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Open NAT for Gaming with pfSense

 ·  ☕ 2 min read

If you use pfSense as your router and you’ve open the ports for certain games or gaming services and you still get “closed network” errors - even if only sporadically, then this may be the solution for you (it worked for me).

The problem seems to be due to pfSense randomizing ports, so you get the “closed network” error. In the case of some games (eg. Warframe) you’ll have open NAT sometimes and other times, you won’t.

The Quick Fix:

I’m assuming that you’ve already created Port Forwarding Rules for the games and services you want to use in pfSense. If not, you’ll still need to do that.

In the pfSense web GUI go to: Firewall / NAT / Outbound

Set the Outbound NAT Mode to: Hybrid NAT Rule Generation

Under Mappings on the same page, create mappings for the gaming devices, consoles/PCs that you want to use.

Interface: WAN
Protocol: Any
Source: Network - device IP, leave port blank.
Destination: Any, leave all blank.

Translation Section
Address: Interface Address

Port or Range: blank - Make sure Static Port is ticked - this is key.

Outbound NAT Mapping

That’s it, you should now get consistent “Open NAT” for your games.

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Thanks
-Mike

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