@Bob-Dig You are not wrong, and I suppose that is the simple and even the best solution. And it is how I have had it set up for a long long time...
But now I have started digging and I'm a bit to much of a curious mind to stop now... 😀
I mean I have really done some extensive testing (if you ask me) with all kinds of settings and trying out all different suggestions on which ports to forward etc. Which has led me to this minimal configuration that almost works... except this one game... 😵
Isn't it strange that I can't get anything but Strict NAT on MW2, except when using UPnP... yet, when placing a UPnP device between pfsense and the PC, that game just works!!
And that is with UPnP turned off in pfsense, no gaming ports forwarded and Outbound NAT automatic... It's suddenly like it was no more complicated than a web browser...
Yet, when UPnP is turned on in pfsense, and it also works, it shows in Status / UPnP that MW2 does ask for port 28960. And here it is when having EdgeRouterX in between even... It looks exactly the same...
5ef15466-db1a-4d57-a856-45aaaf5372e9-image.png
All the while, any games depending on Port 3074 must have ports forwarded or UPnP activated, to get Open NAT. The difference being that they also work with only Port Forward and static ports.
Perhaps the information is hidden somewhere in some logs... I'm thinking there is more going on than what UPnP is showing in the status page?
Do all consumer grade routers have UPnP? All instructions list ports to forward, even from Activision and Infinity Ward themselves, so why is that not enough? Would pfsense really be any different in that regard?