling with my static IP address on consoles and with my router in order to try and get Open NAT, or trying to choose which ONE of my many consoles get to be in the DMZ, only to have something reset my settings behind my back. Really sick of it.

So, I want a router than designates one of its physical Ethernet ports as OPEN NAT or DMZ, and anything connected to that port, all switches and devices that may be attached, are automatically OPEN NAT or DMZ. This would be phenomenal for me as I already have all my consoles and other entertainment devices already hooked to a series of switches going back to one port on my router, all hard wired.

Where can I buy such a router, and if it doesn't exist, why the hell not? :D

EDIT: Just found one that might work from T-P Link on Amazon... it seems to have a dedicated DMZ port, but then I realized that I am forced to use a specific router with MoCA by my ISP (I have FiOS). So can I then buy a second router, give it a static IP, set that static IP as DMZ in the first router, and hook all my devices that I want to be Open NAT/DMZ to the second router by turning off NAT completely on the second router? Will that even work?
 
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just get a static ip for every console you have... plus one for your router to connect your household's other devices, pcs/tablets/phones

set them up all on a switch that connects directly to your isp, none of your consoles will need NAT or DMZ...

but tbh, most consoles are pretty NAT friendly, maybe your problems aren't with that...
 
Get a router whose DHCP server can provide fixed IP addresses to certain MAC addresses.
 
The problem is I'm tied to a single public IP at a time from the ISP. And everything has to go through the ancient MoCA (Ethernet over Coax) router (a Westell 9100EM). I can't even get a newer router from the ISP. All I could do is ask them to change my endpoint from MoCA to Ethernet so I can use any router, but that requires a service visit.

I use Gears of War series on Xbox for testing which tells you if you have Open NAT or Moderate NAT. The router supposedly has UPnP enabled, but I'm not sure its working correctly.

For a long time I was using DMZ on one static IP address of one console, which is all I can do from my router. But I have way too many devices now that I want to set up Open NAT for. So I was just looking for an easy method to Open NAT or DMZ all of them at once. The port forwarding thing isn't reliable either, I've found.

I already have a second router hooked up to the first. The second router is there because it has much faster WiFi. All the systems I want to keep secure are on physical connections on the first router.

Is there any way I can set up the SECOND router such that everything connected to it is in DMZ mode and thus open NAT (consoles, handhelds, etc) and everything connected to the first router in the chain is secure closed NAT?? (aside from the second router of course)

Sorry, I'm not very good with networking.
 
ElektroDragon said:
How does that help me if only one specific IP is allowed to be in the DMZ by my router?
Click to expand...

With a single public IP address, the most you can do is manually forward a number of different ports to different internal addresses. What your router calls DMZ only allows you to have a 1:1 relationship with regards to IP addresses, not a 1:n. You can't have the same port forwarded to multiple internal addresses.
 
ElektroDragon said:
Ok... what if I get another router with a special DMZ port, like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-ER...id=1376695936&sr=8-3&keywords=dmz+port+router

Then I set this new router's static IP address to be the DMZ address in the first router and attach a switch with all my DMZ devices to the special DMZ port. Would that work?
Click to expand...


Probably not. It would be a pretty horrible way of managing things if that was even possible (which I'm no expert). Do not take the idea of placing a device in a DMZ lightly. It can be a huge security risk especially if you're just doing it because of laziness or simplicity.

As far as X-Box Live, it has its own issues with recognizing whether ports are open are not. Sometimes you literally need to restart the router device (soft or hard via the button in the back) to have it finally recognize the new settings you've made to the router with port forwarding. Plus some router devices have problems specifically with XBL. Some fixed with firmware updates, others basically say buy a new router. Also in order for it to recognize the changes most the time you also have to -rerun XBL's own network test.

I play GoW myself and every month it loses the green "GOOD" NAT to a yellow "moderate" and I have to re-do the stupid process. There is also 3 different ports you need to forward just in case you missed them. Most routers uPnP does this just fine but some just suck.
 
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In this day and age there should be no excuse to need to forward ports for a game client. XBL seems to have all sorts of dumb issues with NAT. Why? Who knows.

When I had a 360 (granted I only played halo online) I never had issues with XBL and didn't need to set a static ip or any BS-ing with my network.
 
Have you looked at open source routing firmware like
http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/index

It has a ton of stuff in it most of which I have no idea how to use but I use it for QOS and its much more feature rich than most routers.

Good thing is if you have an old router laying around that is compatible you can just flash it and see if it works for you its free.
 
ElektroDragon said:
The problem is I'm tied to a single public IP at a time from the ISP. And everything has to go through the ancient MoCA (Ethernet over Coax) router (a Westell 9100EM). I can't even get a newer router from the ISP. All I could do is ask them to change my endpoint from MoCA to Ethernet so I can use any router, but that requires a service visit.
Click to expand...

If you are using Verizon FIOS you do not have to stay on MoCA for your WAN connection, and they don't need a truck roll to switch it either. Normally its just the CSRs have no idea what your talking about so their default response is truck roll.
 
You need a router or a function in your current router that you can ....

1. Tell it to assign a static IP (Internal) to your XBOX.
2. This (Internal) static IP must be manually placed in the DMZ aka all ports open no questions asked but it still HAS to be NAT'TED period. This is a rule of networking with ZERO ways around it if you are sharing an (External) IP address with other stuff in your home.
3. If you cant place the IP in a DMZ then you need to use what is called port forwarding in which you need to find out the port numbers of the XBOX services i.e. TCP 24566 (which I made up for this example) and/or UDP 24566 (again made up just for this example). You need to match those ports with your earlier established IP address that is assigned to your xbox in the router's DHCP menu by using the XBOXs MAC ID.

I am not sure how to explain this any differently and I am sure you will get this resolved with continuing effort and research.
 
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