What is NAT for routers and is it needed for PS3 gaming?

[yoda313]

Ok I had tested my dlink di524 on my ps3 with a direct ethernet connection the other week. I am back on wireless for now. It had passed all the tests EXCEPT NAT.

What is NAT?

Also is NAT a key component for online gaming these days? I can play online wireless on my xbox 360 with no problems. I have not played any online games with the PS3 yet so I don't know if I have any potential issues.

Is there anything special with NAT? Also would it be worth buying a new router to acquire NAT functionality?

Thanks.

[Dv8ted2]

NAT stands for Network Address Translation. It has two purposes. It extends the addresses that you can use by allowing you to use internal addresses. Outside the router, you would have an address like 72.214.128.56. Inside the router, your computers would have an address like 192.168.1.3. This acts a a shield, by keeping the computers invisble to the internet. NAT allows you to have multiple computers share the same external IP address.

[yoda313]

Thanks dv8ted2. It almost sounds like a router for a router. Since the router itself is designed to share an internet connection it sounds like this is an extra dimension of that capability.

Does anyone know if this is really needed for online ps3 gaming? As I said I haven't played a ps3 game online yet to know.

[aedipuss]

nat is only needed if you want to have more than one device sharing a single ip from your isp through that router.

[yoda313]

So do you mean simultaneously? Are you talking about having the ps3 and computer downloading actively at the same time?

What if the ps3 is online and the pc has no net activity? Then I would not need NAT capability?

[aedipuss]

right, you won't be able to have both units online at once. only one can get an ip and until it gives the ip up the other can't get online. unless you get what is called a "broadband router" they are the ones that include "nat" and will allow up to 255 devices to share a single ip at once.

[redwudz]

A few internet providers will only let the original computer that you signed up with to the ISP log on as they can see the computers MAC address. This address is unique to a certain computer, or more correctly, the internet adapter it uses. Most routers can 'clone' the address on the original computer so the ISP will still think it's still dealing with that same computer. That allows most any computer on the LAN to use the ISP if it's connected through the router.

There are a lot of advantages to using a router, especially with a static IP address. A static address is a big target for spammers, etc., as it never changes. NAT effectively blocks this problem simply by hiding the computers true address.

Also if you are creating a network by sharing files between computers on the LAN, a router makes this very easy.

[yoda313]

Actually my dlink di524 router does everything this nat seems to. I can surf on more than one computer at a time. Or at least I seem to. Its just that the ps3 does not recognize it as NAT compatible when it is physically connected via ethernet. That was why I was asking.

The DI router is a broadband router as far as I know. It does let me go online wirelessly with the ps3, wii and 360. Though I don't do all three gaming machines at the same time of course, it just works them appropriately.

I guess i really don't need a new router unless I wanted to get a super G or N router.

[redwudz]

Sorry, I misread your first post. AFAIK, all routers use NAT. Most people set up their routers to use DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) , which assigns addresses to each computer automatically, so you may not notice that you are using a NAT type address. As mentioned, NAT addresses would be in the line of 192.168.0.X with a DLink router. Other address formats can also be used, like 10.X.X.X. The last 'X' is most commonly in the range of 100 to 200. The router's own address is usually 'X' = 1 - 99.

I use fixed NAT addresses as I find that better when I network several computers together. DHCP can change addresses at times, so fixed addresses have an advantage in some setups. That may also help with your PS3.

Unless you are trying to move large files over your LAN to other computers, a regular wireless 'G' router works very well. The 'Super G' isn't a big advantage. 'N' is much faster, but the adapters and routers are more expensive and it's a bit more difficult to set up. And many devices with built in adapters will still use G anyway, so no advantage with them.

With a gaming machine, you may run into 'port forwarding' issues also. If your PS3 uses a specific port number, that needs to be forwarded from the gaming or other PS3s you are connecting to on the net, through your router to your PS3. Your router should have methods to do this. I don't know much of anything about port forwarding, so others would need to give advice there. The Port Forward site may be useful: http://portforward.com/

I have a Dlink DGL-4100 that is set up for gaming, though I got it for other reasons. It lets you select popular games or devices to set them up fairly automatically. But I switched over to a Linksys WRT-600N for the 'N' capabilities.

I'm pretty much a novice with all of this, so if any of my info is wrong, feel free to correct me.

[aedipuss]

not all routers have nat. i would guess most don't. a normal router is just a smart multi input/output switch that sends packets where they belong without making any changes at all. a nat enabled "broadband" router must change the destination/origination ip of packets.

[yoda313]

I am curious about one thing not directly related to this. Will the next editions of gaming consoles offer wifi N compatibility? Now that it is gaining ground will they incorporate that into the next editions? That would be nice for video streaming applications without resorting to ethernet connections.

Also any reason the 360 and ps3 didn't offer firewire as a connection possbility? Is that a viable streaming application? Can you stream music and video over a firewire connection or does it need the ip capabilities that ethernet offers?

[redwudz]

aedipuss, I stand corrected. The four or five routers I have used NAT, so I assumed all did. It seems an important feature to me.

Just guessing, but 'N' routers are seeming to be more common and may end up as the standard at some point. They do have the capability of twice the bandwidth of a 'G' router. I've only used mine a little and don't have it set up properly as I'm not getting speeds much faster than my 'G' router. But I'm planning to get a couple of more 'N' adapters, so I'll be working on it.

Sorry, I don't know much about gaming consoles.

[RabidDog]

Firewire is a simple device to device connection, its not a networking connection.
3 consoles and a PC?
Its easy enough to add wireless to existing ethernet ports.
N comes after G in the alphabet ..so..

[yoda313]

Firewire is a simple device to device connection, its not a networking connection.

Ok. Thanks I just was curious if you could use it for more than file transfers. I guess not.

[aedipuss]

well you can "network" over firewire. not very well, but it's easy if the operating system supports it. just hook 2 computers up with a firewire cable and winXP will find the connection like it does with ethernet. not many other operating system do though. i doubt a ps3 or xbox will but i don't know for sure.

[yoda313]

i doubt a ps3 or xbox will but i don't know for sure

Unfortunately neither have it so that won't be testable. THough they both have usb 2.0 of course.