Can't connect to EA Servers? SOLVED... maybe.

1. Turn off your router for at least five minutes.
2. Reset your 360′s time and date to 11/15/2005, 12:00 AM.
3. Plug your router back in, allow it to reconnect.
4. Sign out of your 360 and sign back in.
5. Pop your game back in and Bob’s your uncle.

I am getting a boat load of hits on this article. I would appreciate it if all you kind folks having issues with the EA servers would take a little time to make a comment below and let me know if this helped and if it didn’t, did you find anything that did help? I was too lazy to do the router, time and date dance last night while playing Tiger Woods 11, but after 15 minutes or so I was able to search for an on-line match.

EDIT 2/2/12: IF you are still having problems, read this. <<<<< click the link!

EA SPORTS. IT’S IN THE GAME (if you can connect to the f—ing servers!)
I picked up a copy of Tiger Woods 2011 for under $20. Frustrated with the fact that I still haven’t opened all of the courses on Tiger Woods 08 I decided not to wait for Christmas morning and opened my new Tiger Woods 2011 as soon as I received it. Actually, I tried to beat Daly and a few other seemingly impossible Tiger 08 Challenges one more time then I opened it. And right after I got through the whole initial set up, you know, where you spend 3 hours making your avatar (and I still can’t settle on a hairstyle,) I began having connection issues.

Remembering that a problem I had downloading the latest New Vegas patch was solved simply by changing my network settings to automatic (I have a static IP and an open NAT on my 360,) I decided to try that last night and my Tiger Woods 2011 was able to connect with no problem. At first I thought this was the ultimate solution to everyone’s ‘unable to connect to EA servers at this time‘ problems. After performing more experiments in preparation for this article I found just adjusting your network settings not to be the ultimate solution.

It’s common knowledge that having an open NAT for your 360 can improve your on-line experience therefore most of you will have set this up already. Changing my network settings back to auto worked for me last night but did not work for me today. Still, if you’re having trouble with your favorite EA Sports title you might want to try it in a pinch. You’ll just have to switch back to the manual setting when you want to play Call of Duty or Halo, games that prefer an open NAT. I do believe I’ve found a solution that works but it’s akin to sacrificing your first born to the EA Server gods… Okay, maybe not, but it is a pain in the arse.

THE SOLUTION

1. Turn off your router (unplug the power supply) for at least five minutes.
2. While your router is off, reset your 360′s time and date to 11/15/2005, 12:00 AM.
3. Plug your router back in, allow it to reconnect.
4. Sign out of your 360 and sign back in. You should be reconnected to the Live service. You could also restart the 360 but simply signing out and back in worked for me every time.

Start your game up and you should have no problems. This worked for me consistently with Tiger Woods 2011, each and every time I received the unable to connect to EA servers message. If you’re having problems with this solution try leaving your router unplugged a little longer. While I can only test this on the EA titles I own I imagine it works with all of the EA sports titles.

The problem recurs the moment I play another title, and for me it’s only happening with Tiger Woods 2011. For example:

• I’m playing Tiger Woods 2011 with no problem, the game sees and communicates with the EA servers.
• I pop in FIFA 12 and can connect to the EA servers with no problem.
• I pop in Tiger Woods 2011 and I’m unable to connect.
• I go back to FIFA 12 and I can connect, no problem.
• Pop in Tiger Woods and I end up having to to do the router/time and date dance to get it working again.

I still can’t get my Fight Night Round 4 to connect to the EA Servers no matter what I do. Not a big issue for me as I never planned on playing that title on-line, but having the option to would be nice, if anyone’s found a solution to this I’d appreciate you telling us about it in the comments.

SOURCE MATERIAL

• How to set up a static IP address on your Xbox 360.
• Link to forum post with EA’s tech support reply explaining the reset your Xbox 360′s time and date setting to 11/15/2005 solution (scroll down to the 6th post.)
• Link to forum post by  ClickClickBoom on how to open your NAT. Covers the 3 ways of doing this. I suggest going with DMZ or Port Forwarding.
• How to set up Port Forwarding on your Xbox 360. First, select your router. Second, click here to skip this advertisement (top right corner of page.) Third, select Xbox Live 360.
• The Unofficial Guide to Xbox Live. Good resource for troubleshooting connections.

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