Xbox Cannot Connect to Host

Live gaming has its own set of challenges when it comes to connections and errors. The errors may look and feel different than those of a personal computer, but the end result is the same. The error message is trying to let you, the user, know that something just isn’t working properly.

Cannot connect to host can be a frustrating message when trying to join a gaming lobby. Typically, this occurs when two players are trying to play a game using Xbox that is connected from the same router. If the error continues to appear over several hours, you can be fairly confident that the error is not going to disappear on its own and you are going to have to do something about it.

Live gaming connects the Xbox with the live server that runs the game. When two people are attempting to play one game with two boxes running off of the same network, it may result in problems. When there is more than one Xbox connected to a network, the originally connected box reserves the connection ports. When the second box attempts to log on, it can’t because the first box has already designated the ports as its own and won’t allow a second connection.

Your router should have a service called UPnP, which stands for Universal Plug and Play. This service maps the ports to allow both Xboxes to connect to the live game at the same time. Checking your router to see if this service is offered is the best place to start. The router can only understand what you tell it to do through configuring the proper settings. If the connections are not set up to allow two players, this will cause an error message.

Older routers may not offer the UPnP option, but newer versions of all routers should have this option. If you have a router that does provide UPnP, then you need to check that this option is turned on. For this, it is likely that you will have to use your personal computer to change the settings for your router. As there are so many different routers, it will be impossible to list all the different methods here. Using your owner’s manual, you will be able to turn on this functionality for your router.

Once the UPnP setting has been selected, try to reconnect to the live game using both Xboxes. You should now find that both games can connect fine and the gaming can continue.