Troubleshoot Xbox LIVE game play and chat

Learn what to do if you’re having one of the following Xbox LIVE problems:

You might have a Network Address Translation (NAT) problem. To find out, test your connection. Here’s how:

1. Press the Guide button on your controller, go to Settings, and then select System Settings.
2. Select Network Settings.
3. Select Wired Network or your wireless network name (if you are prompted to do so).
4. Select Test Xbox LIVE Connection.

A NAT warning appears as a yellow exclamation point:

If you have a NAT warning, try the solutions in the following article: Error: Your NAT type is set to strict (or moderate).

What is NAT? NAT, or Network Address Translation, is a networking concept that allows your router to share a single IP address across multiple devices. Instead of your Internet service provider (ISP) assigning an IP address to every device that connects to the Internet, NAT allows your ISP to assign a single IP address to your router. The router then manages a set of IP addresses for all the devices on your home network. For more information, see NATs and Xbox LIVE.

Your frequent disconnects from Xbox LIVE might be fixed by improving the speed of your Xbox LIVE connection. Learn how to Improve Xbox LIVE speed.

You might have a Network Address Translation (NAT) problem. To find out, test your connection. Here’s how:

1. Press the Guide button on your controller, go to Settings, and then select System Settings.
2. Select Network Settings.
3. Select Wired Network or your wireless network name (if you are prompted to do so).
4. Select Test Xbox LIVE Connection.

A NAT warning appears as a yellow exclamation point:

If you have a NAT warning: try the solutions in the following article: Error: Your NAT type is set to strict (or moderate) .

No NAT warning? If you do not have a NAT warning, have your friend (the person who started the game or party you cannot join) test his or her Xbox LIVE connection using the above steps. If your friend also does not have a NAT warning, try the next solution.

You might experience problems joining games if you are using a satellite connection or a 4G mobile broadband connection. We recommend using a broadband cable, DSL, or fiber Internet connection.

If this does not fix the problem, try the next solution.

If a game is older, there might not be any online games for you to join because players are not playing the game. To find other players who might want to start a specific game, check the Xbox forums (forums.xbox.com). There are forum sections for different Xbox 360 games.