Articles by Richard Devine

Network Address Translation (NAT) is a big part of connectivity for online multiplayer games, deciding how incoming traffic is handled. For gamers, your NAT type can play a huge role in who you can play with, establishing barriers if it’s not set up right. There are a bunch of reasons you may have strict or even double NAT types showing on your network, but with the help of port forwarding, you can easily overcome the hurdles. It’s not the only method — for many folks just ensuring Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) enabled on their router will be enough. Here’s how to change NAT type on PlayStation 4 in order to play online.

How to port forward your PlayStation 4

The ports you need to open up for your PlayStation to get an open NAT are the same, but the actual process may differ from router to router. The steps are constant but you may need to dig around your router’s settings to find what you need.

Open the Settings app on your PlayStation 4.

Next, scroll down and select Networ…

Upgrading the storage on the PS5 is a bit of a process and not for the faint of heart. That’s because unlike previous generations where an external hard drive was enough, the PS5 requires an internal upgrade if you want to store and play optimized games on it. Furthermore, you can only use a PCIe 4.0 SSD and Sony doesn’t offer any guarantees as to which ones work. Once over that hurdle, though, you’re ready get upgrading. You only need a screwdriver and a spare 15 minutes to achieve the installation. Right now the feature is limited to PS5 beta members and if you don’t have the software update do not install the SSD first. Sony says you can’t get it with a drive installed, so you’ll have to hang tight.

How to install an SSD in the PS5

Before you begin, make sure your PS5 has been off long enough to cool down (for your comfort). Then, make sure you have detached the stand as it makes the whole process a little easier, and lay the console down with the power button facing you and t…

Google Wifi isn’t the worst looking option when considering the best WiFi routers, and it’s pretty easy to stick it anywhere in your house without offending anyone. However, every home is different, and you might want something a little more elegant and organized than just plonking a node down on a window sill. Thanks to its popularity and the fact it’s a pretty simple shape, there are plenty of options out there for mounting the Google Wifi to a wall or even a ceiling.

Power up

Dot Genie Google Wifi Outlet Holder

Staff Pick

If you want your router flush with your power plug, this mount is for you. You can wrap and hide the power cable around the inside of the mount, so it isn’t seen, and the weight of the router is easily supported by the power plug and your wall. Finally, there’s an opening at the bottom for plugging in an Ethernet cable.

From $9 at Amazon

Easy peasy

Wall Mount Holder for Google Wifi by Koroao

This mount makes it super easy to hang your router on a wall…

One of Sony’s biggest franchises will indeed be making a full return on PS5. Here’s what we know so far.

Gran Turismo has been one of Sony’s biggest franchises since the days of the very first PlayStation. The tagline, “the real driving simulator,” has always cut straight to the core of what Gran Turismo is all about, and generally speaking, has received much praise over the years.

Jump to:

When does it release?
Resolution and frame rate
Will it support PSVR?
Fan favorite circuit returns
What cars will it include?
What are its features?
Will it be on PS4?
Gran Turismo esports and Getty Images
Gran Turismo 7 beta

But it’s also hard to believe that the PS4 has gone by entirely without a new, full Gran Turismo game. Gran Turismo 6 launched on the PS3, and while PS4 owners have at least had GT Sport, it’s fair to say the reaction has been mixed at times, and it’s not quite the same as a full sequel.

Which is what we seem to be getting on the PS5. There’s still a lot of questi…

Best answer: We recommend picking up a 128GB or 200GB microSD card to handle your Fire Tablet media storage needs. That’ll be more than enough storage for most people.

Best bang for the buck: SanDisk 200GB microSD Card ($25 at Amazon)

Why do you need a microSD card at all?

With so much great content out there and the ability to download it for offline viewing, you may be wondering what size microSD card is best for the Amazon Fire Tablet. Amazon’s popular line of Fire Tablets is beloved because they provide a great entertainment device for a low price, but one reason for that low price is a low amount of included internal storage. Thankfully, these tablets offer expandable storage by way of a microSD card. Depending on which Fire tablet you go with, you may only have 16GB of internal storage, so getting some additional storage is a great idea if you want to download lots of media content.

True, you can pay more to get a 32GB or even 64GB variant, but that may not always be the…

2K has confirmed the recent reports that Borderlands 3 was actually running at up to 120 FPS in its performance mode.

What you need to know

Community members recently started seeing a higher than 60 FPS frame rate in Borderlands 3 on Xbox Series X and PS5.
2K has now confirmed that both consoles support up to 120 FPS in performance mode.
Borderlands 3 is one of the first PS5 optimized titles available with a free upgrade from the PS4 version.

For the PS5 launch, Borderlands 3 was one of the first titles to hit the new console with a fresh batch of upgrades. Free upgrades, no less, that pushed the game to 60 FPS at 4K, though still with a “resolution mode” and a “performance mode.” A few days ago, players discovered that it seemed as those the game was actually playing at a much higher frame rate in the latter and it has now been confirmed.

“Borderlands 3 has been fully optimized to take advantage of the next-gen consoles’ processing power, bringing a new level of graphical f…

Microsoft just launched the first version of the new Edge browser for Linux, which means you can also use it on a Chromebook. Because, why not?

Now that Microsoft has finally released Edge for Linux, albeit in preview, the three traditional major desktop platforms are all covered.

But with Linux comes Chrome OS, thanks to its built-in container for running Linux applications right on a Chromebook. Which also means, as odd as it may sound, you can now install and use Microsoft Edge on your Google Chromebook. Here’s how.

No Joy for ARM Chromebooks

It’s not totally surprising, but the current dev channel release doesn’t seem to work on ARM-based Chromebooks. Neither installing through the terminal or using the installer yielded any success on the Lenovo Chromebook Duet, throwing errors for unmet dependencies.

So as long as you’re running an Intel or AMD CPU, you should be OK to try this out.

Enabling the Linux container on a Chromebook

What makes the magic happen is the Crostin…

Microsoft’s open source code editor is now available on even more devices.

What you need to know

Visual Studio Code is a free, open source code editor from Microsoft.
It’s available cross-platform on Linux and Mac, and also Chromebooks that support Linux apps.
Official ARM support for Linux now brings the application to ARM based Chromebooks, Linux machines like the PineBook Pro and the Raspberry Pi.

Microsoft Visual Studio Code is one of the most popular pieces of programming software on the planet, in part because it’s available on any plaform a developer might want to use it on. At least, mostly. One missing piece was ARM support for Linux devices, but with the latest update, 1.50, that’s been rectified.

It may sound like small news on the face of it, but this has two potentially huge applications. The first is the Raspberry Pi. While hardly the first choice in hardware for intensive software development, the Pi runs an ARM CPU and Linux and now it can run Visual Studio Code…

It’s not totally surprising, but the newest Google product for your TV can also stream Xbox games.

What you need to know

One early owner of the new Chromecast with Google TV has sideloaded the Xbox Game Pass app and successfully streamed Xbox Game Pass games to the TV.
Google TV is a newer version of Android TV, which has already been successful in streaming Xbox games during the beta phase.
At $50 the new Chromecast with Google TV is an extremely attractive living room product.

Google has just officially revealed its fall hardware lineup, which initially at least felt like an anti-climax since the whole lot had essentially leaked out in full before hand. But there’s always some surprises in store, and this time it’s from an old friend.

Former Windows Central writer, Jon Dollison, is one of the first people to have their hands on the new Chromecast with Google TV and would you believe it, streaming Xbox Game Pass games to the TV works like a charm.

Managed to sideload the @Xbo…

One of Sony’s biggest franchises will indeed be making a full return on PS5. Here’s what we know so far.

Gran Turismo has been one of Sony’s biggest franchises since the days of the very first PlayStation. The tagline, “the real driving simulator” has always cut straight to the core of what Gran Turismo is all about, and generally speaking has received much praise over the years.

Jump to:

When does it release?
Resolution and frame rate
Will it support PSVR?
Fan favorite circuit returns
What cars will it include?
What are its features?
Will it be on PS4?
Gran Turismo esports and Getty Images

But it’s also hard to believe that the PS4 has gone by entirely without a new, full Gran Turismo game. Gran Turismo 6 launched on the PS3, and while PS4 owners have at least had GT Sport, it’s fair to say reaction has been mixed at times and it’s not quite the same as a full sequel.

Which is what we seem to be getting on the PS5. There’s still a lot of of questions that need answers, b…