Elite Gamer users Strict NAT to make sure no one uses your internet connection without you knowing. Open NAT can result in quicker matchmaking, but can slow you down since the Game Server is offloading some of the required bandwidth to run the game onto you.
THINGS TO NOTE
Games that use Open NAT require a player to be a host. While using Elite Gamer, you can still play with friends by doing the following:
- If two users are using Elite Gamer and one of them attempts to host a match, the other Elite Gamer user may not be able to join the same match depending on that particular game's rules. The solution to this issue is to have a non-Elite Gamer user host the match.
- Matchmaking could take a little longer than usual in games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Destiny 2. The solution to this issue is to have a non-Elite Gamer user host the match, if possible.
NAT
Network Address Translation (or NAT) is the process by which you connect to a server on the internet (ex: a website).
- First, your computer sends a packet of information to your router.
- This packet is then sent from your router to a web-server (ex: google.com)
- Google's web-server then sends back your requested information to your router.
- This data packet is then sent back to your computer.
Applications that use Open NAT allow for any machine on the internet to send traffic to your router, thus sending the traffic to your computer.
The Elite Gamer application uses Strict (or Closed) NAT, which won't allow internet traffic through to your computer unless it came from the same web-server address and port that you connected initially to. We use Strict NAT to ensure only people with an Elite Gamer account can use our game router network.