Re: Strict NAT

If you keep having problems getting online to play your favorite EA games, outside of the occasional outage on our end, we have a few tips on getting the most out of your connection. 

Maybe the most important and overlooked piece of a quality-connection is your Network Address Translation Type.

• Your NAT Type is either Open, Moderate, or Strict, and controls what other Nat Types you can connect to.
  • An Open NAT Type means you can pretty much connect to anyone but is the least common of the three to have.  
  • A Moderate NAT Type, the most common of the three, means you can only connect to others who are Open or also Moderate.
  • A Strict NAT Type means you will only be able to connect to others who are Open.
    • As you can probably figure out, if you have a Strict NAT Type, you're probably going to have a bad time, at least when trying to play games online with your friends.  
• To top it all off, sometimes it's pretty hard for your games to figure out your type and will connect you incorrectly, sometimes your ISP has a separate NAT Type, and sometimes our servers or your connection might just be down.

There are a few steps to take that may improve your NAT Type.

1. First, make sure you have the following ports open:
   • TCP: 80; 3074; 53
   • UDP: 88; 3074; 53
2. Next, if you're actively experiencing problems check out the tried-and-true connection issue fix of unplugging your router or modem from its power source for about ten minutes, then plugging it back in.
   • After it boots back up and is operational, players generally notice a solid difference in the capability of their connection.
3. If you keep getting kicked out, can't connect, or find errors, run down the following quick-fixes:
   • Ensure your router or modem's firmware and drivers are up to date.
     • To do so, you'll likely be able to find help from your router manufacturer's website.
   • Add the game you're trying to play as an exception to your firewall, or if you're unworried about security, disable your firewall altogether.
   • Enable Universal Plug and Play, or UPnP, on your router.
   • Adjust your DNS settings.

If you're having issues on a peer-to-peer connection:
Some EA games, like much of the FIFA series, use a peer-to-peer connection, or a connection shared between you and one or more other players--rather than say, on a hosted-server like with most Battlefield titles--for online gameplay and matchmaking.

We've noticed that players with their routers set to use Internet Protocol version 6, or IPv6, for their connections tend to have compatibility issues with players using the more common IPv4.

• For instance, if one player is on an already-poor IPv6 connection then all players are usually disconnected.

PC players can change their system's Internet Protocol version by:

1. Opening the Control Panel then searching for adapter.
2. In your search results under Network and Sharing Center, click View network Connections.
3. Right-click your active network connection and select Properties.
   • ​In Properties you should see check boxes for both Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and Internet Protocol version 6 (TCP/IPv6).
     • If you've been having frequent connectivity problems and IPv6 is checked, uncheck it.
     • If you've been having frequent connectivity problems and IPv4 isn't checked, check it.

• You can find out more on IPv6 from Windows Support's IPv6 FAQ, as well as a number of other helpful IPv6 walkthroughs.
• If you continue to have connectivity issues, contact your router manufacturer or internet service provider for more connectivity help.
  • If you experience new connectivity issues following the disabling of IPv6 on your PC, re-enable it to get rid of your new issues.

For some more console-specific tips and tweaks to try out:

• Xbox players can find helpful connection articles through Xbox Support, mostly under the Xbox LIVE section.
• PlayStation players can find both Wired- and Wireless-specific support from Sony.

Source: http://help.ea.com/uk/article/losing-connection-to-ea-servers/