Sick of XBLive Wireless issues. Upgrading to latest OEM firmware or DD-WRT

[Jose_49]

Hi people. I'm having a problem since quite some time. Yes, it's the usual NAT problems: I can't manage to make/join parties nor join game sessions.

Long Story:

Up to 2 years ago, I had a Zyxel modem (got it from my ISP on 1998) + Linksys WRT54GS Wireless router (Purchased on 2007). Connection was flawless, had nice receptions, and no XBLive issues whatsoever.

Then, my ISP had some changes, and my Zyxel modem was bound to be replaced. They gave to my family a Thomson TG585 (ADSL modem + WiFi) (comes from my ISP). Since it has Wireless built in, my dad tried replacing it as the main wired/wireless solution at home. Everything went mediocre until several months ago (Had low signal quality, sporadic resets, etc.); things went worst than ever.

Had problems connecting through Xbox Live, the modem would display "Limited connectivity" and problems with obtaining IP addresses (even when connecting with laptop). Plus, the sporadic rests became more often, since it couldn't handle the load of a single computer downloading from two different servers at the same time.

So I decided putting back my old WRT54GS by wiring it through the Thomson modem. The sporadic resets went down to zero, wireless signal was top notch, but the XBLive issue remained. It mattered not what I did to my linksys router: Opening Ports, assigning static IP both to the router and to the 360, Enabling DHCP, allowing Anonymous request, etc. were to no avail.

I thought it could be a firmware problem, and saw that it had one from 2006. When I browse on the web, I find something called DD-WRT, and dug a bit about it.

Actual question

Will upgrading my Linksys router to DD-WRT solve my connection problems? Or will a normal upgrade do fine? I don't tamper with Wireless connections, but if there are some goodies (I know about IPv6) by doing so, then bring it!

Thanks for the help!

Firmware Version: v1.50.6, Feb. 17, 2006

[Tarvis123]

I doubt upgrading to DD-WRT (or even official firmware) will solve your strict NAT issues. Sounds like you have a double NAT on your network (xbox behind router + modem/router) and the only thing you can do for this is either set up the modem to be a bridged modem (making it strictly a modem and removing the router function) or setting up your router as just an AP/Switch (link here for how to do that) and doing the proper port forwarding on your Thomson modem/router after setting a default IP address on your xbox.

I am unaware how much you can change on the Thomson modem in regards to bridging or port forwarding as some ISP lock their modems down where you can't change anything. I had the same issues as you had until I did the above (and eventually replaced the router with an unmanaged switch.

[Jose_49]

I doubt upgrading to DD-WRT (or even official firmware) will solve your strict NAT issues. Sounds like you have a double NAT on your network (xbox behind router + modem/router) and the only thing you can do for this is either set up the modem to be a bridged modem (making it strictly a modem and removing the router function) or setting up your router as just an AP/Switch (link here for how to do that) and doing the proper port forwarding on your Thomson modem/router after setting a default IP address on your xbox.

I am unaware how much you can change on the Thomson modem in regards to bridging or port forwarding as some ISP lock their modems down where you can't change anything. I had the same issues as you had until I did the above (and eventually replaced the router with an unmanaged switch.

Hey thanks a lot, I'll give it a shot later :p.