Having a closed or limited NAT on your gaming console will cause a variety of issues. Similar to strict, moderate or open on an Xbox 360, the PS3 offers Type 3, Type 2 and Type 1 NAT results. These break down as follows:
Type 1 - Connected directly to the internet (no router/firewall). Should have no issues.
Type 2 - Connected through a router properly. Should have no issues.
Type 3 - Connected through a router without open ports or DMZ setup for PS3. Everything should function properly, but you may have connection, voice chat or other issues.
While most everything will function properly regardless of what your NAT setting is, your best bet is to set up your PS3 so that you can obtain a Type 1 or Type 2 NAT. Since most of us have routers at home for connecting multiple computers or devices to the internet, chances are the best we will get will be Type 2. Thankfully that's fine and everything will work properly.
If you have not adjusted your settings on your PS3 or router, chances are you have a Type 3 NAT and probably never knew it. With a few simple changes you too can have a Type 2 NAT. Order now for just $19.99. But wait, there's more.
The first thing you will want to do is check your network connection. Head on over to the
Network Settings tab on the XMB. It looks like this:
Once there choose the
Internet Connection Test item. It looks like this:
You will receive a warning letting you know that you will be signed out in order to perform the test. Choose okay. If you have not made any setting changes in your PS3 or Router, chances are you will receive the following message:
The warning reads: "When the NAT type is type 3, chat or the communication features of games may be restricted. For more information, refer to the online instruction manual."
If you run the test and have Type 2 or Type 1, stop fooling around and go play some games! If, however, you have Type 3, read on for help on opening up your NAT.
In order to open up your NAT on your PS3 you will need to make an adjustment on your PS3 and on your router. First you will want to set up your PS3 for a static IP address. This means turning off DHCP and assigning your PS3 a single, static IP address. Before you start this process head over to the network tab on the XMB and choose "
Internet Connection Status." From here note your current IP address, your subnet mask, your default router and primary and secondary DNS settings. Write these down, you will need them in the following steps.
To do this, visit the
Internet Connection Settings tab on the XMB. It looks like this:
From here most of the settings can simply be passed through with default settings. There are two areas, however, that you have to change. The first is choosing a
Custom address setting (instead of Easy).
From here, you will want to choose
Manual IP Address Setting:
Remember the settings you wrote down from your status page? You will need them here. You will have to enter in the static IP Address you want to assign to your PS3, the Subnet Mask (which is usually 255.255.255.0), the default router (the IP address of your router, most often 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.100.1), and the Primary and Secondary DNS settings. You will have to input all of these numbers. This is made much easier with a DVD Remote or keyboard.
Please NOTE - You will want to set the last number of your IP address high enough that other wireless or wired items on your network will not be assigned the same number through DHCP. While DHCP had chosen .3 as an IP address for my PS3 initially, I bumped it up to .23 because I have less than 23 items in my network. If you do not have DHCP enabled on your router, you do not need to worry about this and can simply choose an IP address that does not conflict with your other devices and which is available through your router.
Once you have all of the settings input, press X to save them. Your settings will change and the PS3 will offer to perform an Internet Connection Test for you. If you let it do the test now chances are you will still get a Type 3 NAT connection. Don't fret little bear, we still have one more step.
In addition to making the necessary changes on your PS3, you will also have to open up some ports on your router. The ports you need to open are:
TCP: 80, 443, 5223
UDP: 5223, 3478, 3479, 3658
I have a Linksys Router and my port forward settings page looks like this:
Depending on what type of router you have, your settings page may look different. In order to obtain an open or Type 2 NAT, you will need to open those ports listed above.
You can see in my screen capture that my PS3 is listed with its static IP address that I set above (.23) and that all of the necessary ports are forwarded to that IP address. The X listed items above (.24) are for my Xbox 360 so you don't have to worry about those.
Once you have forwarded these ports and saved your settings its a good idea to unplug and plug back in your router. This will refresh everything on your network connected to your router. Once done head back to your PS3 and perform an
Internet Connection Test. If you did everything correctly you should receive the following page:
Congratulations, your NAT is now setup and working properly!
I can only imagine what people who don't know us here are thinking when they read this stuff. 
