StormFiber Symmetric NAT router issue on GameRanger

notcomingslow

New member
Jun 21, 2019
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0
Hi,
I just got PTCL internet replaced by StormFiber internet. I play Age of Empires on GameRanger and it used to work fine on the PTCL internet, the only problem was the constant disconnection of PTCL. Now with this newly installed StormFiber internet, when I use GameRanger and try to host a game or join one, GameRanger tells me that you have Symmetric NAT router and you can not join or host a game. On their website, they say that you need to enable UPnP in router settings and need to do port forwarding, but I tried both and I still get the Symmetric NAT router error.
My router is Huawei EchoLife EG8247H5 GPON Terminal.
The settings do not have the option of port forwarding, they have a section of forward rules and in that, there are options of DMZ Function, IPv4 port mapping, and port trigger. I have tried all the three options for port forwarding but I still get that error in gameranger.
What should I do? Would I never be able to play game on GameRanger on StormFiber huawei router? Please help.

 

murtaza12

Global Moderator
Global Mod
Oct 27, 2011
10,721
121
69
Hi,
I just got PTCL internet replaced by StormFiber internet. I play Age of Empires on GameRanger and it used to work fine on the PTCL internet, the only problem was the constant disconnection of PTCL. Now with this newly installed StormFiber internet, when I use GameRanger and try to host a game or join one, GameRanger tells me that you have Symmetric NAT router and you can not join or host a game. On their website, they say that you need to enable UPnP in router settings and need to do port forwarding, but I tried both and I still get the Symmetric NAT router error.
My router is Huawei EchoLife EG8247H5 GPON Terminal.
The settings do not have the option of port forwarding, they have a section of forward rules and in that, there are options of DMZ Function, IPv4 port mapping, and port trigger. I have tried all the three options for port forwarding but I still get that error in gameranger.
What should I do? Would I never be able to play game on GameRanger on StormFiber huawei router? Please help.

StormFiber uses Carrier Grade NAT (CG NAT). This means they assign your ONT a private IP address, and you're sharing a public IP with multiple other people through the use of their edge router.

Hosting with CGNAT is not possible. You'll always get Strict NAT type (3) and enabling UPnP and DMZ won't help.

StormFiber offers static IP at an extra charge, but it will be a real public IP with which you can host games and won't have any NAT issues.
 

notcomingslow

New member
Jun 21, 2019
6
0
0
StormFiber uses Carrier Grade NAT (CG NAT). This means they assign your ONT a private IP address, and you're sharing a public IP with multiple other people through the use of their edge router.

Hosting with CGNAT is not possible. You'll always get Strict NAT type (3) and enabling UPnP and DMZ won't help.

StormFiber offers static IP at an extra charge, but it will be a real public IP with which you can host games and won't have any NAT issues.
I called StormFiber to ask whether or not they offer a static IP address. They said that they don't.
I then tried changing every router setting I could but it didn't work like you told.
I tried using a service called No-IP. It seems they solve your problem if you have a dynamic IP and you need a static IP. But that didn't work either.
Then I tried using VPN, and it worked. But the problem with the damn VPN thing is that the ping is too high on VPN. Like on normal connection, I get 2 ms ping. While when I'm on VPN, I get ping near 160 ms. The lowest I could get was with the trial version of Hide All IP and it was 122 ms. I can reset the trial by editing the registry, but still this ping is too high.
Can you explain why the DMZ etc. don't work and why VPN solves the problem? Please also give me some other solutions for this problem and tell me what do serious gamers do about this problem when they have CG NAT that you mentioned.

And yeah, I called StormFiber to ask whether or not they have opened the port UDP 16000 (GameRanger port), and they said that they don't usually block ports and this one too is open at their end.
 
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murtaza12

Global Moderator
Global Mod
Oct 27, 2011
10,721
121
69
I called StormFiber to ask whether or not they offer a static IP address. They said that they don't.
Public IPv4 addresses are scarce and expensive now, so it's no surprise that SF isn't giving out static IPs anymore.

I tried using a service called No-IP. It seems they solve your problem if you have a dynamic IP and you need a static IP. But that didn't work either.
NoIP is a DDNS service to give your home connection an easy to remember hostname. It's not applicable in this case, which is why it didn't help.

Can you explain why the DMZ etc. don't work and why VPN solves the problem?
In short, DMZ won't work because you don't have a public IP.

VPN works because the traffic is going from your PC, to the VPN, then to the gameserver and back. This can also cause issues with NAT and P2P games, but it depends on the VPN being used.

Please also give me some other solutions for this problem and tell me what do serious gamers do about this problem when they have CG NAT that you mentioned.
If the ISP isn't offering public IPs, there is no way around CG NAT.
I remember a PG member here asking StormFiber if they were IPv6 ready, and they said that they were.

IPv6 has been introduced years ago to overcome the issues faced with IPv4 and CG-NAT, so if SF switches you to IPv6, you should no longer have a problem in any games.
 

notcomingslow

New member
Jun 21, 2019
6
0
0
Okay so I called StormFiber. I told them that I've tried everything, port forwarding, DMZ etc. but Gameranger still shows me the error. I also told them that someone told me that StormFiber uses Carrier-grade NAT and they are not offering static IPs or changing IP Pools, nor have they shifted to IPv6. They said that your are right, but you can tell us your NAT Type and if it's 3, we can change it to 2 and your problem will be solved.
Now the thing is that NAT Types aren't displayed on Gameranger like they are displayed on PS4 or XBOX or whatever.
So how do I tell them what NAT type I have?
 

hassancent

Beginner
Jan 6, 2013
46
1
13
Lahore
Okay so I called StormFiber. I told them that I've tried everything, port forwarding, DMZ etc. but Gameranger still shows me the error. I also told them that someone told me that StormFiber uses Carrier-grade NAT and they are not offering static IPs or changing IP Pools, nor have they shifted to IPv6. They said that your are right, but you can tell us your NAT Type and if it's 3, we can change it to 2 and your problem will be solved.
Now the thing is that NAT Types aren't displayed on Gameranger like they are displayed on PS4 or XBOX or whatever.
So how do I tell them what NAT type I have?
My friend have same issue. Same router as you. We get 250ms+ pings when we play together (using valve's relay) while all other friends connect directly with 10-15ms pings. We tried everything. still no change. You can check NAT on windows 10. Goto settings > Xbox > Xbox networking and click check. Net Type is shown OPEN for me and everything works. Do let me know if you found any fix
 

murtaza12

Global Moderator
Global Mod
Oct 27, 2011
10,721
121
69
Okay so I called StormFiber. I told them that I've tried everything, port forwarding, DMZ etc. but Gameranger still shows me the error. I also told them that someone told me that StormFiber uses Carrier-grade NAT and they are not offering static IPs or changing IP Pools, nor have they shifted to IPv6. They said that your are right, but you can tell us your NAT Type and if it's 3, we can change it to 2 and your problem will be solved.
Now the thing is that NAT Types aren't displayed on Gameranger like they are displayed on PS4 or XBOX or whatever.
So how do I tell them what NAT type I have?
Tell them you have NAT Type 3 (Strict) and you want to change it to NAT Type 2.
 

namsu99

Proficient
Jun 17, 2011
861
0
21
Karachi
Okay so I called StormFiber. I told them that I've tried everything, port forwarding, DMZ etc. but Gameranger still shows me the error. I also told them that someone told me that StormFiber uses Carrier-grade NAT and they are not offering static IPs or changing IP Pools, nor have they shifted to IPv6. They said that your are right, but you can tell us your NAT Type and if it's 3, we can change it to 2 and your problem will be solved.
Now the thing is that NAT Types aren't displayed on Gameranger like they are displayed on PS4 or XBOX or whatever.
So how do I tell them what NAT type I have?

Hello fren!

Download this picture, crop out the date and time at the bottom and send it to stormfiber. they have dynamic IP pools that are not behind their CGNAT they can switch you to.
 

notcomingslow

New member
Jun 21, 2019
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0
Sorry for replying late. I just told them to change my NAT Type from 3 to 2. After about two days, my problem was resolved but Gameranger still showed an error, which was Port-Restricted Cone NAT Router error. It didn't affect my connectivity with other players though. I was still able to connect with others, unlike what I faced with the Symmetric NAT Router error which I previously mentioned. Maybe now I have a NAT Type 2? Maybe in Gameranger, the Symmetric NAT Router error means NAT Type 3 and this Port-Restricted Cone NAT Router error means NAT Type 2 and no error means NAT Type 1. But if this is the case, it means that PTCL gave me NAT Type 1, because I faced no error on Gameranger when I used PTCL Internet.
 

frazgta

Well-known member
Oct 23, 2010
1,789
0
43
24.706915,7.468872
Sorry for replying late. I just told them to change my NAT Type from 3 to 2. After about two days, my problem was resolved but Gameranger still showed an error, which was Port-Restricted Cone NAT Router error. It didn't affect my connectivity with other players though. I was still able to connect with others, unlike what I faced with the Symmetric NAT Router error which I previously mentioned. Maybe now I have a NAT Type 2? Maybe in Gameranger, the Symmetric NAT Router error means NAT Type 3 and this Port-Restricted Cone NAT Router error means NAT Type 2 and no error means NAT Type 1. But if this is the case, it means that PTCL gave me NAT Type 1, because I faced no error on Gameranger when I used PTCL Internet.
What ping do you get when playing with your friend now?
 

Faraheem khan

New member
Mar 10, 2020
1
0
0
Same problem for me on gameranger on PC. pls help

I am getting Symmetric Nat Router problem on gameranger on pc. As far as i am looking for it on pak gamers, they are just about PS and xbox. Is here anyone who can help me solve this problem. Is here any Stormfiber user who has solved this problem on pc ?
 

CodeLyoko

Active member
Oct 4, 2012
432
4
23
Islamabad
I had the same issue actually but on Nayatel and the same ONT: Huawei EchoLife EG8247H5 GPON Terminal.

Port forwarding/DMZ on the ONT did not help and kept getting symmetric cone NAT router warnings and frequent disconnections from GameRanger.

Bought a TPLink Archer C60 router (5.5k) and set it up as a PPOE dialer and got Nayatel to bridge one port from the ONT. Created port forwarding on the C60 and boom, problem solved, all warnings are gone and absolutely perfect.

PS: this will only work if you set up another router as a PPOE dialer (in router mode), if you use Access Point mode or WiFi extender - will not work as main ONT still handles NAT routing in that case.

General web browsing is much faster as well!
 
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