EeK
Regular Contributor
I own a PS4 and an Xbox One and I’m looking for a network solution that works for both devices at the same time. They’re hardwired to my router, an Asus RT-AC87U flashed with Merlin’s latest stable firmware (380.64). UPnP is enabled by default.
As an added measure, I’ve also tried opening the required ports for the PS4 and Xbox One with the help of PortForward.com, using one of two methods available: port forwarding and port trigger.
This is where things become confusing. From my router’s web interface:
I highlighted the last sentence because that’s where the issue lies.
From that explanation, port forwarding seems like the best solution for multiple devices. The problem is that both the PS4 and Xbox One require some of the same ports to be opened, and once your forward those ports to one of the consoles (by setting them to that device’s static IP address), you can’t do the same for the second one.
I tried forwarding all the required ports to the PS4 first, since that’s my primary console, and any remaining ones to the Xbone later. My PS4 was blazing fast; my Xbone, not so much. So, I decided to give port trigger a try.
Even if I never had any issues with restricted NATs, none of my consoles were performing to my liking. I attribute that to the fact that they’re “always on” (as in, they’re always in rest mode, set to automatic downloads, never fully powered off and disconnected) - whichever requests access to the trigger port first, automatically blocks traffic to the other, and sometimes the other turns out to be the one that I’m using at the moment.
Now, I know some people say that you can rely solely on UPnP and that you should just let the router work its magic, but I’d rather have some kind of control over what the router’s doing, even if it’s just for the reassurance that all required ports are open regardless of what the machine decides to do.
Also, I’m not comfortable putting any of my network-enabled devices in the DMZ, and even if I were, that only works for one single IP at a time, which doesn’t solve my problem.
Tl;dr: Don't trust UPnP, can't use DMZ. Should I go with port forwarding or port trigger?
Any advice is welcomed.
As an added measure, I’ve also tried opening the required ports for the PS4 and Xbox One with the help of PortForward.com, using one of two methods available: port forwarding and port trigger.
This is where things become confusing. From my router’s web interface:
Port Trigger allows you to temporarily open data ports when LAN devices require unrestricted access to the Internet. There are two methods for opening incoming data ports: port forwarding and port trigger. Port forwarding opens the specified data ports all the time and devices must use static IP addresses. Port trigger only opens the incoming port when a LAN device requests access to the trigger port. Unlike port forwarding, port trigger does not require static IP addresses for LAN devices. Port forwarding allows multiple devices to share a single open port and port trigger only allows one client at a time to access the open port.
I highlighted the last sentence because that’s where the issue lies.
From that explanation, port forwarding seems like the best solution for multiple devices. The problem is that both the PS4 and Xbox One require some of the same ports to be opened, and once your forward those ports to one of the consoles (by setting them to that device’s static IP address), you can’t do the same for the second one.
I tried forwarding all the required ports to the PS4 first, since that’s my primary console, and any remaining ones to the Xbone later. My PS4 was blazing fast; my Xbone, not so much. So, I decided to give port trigger a try.
Even if I never had any issues with restricted NATs, none of my consoles were performing to my liking. I attribute that to the fact that they’re “always on” (as in, they’re always in rest mode, set to automatic downloads, never fully powered off and disconnected) - whichever requests access to the trigger port first, automatically blocks traffic to the other, and sometimes the other turns out to be the one that I’m using at the moment.
Now, I know some people say that you can rely solely on UPnP and that you should just let the router work its magic, but I’d rather have some kind of control over what the router’s doing, even if it’s just for the reassurance that all required ports are open regardless of what the machine decides to do.
Also, I’m not comfortable putting any of my network-enabled devices in the DMZ, and even if I were, that only works for one single IP at a time, which doesn’t solve my problem.
Tl;dr: Don't trust UPnP, can't use DMZ. Should I go with port forwarding or port trigger?
Any advice is welcomed.
