Verizon MiFi open NAT for XBOX Live with DD-WRT
Recently a friend of mine purchased a Verizon Novatel MiFi 2200. This was his only option for home broadband, and for playing XBOX Live.
The MiFi has built in port forwarding options for common tasks, but does not allow custom ports or applications to be added. There was no option for XBOX Live, and no amount of tweaking allowed the XBOX to connect properly. You could play just fine, but partying up was impossible.
After I thought all hope was lost I read that some users had had success with a device called a CradlePoint. The device was rather pricey, and just not an option for something that wasn’t a sure thing.
After thinking about it off and on for about a month I came to the conclusion that the CradlePoint had to be using the MiFi as a USB modem, a feature that is easily accomplished with DD-WRT. So I grabbed an old router (with a USB port), flashed DD-WRT, set everything up an violla! It worked! Yes, there are some latency issues, but the result is a very playable XBOX live experience.
Now, onto the important part, how to do it.
Required materials:
- Verizon MiFi (this will work with other carriers MiFi devices, you will just need to change the connection settings)
- A USB cable to plug the MiFi into the router (the one that came with the MiFi is just fine)
- A router supported by DD-WRT with at least 1 USB port. (I used a Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH router)
The Setup:
- Connect to the MiFi and go to the settings panel (192.168.1.1 in a browser default password is admin)
- Go to Advanced -> Diagnostics -> System Information
- Write down the MDN number. You are now done with the MiFi
- Flash DD-WRT onto the router
- On the DD-WRT router, navigate to 192.168.1.1
- Select the services tab, then USB
- Enable at least the first three items. (Newer versions will just be the first item, basically anything related to enabling USB support and not mass storage ect.)
- Go back to the set-up page
- Select “3G / UMTS” for Connection type under the WAN connection
- Dial number is #777
- Your username is <MDN>@vzw3g.com (replace <MDN> with the number you found in step 1)
- Password is vzw
- Leave APN and PIN blank.
- Save settings
- Apply settings
- Reboot the router
- Plug the MiFi into the router with the usb cord.
- Enjoy a nice XBOX Live experience 🙂
NOTE:
If you still can’t get open NAT enable uPnP or forward the necessary ports.
Conclusion:
Ideally a usb modem paired with the same router set-up would have been much better than the MiFi. However, if you are stuck with a MiFi, it works, and that’s all that matters.
Hello,
I tried doing everything above and it has been a long battle haha. So I got a Netgear Router on newegg it is a WNR3500Lv2 and they didn’t say v2 originally but the DD-WRT for that router does not have the 3g/UMTS feature….so I thought all was lost but then I tried putting Shibby Tomato on the router instead and that has a 3G modem function. So I input everything as you had said above dial number, username, password etc. However, when I reboot router and plug in mifi jetpack 4620L it is not recognized. I go to the USB section of Tomato and the mifi does not come up as an attached device. I have read around some other forums and it says something about changing modems and they give code but I am unsure how to go about doing that……do you have any ideas as I really want to have an open NAT so I can party up on Xbox live. Thanks!
I don’t have a mifi to look at at the moment, but have you made sure that USB tether mode is enabled in the Mifi’s settings?
Looking into it a bit more, I’m not sure if the 4620’s driver has been ported to Tomato/DD-WRT yet. This may be a better question asked in their respective support forums.
Yup I have the mifi in USB tethered mode…..I have posted my question on the linksysinfo.org forum site with no answers yet but am awaiting eagerly thanks!
Hopefully someone there can shed some insight, or possibly integrate the driver. I would imagine with Verizons new data plans that this would be beneficial to many people with dual wan routers looking for a fallback, or load balancing.
Good luck, let me know if you find a work around.
Hello Craig, thank you for posting this guide! I was wondering if all the ports are open? On the standard MiFi configuration page you cannot port forward specific pages.
Thanks,
John
Yes, all ports are open. This does not forward ports within the mifi page, but rather utilizes the DD-WRT setup to handle port forwarding. The mifi remains untouched. Also be aware that this does not work with the newer jetpack, but rather the older Novatel MiFi 2200.
Dear Craig,
Thanks for this article. But I am eager to know if the router will charge the mifi.
Yes, it will charge the mifi.
Interesting. I’ve been wanting to do this but didn’t know if it would be allowed by the wifi. I have a older Cradlepoint MBR1000 and it doesn’t appear to support this. It would be worth getting the buffalo – if other things work.
1. Can people in my home then connect to the cradle point router to get the internet? right now wifi is limited to 5 users. Will that still be a restriction?
2. I don’t do Xbox live, but I try to play in Steam. I have a hard time keeping speed and connection on multiplayer games. (but I have unlimited all-tell now Verizon unlimited and I believe they are throttling me way down which is making my speeds inappropriate for online gaming. = ( this router would not help in that area I suspect?
3. Longer range if doing this through the cradle point router?
Awesome! I know I’m late to the game here, but I recently started traveling full time in an RV, and I wanted to be able to share my 6620L’s data connection with my Asus AC68R via USB, so I could have better WiFi connectivity.
Every guide I found said I didn’t need a username or password, and to leave the values at defaults, but once I input the phone number @ vzw3g.com and vzw as the password, with #777 as dial number, it works! I’ve now freed up a USB charge port (since I now plug the MiFi into the router), and when I have a USB3 hard drive attached as well, having the internet connection at the router allows me to search for metadata of items on the hard drive.
Works great – thanks so much for the article!