Can’t connect to another participant in Brazil – NAT / Unknown and NAT / NAT errors, port forwarding already set up


  • Johan
    Participant

    12 hours, 3 minutes ago

    Hi FarPlay team,

    A friend I play guitar with and I (both in Brazil) can’t get a FarPlay session working. We used to use Farplay a lot. We both join the session and I can see him connecting, but then the connection fails with “FarPlay couldn’t establish a connection between you and other participants.” We tried 4–5 new session links. The status line said “(Local / remote network status: NAT / Unknown)” in one attempt and “NAT / NAT” in another. A screenshot from my computer is attached.

    What I’ve checked and set up on my side:
    – MacBook Air, macOS Tahoe 26.5.2 , latest FarPlay version
    – Wired Ethernet (USB 10/100 adapter) directly to the main router, Wi-Fi off, no VPN
    – ISP: New Group Telecomunicações (fiber), Teresópolis, RJ
    – WAN IP is the same as my public IPv4, so I’m not behind CGNAT (I pay for a public IP). No IPv6.
    – Static DHCP lease for my Mac
    – UDP ports 60000–60100 forwarded to my Mac
    – In FarPlay Preferences > Advanced: “Use specific UDP port range for P2P connections” checked, with Min 60000 and Max 60100
    – macOS: Local Network permission enabled for FarPlay, macOS firewall allows FarPlay
    – Norton 360 firewall turned off completely during the last test
    – My friend has a MacBook, the latest version off Farplay and cable internet

    My question:
    1. Why does my side still show “NAT” even though I have a public IP and port forwarding? Is there a way to confirm the forwarding actually works?

    Thanks a lot for your help!
    Johan

    Attachments:

    1. Scherm­afbeelding-2026-10-02-om-16.09.20.png


  • David Liao
    Keymaster

    7 hours, 42 minutes ago

    Dear Johan,

    Thanks for your message and screenshot. Your Local network status of NAT just means that your computer is behind a router. NAT is the correct status message for a computer that has been port-forwarded and doesn’t mean that your port-forwarding setup is broken.

    The FarPlay app doesn’t provide a built-in test of port forwarding, but if you try to connect to someone on a restrictive network (some university/workplace or mobile internet connections are restrictive, for example), see an error message saying that the remote participant’s status is “Symmetric NAT” when you have port-forwarding off, and then successfully connect after turning port-forwarding back on, then your port-forwarding works.

    To fix the connection problem, could you try turning your Mac’s firewall completely off and also have your friend follow the suggestions below (similar to what you’ve checked on your end, but without asking him to get a Public IP or set up port-forwarding)?

    1. If he’s using macOS Sequoia or later, have him go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Local Network and turn FarPlay’s Local Network permission switch on.
    2. Have him turn his VPN off, if he uses one.
    3. If his Mac’s System Settings > Network shows Filters, open it, and change the Status of any filter that’s enabled to disabled for a test.
    4. Turn his Mac’s firewall off for a test, and any security app like Norton too.
    5. If your friend connects his MacBook to his router with an Ethernet cable (recommended), have him turn his Wi-Fi off. If Wi-Fi is left on and connected, for example, to a 5G cellular hotspot, his computer might still connect through that hotspot, and some 5G connections block FarPlay.
    6. Try connecting again.

    If the connection fails again, please post an updated screenshot of the error message from your computer.

    Thank you,
    David Liao

    • This reply was modified 7 hours, 37 minutes ago by David Liao.
    • This reply was modified 7 hours, 33 minutes ago by David Liao.
    • This reply was modified 7 hours, 33 minutes ago by David Liao.
Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

Topic Info

Topic Tags