What is NAT?(somethinging to do with downloading)?

Question

when downloading my bit torrent says i probably have a problem with my NAT what is NAT

Answer 1

Network Address Translation

It is a system by which a number of computers can all access the Internet with only one public IP address.

That address is assigned to the router, which then acts as a proxy for passing messages back and forth between the machines on the local network and machines on the Internet.

Using a NAT means you can't just run a server (like BitTorrent) on a machine on the local network and allow machines on the Internet to connect to it. You need to set up port forwarding on the router so that it knows that a machine trying to connect to port 1234 should be connected to port 1234 of a particular machine on the local network instead of port 1234 on the router.

Answer 2

Check at http://www.portforward.com/routers.htm for more information.  Select your router, then your bit torrent program, and you'll get instructions, including screen shots of your router.

(If your modem is also doing NAT, it's a little more work - see http://webdingers.com/router.html )