Get better multiplayer performance by changing PS4’s NAT type

Network Address Translation (NAT) is an important part of an online multiplayer connection, and it determines how incoming traffic is handled. For gamers, your NAT type can play a big role in who you can play with, and if it’s not set up correctly, it can create barriers. There are many reasons why a strict or even double NAT type might appear on your network, but with the help of port forwarding, you can easily overcome obstacles. But that’s not the only way. For many people, making sure that Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is enabled on their router is enough. Here’s how to change the NAT type on PlayStation 4 to play games online.

How to port your PlayStation 4

The ports you need to open for your PlayStation to get open NAT are the same, but the actual process may vary from router to router. The steps are the same, but you may need to dig into your router’s settings to find what you need.

1. Open set up App on PlayStation 4.

   

2. Next, scroll down and select The internet.

   

3. choose Check the connection status.

   

4. Notice IP address your console. This is required later during the port forwarding process.
5. Notice MAC address your console. Later steps may also require this.
6. login to router control settings. If you haven’t done this before, a good start is to check your router, as many may have information on stickers.
7. manually assign one static IP address To your PS4 console, depending on your router, use the data from Step 4 and possibly Step 5. For example, in Google Wi-Fi, you can find it in the “Premium Networks” section of the companion app.
8. turn up port forwarding rules for your router. Again, in the case of Google WiFi, you can also find it under Premium Networks.

9. add rule TCP 80, 443, 3478, 3479, 3480 and UDP 3478, 3479. For more on this, check out Sony’s network guide.

   

Now let everything restart to make sure everything starts up properly and you should see your NAT type improve.

Follow the first three steps above to check. You’ll find three types of NAT on PlayStation 4: 1 is open, 2 is moderate, and 3 is strict. So be sure to see how your results change when you’re done. In my case, I used this method and managed to mitigate the double NAT caused by using Google Wi-Fi and my ISP router that couldn’t go into modem-only mode.

While you might think your NAT type isn’t as important as your internet speed, you’d be wrong. Games like Call of Duty and Fortnite are notorious for being harsher based on your NAT type, and just recently Warframe wouldn’t let me play until I got rid of the double NAT problem.So it’s certainly worth it something.

Supplementary accessories

All you really need is a PlayStation and access to your router, but a good ethernet cable will speed up your connection and give you better download speeds and connectivity when playing online games.

Richard Devine and James Bricknell contributed to this article.