Alright guys,

Thought I would post this guide I typed up for people having problems connecting to matches or getting kicked from matches. The usual culprit for this is having a restrictive or even a moderate firewall(NAT). The reason for this is your router settings, they're setup this way to protect your PC/Laptop. Since you're wanting to game online you need to lessen the strictness of the firewall. It used to be that people would open ports to achieve an Open firewall or NAT but more recently people have been utilising UPnP and DMZ. I have had success with this method on a few occasions for me and a few friends.

I've posted this a few times on the forums in a messier format but decided to retype it in a more user friendly fashion (or at least as user friendly as I could manage). This is a priority for you guys playing with a restrictive firewall as this will limit your online gaming a lot. If you're on moderate you aren't in too bad a situation but it can still restrict you a bit.

Hopefully this guide helps you out if you're struggling to understand, post here and see if myself or others can guide you on how to Open your firewall.

First of all we need to access your router.
Open your web browser.
Type 192.168.0.1 into your address bar. (sometimes can be different dependant on your router brand/model)
A popup will appear asking for a username and password. By default:
Username: admin
Password: password/1234/admin or hopefully it has been changed by whoever setup the network.
You should now be logged in to your router.

Now we need to go about enabling UPnP and DMZ.
Look for an advanced or gaming tab or something along those lines, again depends on router brand.
Look for UPnP first as this usually only requires a box being checked to enable it.
Enable and save once you got this done, gets it out the way.
Now look for DMZ, it can be under firewall or security.
Once you find it, enable it. Again usually requires a box being checked.
When you enable it, you need to set an IP for it. This will be the IP of the 360/PS3 that you'll set on the console later.
IP: 192.168.0.200 (bold part is the key as this is what makes it unique for your device)
Should now be done with the router settings, save and reboot. Usually reboots automatically when you change settings.
Consider doing a hard reboot just to be sure. Do this by unplugging your router and waiting 30 seconds before plugging it back in.

Finally we are onto the console itself, start up your machine and go to Network settings.
Here you need to set your IP manually. Change "automatic" to "manual",
When you change to manual you will now be able to set a static IP. This will be 192.168.0.200. (remember this is what you set earlier)
Save the settings and test the connection, should now test with no problem at all.
Load up FIFA, go to the online section and see if it now says: Open
This should now be you up and running for an improved online experience.



Sometimes UPnP enabled can be enough to Open your firewall but setting your console into DMZ mode doesn't hurt.