Setting up a static IP address is a prerequisite for configuring port forwarding. If you have issues with your NAT type or difficulty connecting to certain online games, you may need to configure port forwarding on your router. Port forwarding is a way to expose specific ports directly to the public facing internet bypassing the firewall in your router. Port forwarding is the best way to get an open NAT in games.
Before you can setup port forwarding you will need to assign a static IP address to your Xbox Series X or S console. I am going to show you how to set up a static IP address from within the Xbox console itself. If you would prefer to set it up on your router I have a post that shows you how to do that. This method is best for people who’s router does not have the ability to reserve IP addresses for specific devices.
Find Your Router’s IP Address
The first step to setting up a static IP address is to make note of your current network settings configuration. On an Xbox Series X or S console this can be found by opening up your network settings, selecting advanced settings, and then IP settings. You will want to make note of your IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway. Either write them down or take a picture of them.
Log in to Your Router
You will want to complete the next steps on your computer, it can be either a PC or Mac. It will make the process much easier. If you do not have access to a computer, they can also be completed on a tablet or smartphone. Using a computer is highly recommended given the small text on your router configuration settings page.
Open your web browser. I am using Chrome, but this process will also work in any modern web browser including Safari, Edge, Firefox, etc. In the address bar enter the gateway IP address you wrote down from the your console and press enter.
This will open your router’s login page. You may get a security warning because many routers use a self signed SSL certificate. This is completely normal and not a cause for concern. Simply choose to proceed anyways. You may need to click advanced to expose this option if you are using Chrome.
From here you will reach the login page of your router. If you changed your login credentials when you set up your router you will enter them here. If you did not change your login credentials you will enter the default credentials for your router. Sometimes they are printed on the bottom of your router. If not simply Google the brand of your router and look up the default login credentials.
Once you enter your login credentials successfully, you will reach the admin dashboard of your router. From here you will want to find your DHCP settings. On some routers this will be listed under LAN settings, on others it will be directly on the initial dashboard screen. Your router will likely looks a little different than mine but most routers will have a DHCP settings page. Once you find your DHCP settings page you will want to open it up.
After opening your DHCP settings you will want to find what the DHCP range of your router is. For example my router has a DHCP range of 192.168.1.100 – 192.168.1.200. This is very important because when you choose your static IP for your Xbox Series X or S console you will need it to be outside of this range. For example I could use 192.168.1.20 or 192.168.1.205 because they are outside of my routers DHCP range. If you choose an IP address from within the DHCP range of your router you will likely end up with an IP conflict on your network. This is easy to avoid simply by choosing an IP address that is outside of your routers DHCP range. Once you have made note of the starting and ending range of your routers DHCP server you can log out of your router and hop back to your Xbox console.
Open up your Xbox Series X IP settings menu. Once you select it you will see a screen asking you to enter your IPv4 address. From here you will enter the IPv4 address of your choosing. It needs to be on the same network as your router and outside of your routers DHCP range. In my case I chose to use 192.168.1.20 as my address.
Now you will enter your subnet mask. Use the same subnet mask that you were using previously. If you are not sure it is likely but not necessarily 255.255.255.0.
Next you will enter your default gateway. This is the same IP address that you used to log in to your router. In my case it is 192.168.1.1. Yours will likely be different than mine.
Now we will enter the primary DNS server of your choosing. If you are not sure what DNS server to use here I have linked to a post about choosing the best DNS server for your location. In my case I used 8.8.8.8 as my primary DNS server. This is the IP address of Google’s public DNS service. Other choices include 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare) and 4.2.2.2 (Level 3). The best choice is going to depend on your location.
You will then enter the IP address of your secondary DNS. In my case I am using 8.8.4.4 as my secondary DNS server. This is the secondary DNS server associated with 8.8.8.8 which is my primary. If you use 1.1.1.1 as your primary you will want to use 1.0.0.1 as your secondary.
From here you will have finished your setup and will see your network information displayed with your updated information.
If you would prefer to set up the static IP address on your router instead here is a post about configuring a static IP address from within your router. The method of configuring your static IP address on your router is going to be the easiest for most people. This article is best for people whos router does not support this function.