Problems With a Strict Firewall Not Allowing Xbox Live

Firewall

• An Internet firewall is a security program that can be installed as a piece of hardware or software, or installed as both hardware and software, Indiana University reports. The point of a firewall system is to limit the unauthorized access of Internet users to a private Internet network. Each piece of information sent to or from a computer through a firewall is checked against preset security settings. When the information contained within a transmission does not meet the security standards, the information is blocked from passing through the firewall to or from the Internet ready hardware.

Ports

• In order to communicate with the Xbox Live system to open or access an Xbox Live account or to communicate with other Xbox users online, information often has to pass through a firewall when using a private network, according to Microsoft Support. Certain ports within the firewall must be opened to allow information to pass through the firewall; the process of configuring the ports is called port forwarding or opening ports. The ports that must be opened to allow access to Xbox Live are ports 88, 3074, 53 and 80; in order to stop problems connecting to the Xbox Video Kinect video chat, you must open application port 1863.

Problems

• Problems associated with a strict firewall blocking Xbox Live access include frequent disconnection from an online game or party and an error message when an Xbox Live member tries to access an online game or party. Problems can also be encountered by users having problems chatting or communicating with a user within a game or party.

NAT

• A similar problem to a strict firewall is a network address translation error code, commonly error code 979000, Microsoft Support reports. A NAT allows a router to assign a single Internet provider address to more than one piece of hardware connected to the Internet through the router. If a single IP address is not assigned to each individual piece of hardware, including game consoles and laptops, they would need to be assigned a separate IP address to connect to the Internet through the router. NAT errors have similar symptoms to firewall problems, including connection problems.