UPnP support

Most Network Box customers are eligible to upgrade to a Nest Wifi Pro Router. To learn more, visit the Router upgrade for Network Box customers article.

UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) is a network protocol that supports peer-to-peer communications between intelligent appliances, wireless devices, and computers. It allows a device to dynamically join a network, obtain an IP address, advertise its capabilities, learn about the presence and capabilities of other UPnP devices on the network, and leave the network. Some devices function as servers that respond to requests, and some initiate requests and act on the responses.

UPnP devices can communicate directly with other UPnP devices on the same network. If they are separated by a router, the router must either support UPnP, or you must configure port forwarding rules in the router to direct requests to the appropriate devices. If the router supports UPnP, a device can direct it to set up relevant port forwarding rules so no manual setup is necessary.

The Network Box is UPnP compliant, but is disabled by default. To configure a UPnP device on your Fiber network, you must first enable UPnP port forwarding on your Network Box. For example, some game consoles use a specific set of ports for communications. Those game consoles are UPnP compliant, so they can set up the port forwarding rules they need to enable incoming gaming requests without manual set-up. Because this is dynamic, it can use different rules for different games.

In Google Fiber, you can control whether UPnP devices are allowed to set up their own port forwarding rules. Refer to your device manufacturer's instructions regarding UPnP support for each of your non-Fiber devices.