Hi Folks,

Really grateful if anyone can offer any guidance....

I have 2 x BT residential broadband lines into my home, both terminated into a Smart Hub 2 (SH2).

Both SH2's connect to the ER605 router, which is running in load balanced mode, with App Optimised balancing in place.

Both SH2's have been configured to act as dumb modems: firewall disabled, upnp disabled, static IPs assigned, DHCP disabled, WiFi disabled.  Note: I have NOT placed anything in the SH2 DMZ (although I have tried this, to no avail).

I have a PS5 console attached to 605 LAN, using a reserved IP, assigned by 605.

I have set up port forwarding, via virtual servers, using the ports required for PS5. 

The upshot is, the port forwarding does not work.  NAT type reported by PS5 is STRICT, which greatly reduces playing experience.

Prior to the 605 setup, the port forwarding worked fine (with the PS5 connected directly to the SH2), so the issue is the 605 router, IMHO.

I want the PS5 to hang off the 605, so it benefits from load balanced connectivity.

Prior to a recent 605 firmware upgrade, the port forwarding would work, to some extent: I had a MODERATE nat type reported by PS5, but not an OPEN nat (the latter being the most favourable for performance).

So I believe this could be a firmware bug?

I have tried placing the PS5 in 605 DMZ, to no avail. I've also tried configuring ACL rules on the 605 firewall, and removing all 605 firewall controls.  Even that doesn't help.

Any ideas, folks?

I've tried discussing with TP Link technical support team, via online chat, but no one answers the messages, despite me being first in the queue.  Somewhat frustrating!

Many thanks indeed.

Ben