A system and method allowing control of VoIP communications by configuring
a Network Address Translator (NAT) is provided. In a first NAT
configuration, such a port-restricted NAT, peer-to-peer Voice over
Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications are permitted between a VoIP
originator and a receiver. In a second NAT configuration, such as a
symmetrical NAT, peer-to-peer communications are not possible without
further cooperation of the NAT. In this manner, an entity that has
control of the NAT, such as an ISP, is able to have a degree of control
over traffic using network resources such as bandwidth.