How to achieve multiple XBOX’s connected to Google Nest Wifi with Open NAT

After many hours of research and conversations with Google I have finally got this working. As a bit of background my house is connected to NBN FTTN so I have VDSL2 modem and the Google Nest Wifi is connected to one of the LAN ports on the modem to the WAN port of the Google router. I have a combination of wired and wireless devices and the XBOX’s are connected via wired Ethernet to the Google router LAN port via a couple of unmanaged switches. The following are the steps I took to achieve Open Nat on 2x Series X’s, 2x One S’s and a One X without double NAT.

1. Start with modem, Google Nest Wifi and XBOX’s powered off.
   
2. Power on modem and set to bridge mode with DHCP and Wifi disabled. There are many procedures online for this and slightly different for each modem. I did this to avoid double NAT and because the Google router can’t be set to bridge mode if you want to use the mesh.
   
3. Power on Google Nest Wifi router and setup using the Google Home App. If this was done already then skip this step. Just need DHCP for WAN and leave UPNP on for now. The Google router should receive its IP from the ISP.
   
4. Set modem IP to a number within the Google router IP range. If Google router is 192.168.20.1, use 192.168.20.2. This is so you can access the modem if you need to by connecting another cable between your modem and one of the switches. You will need to set a static IP in the Modem IP range on the PC you are using to connect to the modem as the modem DHCP is disabled. For example if Modem IP is 192.168.0.1 then use 192.168.0.2.
   
5. Power on and connect the first XBOX either cable or Wifi. The Google router will assign an IP. It’s also a good idea to give the XBOX a unique name so you can see this in the Google Home App. Otherwise make a note of the IP number.
   
6. Reserve this IP using the Google Home App under Wifi>Settings>Advanced networking>DHCP IP Reservations.
   
7. Set the XBOX port assignment to automatic and note down the port number. Let’s use 50000 as an example. You could also get 3074 but all mine used the 5XXXX range.
   
8. Port rorward the following ports to the XBOX Name/IP using the Google Home App under Wifi>Settings>Advanced networking>Port management.
   
   88 to 88 UDP
   
   500 to 500 UDP
   
   3544 to 3544 UDP
   
   4500 to 4500 UDP
   
   50000 to 50000 TCP/UDP – UPNP does seem to work for this port but I have forwarded them anyway.
   
9. Use the XBOX network settings to test NAT. It should now be Open.
   
10. Change XBOX port assignment from Automatic to Manual keeping the same port.
    
11. This is the important bit. Repeat steps 5 – 10 for the next XBOX and make sure it gets a different port but use the numbers below. If you get the same port you will need to manually change it. Mine were all different when set to automatic but older XBOX’s may not. This time use the following port forwards.
    
    89 to 88 UDP
    
    501 to 500 UDP
    
    3545 to 3544 UDP
    
    4501 to 4500 UDP
    
    51000 to 51000 TCP/UDP - This is the second XBOX port as an example.
    
12. For each XBOX you just increase the external UDP port numbers by 1. So the third XBOX would use 90, 502, 3546 and 4502.
    
    90 to 88 UDP
    
    502 to 500 UDP
    
    3546 to 3544 UDP
    
    4502 to 4500 UDP
    
    52000 to 52000 TCP/UDP - This is the third XBOX port as an example.
    
    
    

If by chance you can only use port 3074 for your XBOX’s then you can use the same philosophy above for each XBOX port as follows.

3074 to 3074 TCP/UDP – 1st XBOX

3075 to 3074 TCP/UDP – 2nd XBOX

3076 to 3074 TCP/UDP – 3rd XBOX

Etc



I got the port number from below but there are plenty of sites with this info.

https://portforward.com/xbox/



Hopefully this can help someone and save them some time. Good Luck!

:)