How to Change Your NAT Type: What It Means and What Affects It

If you've ever run into connection issues while gaming online — slow matchmaking, dropped voice chats, or an inability to join friends — there's a decent chance your NAT type was at least part of the problem. Changing your NAT type is one of those fixes that sounds technical but becomes straightforward once you understand what's actually happening.

What Is NAT Type, and Why Does It Matter?

NAT stands for Network Address Translation. It's a process your router performs to manage how devices on your home network communicate with the outside internet.

Here's the core idea: your internet service provider gives your home a single public IP address. Your router then assigns private IP addresses to every device inside your home — your console, phone, laptop, and so on. When any of those devices send or receive data, the router translates between the public and private addresses. NAT is that translation layer.

Your NAT type describes how restrictive that translation process is when it comes to accepting incoming connections from other devices on the internet. The stricter the NAT, the harder it is for other players' consoles or PCs to establish a direct connection with yours.

The Three NAT Types Explained

Most gaming platforms — PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC gaming services — categorize NAT into three broad types:

Open NAT typically means your device is connected directly to a modem with no router in between, or the router is configured to pass all traffic through without filtering. Moderate NAT is the most common home setup and works fine for the majority of online gaming. Strict NAT is where problems tend to appear — longer matchmaking times, inability to join certain game lobbies, and difficulty with voice communication.

The Main Methods for Changing Your NAT Type

There's no single universal method. Which approach works depends on your router model, your ISP, your platform, and your comfort level with network settings.

1. Enable UPnP (Universal Plug and Play)

UPnP allows devices and applications to automatically request open ports from your router without manual configuration. Most modern routers support it, and enabling it in your router's admin panel is usually the quickest path from Strict to Moderate NAT.

The trade-off: UPnP has known security concerns because it removes some access controls. Whether that risk is acceptable depends on your network environment and how much you prioritize convenience over security.

2. Port Forwarding

Port forwarding manually tells your router to direct specific incoming traffic to a specific device on your network. Each gaming platform and game title publishes a list of ports it uses — you configure your router to keep those ports open for your console or PC's internal IP address.

This method is more reliable than UPnP but requires a few extra steps:

• Assigning a static (fixed) internal IP address to your device so the forwarding rules don't break when the device reconnects
• Logging into your router's admin interface (typically accessed via a browser at 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1)
• Entering the correct port numbers for your platform

Port forwarding is more surgical and doesn't carry the same broad security exposure as UPnP.

3. DMZ (Demilitarized Zone)

Placing your console or PC in your router's DMZ exposes it directly to the internet, bypassing NAT entirely for that device. It's the fastest way to achieve Open NAT — but it also removes firewall protections for that specific device.

This is commonly used for dedicated gaming consoles where the risk profile is more manageable, but it's generally not recommended for general-purpose computers that store sensitive data.

4. Double NAT — and Why It Complicates Things 🔧

If your setup involves two routers — for example, an ISP-supplied modem/router combo feeding into your own router — you may be dealing with double NAT. Traffic has to pass through two layers of translation, which makes achieving Open or even Moderate NAT significantly harder.

Solutions typically involve:

• Enabling bridge mode on the ISP device to disable its routing function
• Or placing the ISP device in passthrough mode

This is one of the more involved fixes and varies considerably depending on what your ISP allows you to control on their hardware.

5. CGNAT (Carrier-Grade NAT)

Some ISPs — particularly mobile and certain broadband providers — use Carrier-Grade NAT, where multiple customers share a single public IP address at the ISP level. If your ISP uses CGNAT, even a perfectly configured home router may not be enough to achieve Open NAT.

In these cases, options may include requesting a dedicated public IP from your ISP (sometimes available for a fee) or using a VPN service that provides a dedicated IP, though VPNs introduce latency of their own.

The Variables That Shape Your Result 🎮

What actually happens when you attempt to change your NAT type depends on several overlapping factors:

• Router model and firmware — not all routers expose the same settings or support all features
• ISP infrastructure — CGNAT removes control from your hands entirely
• Platform — PlayStation and Xbox define and display NAT type differently
• Whether you're on wired or wireless — doesn't directly affect NAT type, but affects the stability of any connection you achieve
• Technical comfort level — port forwarding and bridge mode require navigating router admin interfaces, which vary significantly in layout and terminology

Someone on a straightforward home broadband connection with a standard consumer router will have a very different experience than someone on a mobile hotspot, an ISP with CGNAT, or a complex mesh network setup. The method that gets you from Strict to Open in one configuration may not even be available in another.