Port Forwarding question

TheWoanderer · May 2023

So after dealing with an ongoing zone audio chat problem for some time now.
I have port forwarded for the first time, which was a rather daunting experience.

Despite informing ZOS that I have now done EVERYTHING they asked... I'm still faced with the problem.
I'm unaware as to whether I'm dealing with this zone audio chat problem as an isolated case or whether others are facing it too as no-one has mentioned anything on my post leaving me with the belief that my issue is isolated.

The only discussion I have found seems to be closed, somewhat recently.

So please understand, this post is not about the problem but more of an enquiry into whether one of the requested actions has worked for any one.

What I'm really curious about is....has Port Forwarding worked for anyone else or was this just a (physically painful) waste of my time?
Did it provide a solution for you? or make a difference to your game in any way?
And...
Knowing I still have the problem despite having port forwarded, should I remove the port forwarding?
Because in my mind... That was clearly not the problem and has not provided a fix so I'm now using all 10 of my slots for a game issue that port forwarding has not fixed.
I've not noted any improvements to my gameplay either.

I'm not clued up on this stuff so any discussion about this would be genuinely appreciated.

Just to be clear though.
I have done EVERYTHING the help article sent to me requested, some things more than once and my question is not about the problem but rather trying to ascertain whether this process has actually helped people and whether they have noticed any benefits because frankly I have not

I am on Xbox and my server is EU for those that would wish to know though my question is open to all.

Sincerely
W'o'a

TaSheen · May 2023

Huh. I don't enable chat at all. But as for port forwarding - when I had my seriously unable satellite provider (wildblue) I had a lot of access issues, and was instructied to port forward a lot of ports by that (probably) same article. At that point things did improve somewhat. But not long after that, wildblue failed signally to repair a problem with my access and I moved to HughesNet.

I haven't ever had to port forward since moving to HughesNet. And since I'm on PC not console it's most likely my input isn't particularly valuable.

But - is it possible your voice chat issue is related to some xbox update that didn't work right for you? Or something to do with your physical situation as regards headphones, speakers, etc? Generally (though not a console user) if something like this is wonky when it hasn't been in the past, and I can't find anything in a recent update that seems to apply, the next thing I do is check hardware and drivers.

What does xbox say about the port forwarding situation? That would be where I would start if it were me. And good luck to you to get it sorted!

[Oh. And be aware that this thread will likely get moved to the xbox support forum (so bookmark it so you can find it again) - the mods are.... um.... well, I'll just leave it at that....]

TheWoanderer · May 2023

@TaSheen
Your input is valuable to me as I find responses to be hit & miss depending on the topic and 'where it is moved to' so I'm grateful for your input.

My issue started directly after an ESO update.
2 days before that I was in Party chat during a trial and then zone chat for a conversation with someone.

After the update I've had no luck whatsoever. Yesterday though... Zone chat option was available out of the blue but I had no need for it... Today though the problem is back.

I've made no changes
I'm at a loss to be honest but the real question for me is whether port forwarding is a fix for most folk because it puts a person in a daunting position of having to work in areas of your router than most folk would never access, an area more suited to professionals really, though saying that I am far more confident now I have done it.

Unfortunately not seeing any benefit and knowing that all my slots are now taken up I just feel like it was a pointless undertaking sadly.

Anyway
Thank you for responding
It means a lot to me.

TaSheen · May 2023

Hey, I wish I'd had anything valuable to post!
Honestly, I think your best bet would be first: xbox support; second; post to the xbox support forum here -

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/categories/xbox-technical-support

Third, do check with your hardware provider, and make sure your drivers are up to date. Yes, I know that's a "throwaway" thing people just put out there - but I've actually had a graphics driver update totally fix "out of the blue" something I had assumed was a glitch in game. And I've also had a driver update completely screw me up until I rolled it back (both of those were in the last month!)

Really, I hope you can get it sorted out. There is nothing worse than wanting to settle in to a game session - and then find out you can't do so for something you can't figure out!

Nestor · May 2023

I am responding as a network engineer here.

Port Forwarding should help with weird game issues. It is one of those things that does not hurt to try. As to using up ports, there are 65536 of them, most of which are dynamically assigned and some are "preferred" (my word here). In other words you are not doing a disservice to anything else by forwarding, or triggering some ports for a game. I have had Port Forwarding on in this game since launch, even when I moved to be 20 Miles away from the Servers. (I used to be 1100 miles away and my job moved me, not the game)

If the Zone Chat issues are a recent issue, turning on forwarding would probably not solve it as the issue is probably something else. If you are having connectivity and stability issues then forwarding is a good thing.

In conclusion, port forwarding may not help an individual problem in an otherwise stable game environment, but will help the overall game be more stable.

Now, what you should try, if you are connecting your console over WiFi is to run a hardwired connection from the console to your Router. WiFi issues will contribute more game problems that Port configurations will. If things get better, investigate what radio channel you are on, moving your WiFi device to a better location. WiFi may have worked great for you. Until your neighbor started using a High Power unit that steps all over your Wifi.

TaSheen · May 2023

Nestor wrote: »

Now, what you should try, if you are connecting your console over WiFi is to run a hardwired connection from the console to your Router. WiFi issues will contribute more game problems that Port configurations will. If things get better, investigate what radio channel you are on, moving your WiFi device to a better location. WiFi may have worked great for you. Until your neighbor started using a High Power unit that steps all over your Wifi.

Oy. I never thought about someone using WiFi. I just always have used a wired connect - because satellite is not good over wired anyway, and WiFi.... eww.

ZOS_Hadeostry · May 2023

Greetings,

After further review we have decided to move this thread to a category we think is more appropriate for this topic, as this is a technical issue on XBox.

Thank you for your understanding

npuk · May 2023

I have had my port forwarding set up have since year one, it has not helped with any of the common bugs like this.

A workaround for the voice chat i have found that works is to quit the game from the xbox menu, got to manage game, delete saved game data from console (not the entire game! ), the star the game again and that normally sorts out voice chat. I am in the habit of just deleting the saved game data before I boot the game now.

To help with performance I found giving my xbox a static IP on the and fixed DNS server (googles 8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4) greatly improved my ping more than wired vs wifi, with wired with static settings being the optimal.

TheWoanderer · May 2023

So awesome to see the comments
I'm really grateful for it.
Unfortunately I have done everything that is requested...or suggested.
I've been hardwired to the router for months now.
I've deleted Save data a number of times
Power cycled the Xbox a number of times
Power cycled the Router a number of times
Port Forward (which I had avoided for some time just due to how day ring it was)
Checked Parental Settings
Checked Connections

I have even had a replacement router sent out and activated.

It is a 5g Router and I get an average of 220mbps up to 400mbps at times

Not sure if that has its own problems as I'm fairly new to 5g routers but will say up until this issue, my game has been the best it's been in the near 4 and a half years I've played.

One thing I've not done is given my Xbox a static IP
That is a new thing for me but I will look into that (after a few deep breaths)

I deeply dislike involved workarounds like this, as many do I'm sure, but ESO is the only game I play and sub to so I would prefer it to work 'as intended'

There are 3 of us in the house and we each have our own 5g router ( the exact same one) ZTE MC801A
One person is not a gamer but watches a ton of films
The other is a gamer and plays C.O.D. religiously via PS4
And there is me ESO religiously and very little if anything else.

Again I genuinely appreciate the responses and do feel like the general consensus is that port forwarding is worth it...

Which was my actual question 🤔
Thank you 🙏

Have a great day/evening folks & folkettes 👍
Sincerely
W'o'a

TheWoanderer · May 2023

@ZOS_Hadeostry

Please, please, please don't take this as nitpicking or anything untoward.
I'm kinda concerned with where the topic has been moved to...
I did make it clear in my post that this was not about the issue but listed the issue to provide clarity as to why I initially undertook the actions of port forwarding.

Port forwarding is available for all platforms and therefore is not technically an Xbox issue?
The originally problem (which my post was not about) is.
I did try to make that clear.

This was a general question so that I may ascertain whether it is beneficial to me to keep those ports forwarded as it had not solved my issue and I was not noticing any benefits, so I was curious as to whether it was worth having all 10 slots on my router filled for one game due to one problem that not been solved.
Hearing others responses was the only way I could inform myself as I could not find that kind of information out via other means.

I only raise this with you because I don't want to get a warning about reposting about an ongoing problem that I already have a post about when in fact my question was about something entirely different.

As long as I don't get trouble for now having 2 posts in the Xbox Technical Issues category, then I would gladly accept your decision but please acknowledge that my post was (as I made clear) not about the same issue.

And please try understand my concern as I received a slap on the wrist a while ago for posting the same topic in another section. I was fairly new to the forums and was unaware that it was frowned upon.

Sincerely
W'o'a

JTorus · May 2023

TheWoanderer wrote: »

It is a 5g Router

5g as in Cellular?

Then your issue may be CG-NAT, if that's the case, you do not have a unique public IP (ipv4) to use with port forwarding.

YetAnotherLinuxUser · May 2023

mimo routers are awful for mmos turn mimo features off while playing mmos..