router subnet mask address & which to use for xbox 360?

[watercooled]

Some routers just don't implement it well, it happens to a lot of my friends who play XBL, it seems to just change to moderate/strict for no reason. Rebooting the router normally works. Some ISPs, mainly smaller ones, actually put their customers behind NAT but I think I remember you saying you're with VM who to my knowledge never do that. Also if it still does it with manual port forwarding I'd be inclined to blame the router. I'm not certain what that means in MSN, what is the whole message? I don't use uPnP or any port forwarding with Pidgin and it doesn't complain, although it means you can't do p2p file transfers (they get routed through the MSN servers instead and it's painfully slow) but I rarely use that feature anyway. Besides, MSN IM manages fine with STUN and I don't like uPnP so avoid it where possible, but I digress. If it means your PC has symmetric NAT it could mean you've put your PC's IP in the DMZ, check that because it's not something you want.

[AledJ]

Some routers just don't implement it well, it happens to a lot of my friends who play XBL, it seems to just change to moderate/strict for no reason. Rebooting the router normally works. Some ISPs, mainly smaller ones, actually put their customers behind NAT but I think I remember you saying you're with VM who to my knowledge never do that. Also if it still does it with manual port forwarding I'd be inclined to blame the router. I'm not certain what that means in MSN, what is the whole message? I don't use uPnP or any port forwarding with Pidgin and it doesn't complain, although it means you can't do p2p file transfers (they get routed through the MSN servers instead and it's painfully slow) but I rarely use that feature anyway. Besides, MSN IM manages fine with STUN and I don't like uPnP so avoid it where possible, but I digress. If it means your PC has symmetric NAT it could mean you've put your PC's IP in the DMZ, check that because it's not something you want.

I have read that VM have treated xbl party as p2p and have blocked it (how true that is I don't know) And I have seen people having on VM having issues with those on BT etc. When i set the xbox with its own ip and did the port forward, the xbox test would say strict NAT. I just find it odd how I have been able to join a xbl party, and also join the in game party in black ops. Then for some reason I am unable to do that.

"non-upnp symmetric nat" is the complete message in the msn connection tab.

If I was living on my own I would do away with a router completely. A friend has just bought a draytek router, so I will see how that goes and may buy it.

Thanks for help

[watercooled]

I'm on VM and aside from the occasional failed attempt to join a party and large parties booting everyone (usually when someone with non-open NAT joins) I've had no problems with VM. XBL is a p2p system but I've never heard of VM blocking anything. Strict NAT with manual port forwarding just sounds like a bad router to me, you could try a firmware update to see if that sorts anything, it might help with that MSN warning too but I don't really know what it means by that.
There's no reason to do without a router, even with a single PC it's a good idea to have one as it adds a decent amount of firewalling to your network - connect a PC with security software directly to the web and you'll probably get frequent pop-ups saying you're under attack. I mean you're probably not most of the time, security software just likes to sell itself and scare you into buying it again, but a router does help keep those random scans and such outside of your network.

[AledJ]

I'm on VM and aside from the occasional failed attempt to join a party and large parties booting everyone (usually when someone with non-open NAT joins) I've had no problems with VM. XBL is a p2p system but I've never heard of VM blocking anything. Strict NAT with manual port forwarding just sounds like a bad router to me, you could try a firmware update to see if that sorts anything, it might help with that MSN warning too but I don't really know what it means by that.
There's no reason to do without a router, even with a single PC it's a good idea to have one as it adds a decent amount of firewalling to your network - connect a PC with security software directly to the web and you'll probably get frequent pop-ups saying you're under attack. I mean you're probably not most of the time, security software just likes to sell itself and scare you into buying it again, but a router does help keep those random scans and such outside of your network.

Just tried to check if there was an updated firmware form the router page, and i got this "Cannot connect to the firmware information server,please double check the WAN connection."

Just checked the belkin site which shows no update for my version I'll wait till the new year and see what my friends new router is like. I can remember when red dead redemption came out, although I had game disconnection (as did other friends) I was able to join party's.