How to open your NAT settings for Xbox LIVE on O2 Wireless Box II

I’ve had my fair share of issues with my broadband connection since signing up with O2 (provided by Be There) 3 years ago. Fortunately, it’s improved a great deal over that time and is now extremely stable. The biggest problem I had was playing online via Xbox LIVE, especially getting my Network Address Translation (NAT) settings right on the supplied O2 Wireless Box II (essentially a rebranded Thomson-Alcatel TG585v7).

However, over the past week or so I started experiencing connection problems with XBL, requiring a hard reset of my router every time I wanted to connect, and even then only allowing me to connect with Strict NAT. After some frantic googling and attempting numerous suggestions I managed to get it fixed. Here are the details on how I set my O2 Wireless Box II to allow Open NAT over Xbox LIVE.

While scouring the net I managed to find some great resources going into incredible detail for numerous routers and ISPs.  I worked through the steps provided for my router at portforward.com, which had previously worked for me but found that I still had the problem.  Following that, I stumbled across the Unofficial Guide To LIVE, which has a tonne of excellent resources for Xbox LIVE setup issues but unfortunately, still didn’t work with my O2 Wireless Box II.

Eventually, I tried going back to the start, wiping all my NAT, port forwarding and UPNP settings and re-applying them one by one.  The solution turned out to be incredibly simple: remove any Game and Application sharing rules that may have been setup for Xbox LIVE and enable UPNP.  Then on the Xbox, enter your network settings and make sure that it is set to automatically assign.  Then restart both the console and the router.  There you have it, deceivingly simple.  Detailed instructions (with screenshots) below.

1. Browse to http://o2wirelessbox.lan on your computer (or 192.168.1.254) and login using either your Admin password or the O2 super-user( U: SuperUser, P: O2Br0ad64nd).
2. Under Toolbox in the left-hand menu, click Game & Application Sharing.  Then click Configure in the top-right corner of the page.

   

3. If you have any rules setup under Game & Application Sharing that the Xbox 360 uses, click Unassign next to it/them to remove.
4. Under Universal Plug and Play, make sure that Use UPnP is checked.  Click Apply.
5. On the Xbox, go to System > Settings > Network and select your wireless network.  Enter advanced settings and ensure that IP address is set to automatic.

   

6. Restart both router and Xbox.

You should now have fully functional, open NAT settings for Xbox LIVE.  If you’re still having issues, try re-creating your Game & Application Sharing rules.  I’ve noticed the O2 Wireless Box II has a habit of remember some settings it’s not supposed to and forgetting some that it should remember.

Good luck, and if you encounter any problems or know of further tips, please leave a comment below.