ideal router settings for gaming

[#1]

Quote from: Mathias

but i don't know if Plusnet is providing an IPv6 service?

No, they're not (yet).

[#2]

Thanks all!!  
Any reason why not to put a console in dmz?

[#3]

Think Purliegh sums up why DMZ isn't always the best solution:

Quote

"As for DMZ,  I can't answer that because that will depend on how your router implements DMZ. The functionality and security of DMZ on a good quality router can be OK, but in many implementations is a security risk if the device in DMZ is permitted to access to your LAN subnet. If you don't understand how your router DMZ works, then don't !"

[#4]

Quote from: Mathias

Is any of your advice ADSL specific and not required on a fibre connection? I only ask as i believe you can't manually request changing interleaving on fibre?

I think you are correct about interleaving on fibre - all you can do is ensure that your fibre modem has the best possible connection to your master socket (such as filtered xDSL faceplate, no phone extension wiring, round profile twisted pair RJ11 cable, noise filtered mains supply or better still a battery backup "UPS" uninterruptible power supply), then with any luck if your line remains quiet and stable then the interleaving should automatically be removed.
The other thing I'd probably not bother with on fibre, would be optimizing the router MTU (typically 1492), as the theoretical potential improvement becomes barely worthwhile simply because you have a much greater speed in the first place, and for gaming on fibre speed is unlikely to be a significant factor.

Quote from: Mathias

I also have an xbox 360 (not upgraded to the One yet though). Out of interest, what port is that one port that you have forwarded?

Port 3074 for TCP and UDP

Quote from: Mathias

Finally i'm not really sure what ipv6 is. My router has options for them but i haven't touched them yet, but as I don't have an xbox one yet, do i even need it? Had a quick skim read of the microsoft presentation you linked to, but i don't know if Plusnet is providing an IPv6 service?

Do you need it now, probably not.
At this time, Plusnet are still not providing native IPv6 on ordinary customer accounts.
With an Xbox 360, there are no networking options available to make use of IPv6 so it won't help you unless Microsoft include it in a future update.
"Xbox One" on the other hand was clearly designed to use IPv6 as it's preferred connection but has a fall back to IPv4 where IPv6 is not available, however Microsoft's use of their "Teredo tunneling" allows customers on ISPs without native IPv6 to use a tunnelling protocol that transfers IPv6 packets over an IPv4 only network in order to reach IPv6 networks elsewhere on the internet.
As I don't have an Xbox One, I have not dabbled with "Teredo tunneling",  however for everyday internet use I do have an IPv6 "6in4" tunnel configured on my router.  I find that having IPv6 provides better connectivity than IPv4 (especially YouTube streaming), and each month between 65% and 85% of my internet traffic is IPv6.  For more information on IPv6 "6in4" tunnelling, look at the Hurricane Electric IPv6 Tunnel Broker webpages - I most definitely recommend it !.
In the long term, gaming over IPv6 will eliminate the issues with port forwarding and NAT, and makes useless IPv4 features such as UPnP and DMZ entirely redundant.

Quote from: Mathias

As a consequence of reading the Plusnet firewall options and not wanting it to block any of those ports, i have it turned off. However am a bit concerned over security because of that.

Despite my home router having an epic firewall sitting on it, I have the "Plusnet Broadband Firewall" set to "Low", and I feel that that is a good compromise which shouldn't cause any issues for you.

[#5]

a console cant be hacked.

[#6]

@'ghos7em1' - Are you deliberately trolling this and other gaming threads on this forum, or do you really believe the uninformed nonsense that you have been posting ?

[#7]

if people follow your advice by not opening all ports and using 2 or 3 firewalls they will have serious lag and unable to host games.most firewalls are too aggressive thats why dmz is a good option and how am i trolling and talking nonsense?

[#8]

If you open all ports, then you are exposing yourself to all manner of security risks, in addition having unnecessarily open ports means that you will be losing valuable bandwidth to external sources performing ports scans etc, which in turn will increase your latency.
Having firewalls enabled within networking equipment does not cause any measurable lag, and certainly not enough to cause problems with gaming.
I might agree that running any internet security on a Windows PC is likely to take CPU cycles away from the game being played, and therefore might manifest itself as lag.  I would argue that in this case, that security on the PC is minimized but at the same time maximizing firewalls on each layer of networking equipment to protect the Windows PC.
I have already said what is wrong with UPnP and DMZ, and that those features should not be necessary.
I am interested in your opinion as you insist on using DMZ,  as any serious gamer has more than one console, with DMZ how do YOU have your second and third consoles connected - as I'm guessing that your router can only put one networked device into DMZ at a time.
You are trolling, because the original question was what should the specified router parameters be set to for to give a reasonable level of security when gaming.  Every reply you have given is essentially switch off all security and ignore the consequences, by running the entire home network completely exposed to the internet,  which for most people will (or should) be unacceptable.
None of the suggestions that I have proposed will make the gaming experience slower or introduce latency,  but some of them might require a little effort the first time that your equipment is connected, giving best gaming performance AND a high level of security.

[#9]

this is the last time i will post on here if people want to lag then fair enough.if i have 2 consoles all you can use is upnp because you cant forward the same port twice.and that way both can have open nat.yes put a firewall on pc and use a anti virus software.but for a game console it cant be hacked or get virus so i turn spi and dos protection off.nat filtering should be open.if you go to xbox.com they will tell you to use that setting for gaming using a netgear router.because i and others had connection problems using secured.sip alg should be disabled it causes slow search times on certain p2p games like fifa.gow2.cod.if people wants to use firewalls then use dmz to allow traffic to your console without the firewall blocking packets.if you use port forward open every port the xbox needs but different games have more ports to open.if your ports are not open you will lag and cant voice chat

[#10]

I can't be bothered to reply to that, as almost every statement is incorrect, and you clearly have no idea what you are talking about and are apparently not interested in learning how to do better networking.

[#11]

how lol ???????????? you cant have 2 consoles both with open nat withouut using upnp

[#12]

I'm wondering whether you actually understand what UPnP is and what it does.  
Perhaps you need to familiarize yourself with port triggering, when using multiple consoles !  

I can't be bothered answering these nonsensical replies any more, as doing so is merely perpetuating a pointless argument.
If anyone has found any of my comments useful, then I am glad to have given you something to think about.
If anyone believes that UPnP, DMZ, SPI off, and minimum security, etc is the way to go - then you are entitled to your own opinion.
Regarding "Open NAT" I will concede that this term can have subtly different definitions to different people, so can cause confusion. Whatever the terminology, I would argue to start with strict NAT and then set specific port forwards, triggers, etc through it, as opposed to the counter argument presented of allowing all ports through regardless of whether they were needed or not.

[#13]

Thanks for your help Purleigh and answering my questions, really appreciate it.