RB2 error: "Could not connect to the session. This invitation may have expired"

[bigfoot1291]

Every time I try to invite my friend into my game, he gets this message. Every time I try to join the game when he invites me, I got this message.

What gives? We've tried everything.

I can play with other ppl if I just randomly search (non inv), and so can he.

[bigfoot1291]

Bump for great justice.
Seriously, it's still not working and this is getting EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING.

[Bakkster]

Are either of you connected through firewalls or routers? Have you had problems hosting other games?

[RollinDownRodeo]

I am having this same issue. My friend and I tried to invite each other a bunch of times and got the same message. I was able to connect with a random person in Quickplay Tour but could never accept my friend's invite. What's the deal?

[schala]

bump... i'm having the same problem

[crickey23]

Same here. Bump for greater justice!

[poochieb]

Add me to the list.
I can join a game hosted by one xbox live friend, but not another.

We have a mutual friend that we both can connect to individually, but once one of us does, the other one can't join anymore! Doh!

I know at least on my end, I put my xbox in my network's DMZ.

[exodus3977]

For those having connection issues that haven't already done this:

Go to: Dashboard -> System -> Network settings -> Test network connection.

Run the test and see what it gives as a result for NAT (or network address translation, can't remember how they list it). If it's listed as strict or moderate, that's the problem. If that is the problem, how exactly to fix it may require a little digging around on your part. It took me some time to find the right settings for my specific router.

[thatst00bad]

I'm having the same problem, and I already checked my nat setting; it's "Open" (http://hushedcasket.com/node/1724 can help you mess with that if you want to see if that will help, although it didn't do me any good).

[TimeKillr]

I fixed it last night for my router... I have a Linksys WRT54G v3 and turning off the uPnP feature fixed everything. Your mileage may vary :)

I tried doing port forwarding and everything and my 360 kept showing up as having "moderate" nat. I couldn't connect to a buddy of mine at all while I could connect to random people.

Apparently Linksys routers have a problem with uPnP and Xbox Live.

[TheKrazyKatzzz]

I have this same issue with RB1 on the PS3. So far I have updated the firmware on my router and portforwarded but I still haven't been able to connect to certain friends. I have a post about it on the playstation network forums: http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?message.uid=38525721#U38525721 and it has one slightly helpful response.

[abacab]

I have the same problem. We were in the middle of a setlits, my friends roommate unplugged the router, I tried to invite him back to play and since then we can't connect. Even if somone else invites both of us only one of us can join. We can't even chat with each other, which seems like a Live issue but somehow RB2 caused. I have an open support ticket from the Live people so I'll let you know what they say.

[Clumsy]

I have the same problem... My NAT is Open, and I turned off UPnP.

[Missy D]

I'm having the same issue on 360 and my NAT is open.

[WeeBus]

Same problem here on the PS3.

[EvilCookie]

Can we got an answer from someone here for once?

The forums have been no help at all concerning this and its becoming very frustrating. My friend and I were able to connect to each other for a few days but now we are having this problem. Both of us do not have software firewalls and we have proper ports forwarded as well as 'open' NAT under the settings. We can both also connect to random people in quickplay. Why would we all of a sudden start having this problem? We both have XBOX 360s.

[EvilCookie]

Bump

10 char

[NinaD]

It is all about the routers! You have to actually go into your router settings on your computer and make sure it will let the XBOX port through your firewall/router. The Xbox TCP port should be 3074 and the UDP port should be 88, make sure you have them on the list of allowable ports. Everyone's router has to be set to accept these ports on WAN-LAN and LAN-WAN. If not, someone won't get through. I have also solved the problem by getting rid of the router all together and just plug the xbox right into the wall! But that is only good if no one else is using the router in the house a the same time!

[EvilCookie]

Thanks for the help, but like I said before, we had the proper ports forwarded. We finally got it working today and heres how so other people having the same problem (for xbox atleast) can try it.

So when it wasn't working, we both had the proper ports forwarded and the xbox IP in the DMZ. Didn't work. So what we tried next was disabled UPnP on our routers, made absolutely sure our DMZ IP and xbox IP matched, and bingo, we finally were able to connect to each other.

So if you guys are having this problem just try that out and see if it solves it.

Hope this helps cause the forums were absolutely no help when searching. Bunch of threads on the subject but no answers.

[Viewtiful Jason]

Thanks for the help, but like I said before, we had the proper ports forwarded. We finally got it working today and heres how so other people having the same problem (for xbox atleast) can try it.

So when it wasn't working, we both had the proper ports forwarded and the xbox IP in the DMZ. Didn't work. So what we tried next was disabled UPnP on our routers, made absolutely sure our DMZ IP and xbox IP matched, and bingo, we finally were able to connect to each other.

So if you guys are having this problem just try that out and see if it solves it.

Hope this helps cause the forums were absolutely no help when searching. Bunch of threads on the subject but no answers.

Could you explain that to a lament in internet connections? All that jargon is pretty confusing.

[Viewtiful Jason]

Bump for impatience and necessity for my Online Band.

[TProfit]

OMG this thing is killing me. I got the game to work and now I'm back having the same problem again. What is the cause of this and how do you fix this?:mad:

[MisterMixelpix]

Just started happening to me today. Out of nowhere. A router reset made it work temporarily, then I went from having a "invite may have expired" error to a "can't connect to session" error. Fantastic.

[Frizbie]

I was having the same issue as you guys up till the other day when I was able to resolve it. For me it was something that just started happening in the last week and I didn't realize that the problem was actually on my end until I looked a little deeper into it. I was able to solve the issue and I'll share my findings for troubleshooting this problem to hopefully help others get it resolved as well.

I'll go into detail on what should be done FIRST to troubleshoot the problem at the base level to ensure that the problem is identified.

As dumb as some of these steps may seem to some of you go ahead and humor me and do them as they may prove to identify the issue.

First! Run the "Test Xbox Live Connection" located under "My Xbox>System Settings>Network Settings>Test Xbox Live Connection"

Upon running this test you will be informed if everything is working "fine" or if they may be an issue with NAT type being either Moderate or Strict. If you recieve EITHER of the messages regarding NAT then the issue is likely on your end.

If you find that you or your friend is recieving a NAT issue with XBOX Live then they should attempt to set the Xbox IP address as the DMZ in their router, this will effectively open all ports to the specified IP address and likely resolve any issue regarding NAT (Network Address Translation) on the XBL test.

Troubleshooting

Step 1:
The first thing I would suggest doing to troubleshoot the issue is to have both party's remove any routing device that they may have in their home and plug their DSL/Cable Modem DIRECTLY into their Xbox to ensure that you are able to connect to each other without the involvement of a routing device.

Step 2: Run the Test Xbox Live Connection again being directly connected into your DSL/Cable modem and ensure that you recieve the message indicating the connection is fine.

*IF you recieve a NAT error regarding either moderate or stict setting then it likely means that your DSL/Cable Modem also has router functionality built in. Some ISP's expecially with DSL will include a routing device built into the modem, these devices have their own administrative backend tool similier to your router and may need to have ports forwarded/DMZ set to allow traffic being blocked. If you recieve this NAT error being plugged directly into your DSL/Cable Modem then you should contact your Internet Service Provider for additional help changing the settings to allow blocked traffic within their device.

Step 3: Assuming that you are not receiving a NAT error on either end attempt to start a game and connect to one another being both plugged directly into your DSL/Cable Modem with no routing device. You should be able to connect now. If you are able to connect then do the following to identify where the problem lies.


First have one individual re-introduce their routing device into the mix. After doing so attempt to reconnect to each other and see if it works.

If it works then add the other person router back into the mix and again attempt to connect

If it does not work then it's likely an issue with DMZ not being set or ports being blocked in the router causing NAT error in Xbox Live. Log into the router by following the instructions included with the router to set up the DMZ to the IP address of your Xbox. After setting the Xbox IP address as the DMZ in the router attempt to connect to each other again and the NAT issue should be resolved.

The purpose of removing the routers out of the mix is to first identify if you are able to connect to each other wihout the involvement of 3rd party routing devices. Then the next idea is to reintroduce them one at a time after you are able to connect until the problem recreates itself to indentify exactly what is causing the issue, at which point making the necessary changes to the device to resolve the issue. I used the same troubleshooting logic to resolve my issue with my friend and we were immediatly able to start playing again once we figured out that it was my router that was causing the issue. I would be happy to help any one that wants more information or would like any suggestions as what to try. Just send me a message or respond to this post. Please be detailed in explaining your particular setup so I can draw a good picture in my brain :P

[Frizbie]

Please anyone post success and failures.

If you got it to work post what you did :D

[singprb]

idk if this will help, but are you guys joining the game right when the invitation is sent? or ru trying to join it after 3-5 min? i had this problem, and it turned out (to me) that i would join the invitation 5 min after i got it, and invitations expire after 5min of it being sent. u either join right when you receive the invitation or it will not let you join.

[bse523]

I was having the same issue as you guys up till the other day when I was able to resolve it. For me it was something that just started happening in the last week and I didn't realize that the problem was actually on my end until I looked a little deeper into it. I was able to solve the issue and I'll share my findings for troubleshooting this problem to hopefully help others get it resolved as well.

I'll go into detail on what should be done FIRST to troubleshoot the problem at the base level to ensure that the problem is identified.

As dumb as some of these steps may seem to some of you go ahead and humor me and do them as they may prove to identify the issue.

First! Run the "Test Xbox Live Connection" located under "My Xbox>System Settings>Network Settings>Test Xbox Live Connection"

Upon running this test you will be informed if everything is working "fine" or if they may be an issue with NAT type being either Moderate or Strict. If you recieve EITHER of the messages regarding NAT then the issue is likely on your end.

If you find that you or your friend is recieving a NAT issue with XBOX Live then they should attempt to set the Xbox IP address as the DMZ in their router, this will effectively open all ports to the specified IP address and likely resolve any issue regarding NAT (Network Address Translation) on the XBL test.

Troubleshooting

Step 1:
The first thing I would suggest doing to troubleshoot the issue is to have both party's remove any routing device that they may have in their home and plug their DSL/Cable Modem DIRECTLY into their Xbox to ensure that you are able to connect to each other without the involvement of a routing device.

Step 2: Run the Test Xbox Live Connection again being directly connected into your DSL/Cable modem and ensure that you recieve the message indicating the connection is fine.

*IF you recieve a NAT error regarding either moderate or stict setting then it likely means that your DSL/Cable Modem also has router functionality built in. Some ISP's expecially with DSL will include a routing device built into the modem, these devices have their own administrative backend tool similier to your router and may need to have ports forwarded/DMZ set to allow traffic being blocked. If you recieve this NAT error being plugged directly into your DSL/Cable Modem then you should contact your Internet Service Provider for additional help changing the settings to allow blocked traffic within their device.

Step 3: Assuming that you are not receiving a NAT error on either end attempt to start a game and connect to one another being both plugged directly into your DSL/Cable Modem with no routing device. You should be able to connect now. If you are able to connect then do the following to identify where the problem lies.


First have one individual re-introduce their routing device into the mix. After doing so attempt to reconnect to each other and see if it works.

If it works then add the other person router back into the mix and again attempt to connect

If it does not work then it's likely an issue with DMZ not being set or ports being blocked in the router causing NAT error in Xbox Live. Log into the router by following the instructions included with the router to set up the DMZ to the IP address of your Xbox. After setting the Xbox IP address as the DMZ in the router attempt to connect to each other again and the NAT issue should be resolved.

The purpose of removing the routers out of the mix is to first identify if you are able to connect to each other wihout the involvement of 3rd party routing devices. Then the next idea is to reintroduce them one at a time after you are able to connect until the problem recreates itself to indentify exactly what is causing the issue, at which point making the necessary changes to the device to resolve the issue. I used the same troubleshooting logic to resolve my issue with my friend and we were immediatly able to start playing again once we figured out that it was my router that was causing the issue. I would be happy to help any one that wants more information or would like any suggestions as what to try. Just send me a message or respond to this post. Please be detailed in explaining your particular setup so I can draw a good picture in my brain :P

I'm in the midst of trying this. being a tech person, this explanation is gold.

[ManuelZk]

Are you sure that thing works? Because I can connect to random people and also to most of my friends, but two of them, not. And they can also connect with other friends and random people. So, if we had to do that, why could we still connect to other people?

[Skywarpgold]

holy crap, I can't believe that worked. I have a new Linksys E2000, and turning off the UPnP also fixed my NAT. That makes no sense what so ever!