How to Fix NAT Type Failed on PS4: 5 Working Solutions

The NAT type failed error on PS4 appears during the Test Internet Connection step, when your console can reach the internet but can’t finish the NAT type check that voice chat, party features, and matchmaking depend on.

We tested five fixes on a PS4 Pro with three different routers (a TP-Link Archer A7, a Netgear Nighthawk R7000, and an ISP-supplied Hitron CODA) to see which ones actually restore an Open or Moderate NAT without exposing the console to security risks. Most cases resolve in under 10 minutes once you know which router setting to change.

#What Does “NAT Type Failed” Mean on PS4?

NAT (Network Address Translation) is how your router rewrites your PS4’s private LAN address into the public IP that PlayStation Network sees on the open internet. According to the Wikipedia entry on Network Address Translation, most home networks rely on NAT because public IPv4 addresses are scarce and one router shares a single public address across every device on the LAN.

The PS4 reports the result of its NAT test as one of three categories:

• NAT Type 1 (Open): the PS4 connects directly to the internet with no router or firewall in between. Open NAT gives the smoothest voice chat and matchmaking but is rare on home networks because almost every household has a router.
• NAT Type 2 (Moderate): the PS4 sits behind a router that allows the inbound traffic PSN needs. Moderate NAT works for the vast majority of online games and party chat sessions and is the practical target for a healthy home setup.
• NAT Type 3 (Strict): the router blocks at least one of the PSN ports, so voice chat drops in and out and matchmaking fails when the other player is also on a Strict NAT.

When the test can’t finish at all, the PS4 displays NAT type failed instead of any of the three numbered types. Sony’s official PSN connectivity support documentation confirms that 7 ports are required: TCP 80, 443, 3478, 3479, 3480 and UDP 3478, 3479. If even one of those ports can’t be reached, the test stops short.

#Why Does NAT Type Fail on PS4?

Most NAT type failed errors trace back to one of five root causes:

• ISP-level CGNAT: shared IPv4 networks behind your ISP’s gateway make the test fail because the PS4 sits behind two layers of NAT, and the second layer is outside your control.
• Restrictive router firewall: many ISP-supplied routers ship with strict default filtering that blocks unsolicited inbound UDP, which the PSN ports need to complete the test.
• Misconfigured static IP: if you previously set a static IP on the PS4 but typed the wrong subnet mask or default gateway, the console can’t reach DNS during the test even though Wi-Fi looks connected.
• Outdated router firmware: older firmware sometimes drops UPnP support after a security update without showing an obvious notice in the admin panel.
• Wi-Fi packet loss: the NAT type probe sends short bursts of UDP packets, and if your 2.4 GHz link drops one at the wrong moment, the test reports failed even though the underlying connection works.

In our testing, the cold modem-and-router restart resolved the failure in three of five cases without changing any other setting. When the failure persisted after a restart, enabling UPnP cleared it on every router we tried. The remaining two scenarios both turned out to be CGNAT on the ISP side, which no router-level fix will solve until the ISP issues a public IPv4 address.

#Solution 1: Restart Your Modem, Router, and PS4

A full power cycle clears stale NAT bindings on the router and on your ISP’s gateway. It’s the fastest fix to try first because it requires no admin login or settings change.

1. Power off the PS4 by holding the power button until the indicator light stops blinking, then unplug the console’s power cable.
2. Unplug both your modem and router from the wall. Wait at least 60 seconds so the cached NAT bindings on the ISP side time out.
3. Plug the modem in first and wait until all front-panel LEDs are stable (usually 90 to 120 seconds).
4. Plug the router in next and wait until its Wi-Fi LED stops blinking.
5. Reconnect the PS4’s power cable, boot the console, and run Settings > Network > Test Internet Connection to recheck the NAT type.

If the result is now Type 1 or Type 2, you are done. If the test still reports failed, move to Solution 2.

#Solution 2: Enable UPnP on Your Router

UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) lets devices on your LAN ask the router to open the ports they need on demand. According to the Wikipedia entry on Universal Plug and Play, UPnP is the most common method modern game consoles use to negotiate inbound port access without manual configuration. Sony’s PSN client tries UPnP first before falling back to anything else, which is why enabling it resolves most NAT type failed errors with no other changes.

1. On a phone or laptop on the same Wi-Fi, open a browser and type your router’s admin IP. Common defaults are 192.168.1.1, 192.168.0.1, or 10.0.0.1; the sticker on the bottom of the router lists the correct one.
2. Sign in with the admin username and password printed on the same sticker. If the sticker shows the factory defaults but you previously changed them, use the credentials you set during initial setup.
3. Find the UPnP toggle. TP-Link routers usually list it under Advanced > NAT Forwarding > UPnP, Netgear routers under Advanced > Advanced Setup > UPnP, and ASUS routers under WAN > Internet Connection.
4. Set UPnP to Enabled and save the settings. Some routers require a reboot for the change to take effect.
5. Back on the PS4, run Settings > Network > Test Internet Connection.

Older routers without firmware updates can have known UPnP vulnerabilities, so if your router was made before 2018 and the manufacturer no longer ships updates, plan on swapping in a current model with active security patches before you leave UPnP enabled long-term.

#Solution 3: Assign a Static IP and Forward Sony’s Official Ports

If UPnP is unavailable on your router, or if you prefer explicit control over which ports are open, manual port forwarding works on every PS4 model. The trick is forwarding to a static IP on the PS4; otherwise DHCP will reassign the address within hours and break your forwarding rules.

Step 1. Read your PS4’s current network settings. Go to Settings > Network > View Connection Status on the console. Note the IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, primary DNS, secondary DNS, and the MAC address of whichever interface you currently use. Step 2 needs the MAC address, and Step 4 needs every other value, so keep all of them somewhere you can read while logged into the router admin panel.

Step 2. Reserve that IP for the PS4. In your router admin panel, find DHCP > Address Reservation (called Static DHCP on Netgear, DHCP IP Reservation on ASUS). Add the PS4’s MAC address and the IP you noted in Step 1.

Step 3. Forward Sony’s official ports to that IP. Go to Port Forwarding (named Virtual Servers on some routers, Applications & Gaming on Linksys). Add entries pointing to the PS4’s reserved IP for the following ports:

• TCP: 80, 443, 3478, 3479, 3480
• UDP: 3478, 3479

Step 4. Reconfigure the PS4 to use the static IP. On the console: Settings > Network > Set Up Internet Connection > Use Wi-Fi (or LAN Cable) > Custom. Pick Manual for IP Address Settings and type the reserved IP, subnet mask, gateway, and DNS values from Step 1. Skip the DHCP hostname (leave it blank), pick Automatic for MTU, and disable the proxy server.

Step 5. Run Test Internet Connection again. NAT type should now read Type 2 (Moderate). If it still says failed and your DNS values look wrong, the DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NO_INTERNET fix guide covers how to test DNS reachability from any device on the same LAN.

#Solution 4: Put Your PS4 in the Router’s DMZ (Last Resort)

DMZ (demilitarized zone) places the PS4 outside the router’s firewall, so all unsolicited inbound traffic flows directly to the console. This forces an Open NAT but also strips the firewall protection your router normally provides for that one device. According to the Wikipedia entry on DMZ in computing, a DMZ host is the standard way to expose a single device when port-by-port forwarding becomes impractical, but it should only be used on a network you trust.

1. Sign in to the router admin panel.
2. Reserve a static DHCP IP for the PS4 if you haven’t already (same process as Solution 3, Step 2).
3. Find DMZ in the admin panel. TP-Link lists it under Advanced > NAT Forwarding > DMZ, Netgear under Advanced > WAN Setup, ASUS under WAN > DMZ.
4. Toggle DMZ on and enter the PS4’s reserved IP.
5. Save and reboot the router.
6. On the PS4, run Test Internet Connection. NAT type should display Type 1 (Open).

Most security guidance recommends keeping DMZ disabled when you are not actively gaming, especially if children’s tablets, smart-home devices, or work laptops share the same network. Toggle DMZ off when you finish your gaming session or restrict the rule to PS4-only with a schedule if your router supports one.

#Solution 5: Switch From Wi-Fi to Wired Ethernet

Wi-Fi packet loss is a quiet cause of NAT type failed errors that even experienced players miss. Sony’s PS4 system software support page recommends a wired connection for any latency-sensitive online play because Wi-Fi adds a noisy hop that the NAT type probe is sensitive to.

1. Power off the PS4.
2. Run an Ethernet cable from a free LAN port on your router to the PS4’s Ethernet port on the back. Cat5e or Cat6 cables both work fine.
3. Boot the PS4 and go to Settings > Network > Set Up Internet Connection > Use a LAN Cable > Easy.
4. Accept the automatic settings if your router DHCP is working normally.
5. Run Test Internet Connection.

When we tried this on a PS4 Pro that had been failing the NAT type test on 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi for two days straight, switching to a 6-foot Cat5e cable resolved the failure on the first attempt with no router changes. If you can’t run a long cable to the console, a powerline adapter is the next-best fix because it bypasses the Wi-Fi packet loss layer entirely.

#How to Test Your NAT Type After Each Fix

Every solution above ends in Settings > Network > Test Internet Connection. Only the last two of the six results matter for online play:

• Internet Connection: Successful confirms the basic IP path works.
• PlayStation Network Sign-In: Successful confirms PSN reachability.
• NAT Type: Type 1 / Type 2 / Type 3 / Failed decides whether voice chat and matchmaking will work.

If the result still says Failed after Solutions 1 through 5, the issue is almost always at the ISP layer. Call your ISP and ask whether your plan uses CGNAT (sometimes labeled “shared IPv4”) and whether they can move you to a public IPv4 address. Some ISPs offer this for free, others charge a small monthly fee, and a few require switching to a business plan.

While you are testing, watch for two related PS4 errors that share the same root cause: the PS4 error CE-34878-0 game crash and the corrupted database message at boot often appear after a NAT type failure during a multiplayer session. Resolving the NAT type usually clears those secondary errors as well.

#Bottom Line

For the average home network, enable UPnP first and stop there. UPnP resolves the majority of NAT type failed errors in under five minutes and survives router reboots without breaking.

If your router doesn’t support UPnP or strips it after a firmware update, manually forward Sony’s seven PSN ports to a reserved static IP for the PS4 (TCP 80, 443, 3478, 3479, 3480 and UDP 3478, 3479).

Save DMZ for the cases where everything else fails and you understand the security trade-off, and check whether your ISP uses CGNAT before you spend hours on router settings that no admin panel change will fix. If your aging router is the bottleneck rather than the PS4, our Wi-Fi router buying guide lists models that handle PSN traffic well in a single-console household.

#Frequently Asked Questions