Can anyone help with suggested XBox network connections?

[SoulBlazer]

So, for some reason, my XBox 360 started sucking big time online recently the last couple weeks.

 

I'm on a wifi connection, due to the utilities being part of my rent. I can't convience the landlord to do a direct cable connection for the apartments, so I'm operating my connection on that remote wifi. The connection is decent, considering I'm on the 2nd floor and the modem and router are in the basement. I get about 4 out of 5 bars, with the connection being anywhere from 65-80 percent. It's perfectly okay for computer use and even online gaming with Star Trek Online.

 

I used to get the same for my XBox 360.

 

Now, for some reason, the connection just sucks on it. I connect, but can't stay connected. It boots me from XBox live every 10-15 minutes, which makes playing a online game or watching a streaming movie from Netflix impossible. I'm only getting one bar. And I'm using the auto settings.

 

If I can tell my landlord what the network should be changed to (the modem and router) I'm sure he'd agree to it.

 

But are the suggested settings for best performance?

[rxd]

So, for some reason, my XBox 360 started sucking big time online recently the last couple weeks.

 

I'm on a wifi connection, due to the utilities being part of my rent. I can't convience the landlord to do a direct cable connection for the apartments, so I'm operating my connection on that remote wifi. The connection is decent, considering I'm on the 2nd floor and the modem and router are in the basement. I get about 4 out of 5 bars, with the connection being anywhere from 65-80 percent. It's perfectly okay for computer use and even online gaming with Star Trek Online.

 

I used to get the same for my XBox 360.

 

Now, for some reason, the connection just sucks on it. I connect, but can't stay connected. It boots me from XBox live every 10-15 minutes, which makes playing a online game or watching a streaming movie from Netflix impossible. I'm only getting one bar. And I'm using the auto settings.

 

If I can tell my landlord what the network should be changed to (the modem and router) I'm sure he'd agree to it.

 

But are the suggested settings for best performance?

 

Before you do anything have him reboot the wireless router. This works 90% of the time...

[moycon]

Is this a situation where you can connect fine on say a laptop with 5 bars right next to the 360 but the 360 is now at 1 bar?

Also is this a newer 360 with built in WiFi or are you using one of the external adapters?

[SoulBlazer]

Is this a situation where you can connect fine on say a laptop with 5 bars right next to the 360 but the 360 is now at 1 bar?

Also is this a newer 360 with built in WiFi or are you using one of the external adapters?

 

The router was allready rebooted a couple of times.

 

This is the last model of the 'old' XBox 360's (not a slim) and I'm using a external adapter.

And yes, moycon...that's exactly the situation. My PC is only about 4 feet away from my XBox 360. Got 4 bars on the PC, just 1 on the 360.

[madmax2069]

I bought a USB extension cable so i could at least move the adapter around instead of the console. it could be something as simple as interference from something, or both that and location. hence why i bought the cable so i can move the adapter around. maybe he moved the router from where it was when you was getting a good connection ( a slight movement when having floors and walls to contend with can effect the signal greatly). he might want to look into a repeater (range extender) if he don't want to run the cables.

 

then comes the question on how many people (devices) are using that connection. going wired on a normal router will only give you 4 maybe 5 wired devices unless you use a network hub/splitter on each cable from the router.

Edited November 16, 2010 by madmax2069

[moycon]

You could try powering down and unplugging everything in your apartment just to see if something is interfering. (Although it sounds like you're going through several floors of possible interference and as you said the PC works fine) I doubt that is it. Another thing you might could do, if your land lord will agree is to move the 360 and a small TV into the network room itself. That you would think eliminate interference.

 

Since it's an external WiFi adapter you can easily try swapping it out.

I know they are expensive, but that is one quick way to check to make sure it's not the wireless adapter itself.

 

I honestly don't think it's anything in your config. If you're using the offical MS one, they are seriously easy to plug and play.

[Seob]

You didn't move anything in your apartment? Or maybe some of the other people beneath you? Try moving your xbox to an other place and see if it gets a better signal, or use a usb extension cable like mentioned above.

[SoulBlazer]

Thanks for the help, but I was looking for some advice on the config settings -- what channel to set it at, if the security should be WPA or WEP, and so on. I'd like to try configuring it better before I do anything else more complicated. That's why I asked what you guys had your set for.

[moycon]

Thanks for the help, but I was looking for some advice on the config settings -- what channel to set it at, if the security should be WPA or WEP, and so on. I'd like to try configuring it better before I do anything else more complicated. That's why I asked what you guys had your set for.

 

I personally don't think you can do anything to configure it any better on the 360 side.

When you scan for networks and pick up your landlords network it should optimize/pre-configure everything.

WPA and WEP is just the security encryption. Whatever the landlord has it set to, you are going to have to use. The 360 should detect it and ask for a password.

Channel 1 is what I use, again this is going to be set for you and can't be altered even if you wanted to I don't think.

If you chose to forgo scanning for a wireless network and configure a new connection yourself, all you could really do is manually enter what the 360 was already detecting (SSID, encryption type, etc...) to get it to work.

 

What you can configure after all that are things like static IPs, specify a DNS server, manually enter a gateway etc...

Changing these should have nothing to do with the connection issues you are describing I wouldn't think.

The fact your 360 was working fine and suddenly stopped, yet your laptop (using I'm guessing the exact same settings) continues to work fine seems to point to the 360 itself. My guess is it's the external WiFi adapter.

[SoulBlazer]

Thanks for the help, but I was looking for some advice on the config settings -- what channel to set it at, if the security should be WPA or WEP, and so on. I'd like to try configuring it better before I do anything else more complicated. That's why I asked what you guys had your set for.

 

I personally don't think you can do anything to configure it any better on the 360 side.

When you scan for networks and pick up your landlords network it should optimize/pre-configure everything.

WPA and WEP is just the security encryption. Whatever the landlord has it set to, you are going to have to use. The 360 should detect it and ask for a password.

Channel 1 is what I use, again this is going to be set for you and can't be altered even if you wanted to I don't think.

If you chose to forgo scanning for a wireless network and configure a new connection yourself, all you could really do is manually enter what the 360 was already detecting (SSID, encryption type, etc...) to get it to work.

 

What you can configure after all that are things like static IPs, specify a DNS server, manually enter a gateway etc...

Changing these should have nothing to do with the connection issues you are describing I wouldn't think.

The fact your 360 was working fine and suddenly stopped, yet your laptop (using I'm guessing the exact same settings) continues to work fine seems to point to the 360 itself. My guess is it's the external WiFi adapter.

 

I seem to recall at one time MS advising that XBox's be set at Channel 6. Like I said, the landlord is willing to config the network if I can tell him what settings to use.

 

And I can't afford a new WiFi adapter right now.

[moycon]

I seem to recall at one time MS advising that XBox's be set at Channel 6. Like I said, the landlord is willing to config the network if I can tell him what settings to use.

 

But the issues isn't that you can't connect to the network, it sounds like you can connect fine, you just just aren't getting a decent signal, but you already know that isn't the routers fault because your laptop get a nice strong signal from the same router a couple feet away and I'm guessing there are other folks in the building connecting as well? That points to something on the 360 side I would think.

 

Is there a way you can try your WiFi adapter on someone elses 360 and try to connect to their network? See if you get a crap connection at their house as well? At least then you could find out if that is the problem without spending a dime. Best to eliminate the most probable cause and move on from there.

 

You can also search the technical forums on Xbox.com, I've gotten lots of information from there troubleshooting network issues just by reading about other people problems.

 

http://forums.xbox.com/9/ShowForum.aspx

[Seob]

 

I seem to recall at one time MS advising that XBox's be set at Channel 6. Like I said, the landlord is willing to config the network if I can tell him what settings to use.

 

And I can't afford a new WiFi adapter right now.

If everybody would configure the wifi router at channel 6 you would get more and more trouble with you're network. Because your laptop/xbox would pick up a lot of traffic on this specific channel, it could let to troubles since one router would try to push the signal of the outer router out of the way.

Like this:

Wireless (WiFi) computer networks have become increasingly common in our neighborhood. For example, in 2005 from my house I could detect only two other WiFi networks. In May 2007, I routinely detect nine neighboring WiFi networks. In March 2009, using the same equipment from the same location, I detected between 14-42 WiFi networks, depending on the weather. To my surprise, my computer often sees a stronger signal from 1-3 of these than it does from my own WiFi access point in the very next room. Interference between networks can significantly slow all the involved networks. This advice has been written to help neighbors identify and minimize these problem. It has been structured to make it easy for you skip sections of no interest/relevance.

For more info check this site: http://www.bpaonline.org/advice/wifi-etiquette.html