Routers direct Internet traffic to the correct devices in your home.
NAT stands for "Network Address Translation." If you have multiple Internet devices connected to a single router, NAT will allow online servers to contact each of them using a single IP address. The router will then properly handle and assign the traffic to each individual device. If your NAT settings are improperly configured when using a PlayStation 3 to play games online, you may experience drop-outs and problems with voice chat. There are three basic types of NAT setting: Type 1, 2 or 3. Type 2 is the correct setting for online gaming.
Instructions
1. Open a web browser on the computer, type 192.168.1.1 into the address bar and press enter. This will access the Linksys configuration page. You will be prompted to enter the administrator username and password. Enter them in the relevant onscreen text boxes, then press "OK."
2. Start the PlayStation 3 and navigate to the Settings menu at the far left of the XMB toolbar. Select "Network Settings," then "Internet Connection Test" and the console will perform some diagnostics, then return the results. Your current NAT setting can be seen at the bottom of the list. If your NAT is listed as Type 2, then you don't need to do anything else.
3. Press the circle button to go back a step and select "Internet Connection Status." This will show your current IP address, subnet mask and default gateway values. Write them all down and press circle again to return to the Network Settings menu. Select "Internet Connection Settings," then "Custom," followed by "Manual." You will be presented with a grid for entering IP address, subnet mask and default gateway values. Enter the ones you wrote down earlier and press OK.
4. Return to the computer again, to the "Port Forwarding" screen. This screen allows you to open specific ports on the router and assign them to specific devices. You will need to set six of these fields. In the first row, type 80 in both the start and end fields, select TCP from the drop-down box and the last two digits of your PlayStation's IP address in the IP field. Click the check box to enable. Repeat this on the row beneath, but enter 443 in the start and end fields.
5. Create another row below and enter 5223 in the start and end fields and select "Both" from the drop-down box. Keep all the other settings the same. Finally, create three more rows, with start and end values of 3478, 3479 and 3658. Select "UDP" from the drop-down box for these rows. Click "Save Settings" at the bottom of the screen and run the "Internet Connection Status" on the PlayStation 3 again. It should now display a Type 2 NAT setting.
