Networking question on 360

[Cobra Kai]

Need some help guys. I probably need to get connected to Xbox live soon. I only have the Modem I use for my DSL to PC. Am I going to need to buy a Router? And are they easy to setup?

[jay2068]

Need some help guys. I probably need to get connected to Xbox live soon. I only have the Modem I use for my DSL to PC. Am I going to need to buy a Router? And are they easy to setup?

 

You want a wireless router. (or a non wireless router if you don't want wireless access)

 

Plug the DSL modem into the router WAN port (Typically a crossover cable but some newer ones auto configure)

Plug the PC into the router LAN port

Plug the XBOX into the router LAN Port

 

You will have to use the router to log onto your DSL modem. Most DSL routers come with a manual that explains it pretty good.

 

Your PC no longer logs in the DSL modem.

 

p.s. you can setup everything for DHCP so IP address are automatically issued to your PC and XBOX.

[Cobra Kai]

Need some help guys. I probably need to get connected to Xbox live soon. I only have the Modem I use for my DSL to PC. Am I going to need to buy a Router? And are they easy to setup?

 

You want a wireless router. (or a non wireless router if you don't want wireless access)

 

Plug the DSL modem into the router WAN port (Typically a crossover cable but some newer ones auto configure)

Plug the PC into the router LAN port

Plug the XBOX into the router LAN Port

 

You will have to use the router to log onto your DSL modem. Most DSL routers come with a manual that explains it pretty good.

 

Your PC no longer logs in the DSL modem.

 

p.s. you can setup everything for DHCP so IP address are automatically issued to your PC and XBOX.

 

Thanks for the help, I dont understand the wireless thing though. If I get a wireless router won't I have to buy that expensive $99 wireless adaptor for the X360? Or do wireless routers have the dual option of using them as regular wired routers if I want? Or is there wifi in the X360 that will automatically connect to the router or what?

 

I'm kinda confused, but there is a wireless router on sale at Target right now for $49...Linksys I think.

[moycon]

You would have to buy the 360 Wireless Networking Adapter, yes they are about $100.

 

An alternative and cheap method of getting your 360 connected to Live is to run a straight cat-5 cable from the 360's ethernet port to the ethernet port of your PC (Provided your aren't connecting to the modem using that port.) I run windows XP and it automatically detects when a 360 is connected to it. I have a modem connected via usb to my PC. Once the 360 is connected to your PC open up Network Connections under your Control Panel. Highlight the Ethernet connection you have the 360 on and your Local Area Connection connected to the modem, right click and choose "bridge connections" once it complete. reboot everything and you should be able to connect to Live.

[Cobra Kai]

You would have to buy the 360 Wireless Networking Adapter, yes they are about $100.

 

An alternative and cheap method of getting your 360 connected to Live is to run a straight cat-5 cable from the 360's ethernet port to the ethernet port of your PC (Provided your aren't connecting to the modem using that port.) I run windows XP and it automatically detects when a 360 is connected to it. I have a modem connected via usb to my PC. Once the 360 is connected to your PC open up Network Connections under your Control Panel. Highlight the Ethernet connection you have the 360 on and your Local Area Connection connected to the modem, right click and choose "bridge connections" once it complete. reboot everything and you should be able to connect to Live.

 

I use the ethernet port on my PC to connect my modem. However, I have room, what if I bought another ethernet card, could I plug my 360 ethernet cable into a whole new card on my PC and bridge those connections?

 

A router is $50, a new ethernet card is only about $20.

[moycon]

You would have to buy the 360 Wireless Networking Adapter, yes they are about $100.

 

An alternative and cheap method of getting your 360 connected to Live is to run a straight cat-5 cable from the 360's ethernet port to the ethernet port of your PC (Provided your aren't connecting to the modem using that port.) I run windows XP and it automatically detects when a 360 is connected to it. I have a modem connected via usb to my PC. Once the 360 is connected to your PC open up Network Connections under your Control Panel. Highlight the Ethernet connection you have the 360 on and your Local Area Connection connected to the modem, right click and choose "bridge connections" once it complete. reboot everything and you should be able to connect to Live.

 

I use the ethernet port on my PC to connect my modem. However, I have room, what if I bought another ethernet card, could I plug my 360 ethernet cable into a whole new card on my PC and bridge those connections?

 

A router is $50, a new ethernet card is only about $20.

 

Never have done that...But if I had to guess yeah that should work ok.

[Atariboy]

Do internet connection sharing.

 

http://www.xbox.com/en-AU/support/xbox360/...-windowsics.htm

 

Looks like the cheapest way, I'm going to do it soon rather than unplug connections when I want to go online with my Xbox. I never do it since I'm lazy.

[jay2068]

you don't need the XBOX wireless adapter. If you get a wireless DSL router it will usually have 5 ports on it.

 

1 for WAN (This connection is for your DSL Modem which is currently plugged into your PC)

4 more network ports to connect any four networking devices too. Including: PC's, Xbox or Xbox 360, Network Printers or anything that uses a Rj-45 network cable.

 

You really wouldn't need to use the wireless part of it unless your XBOX 360 is far away from the PC/DSL Modem/Router then you would need the $100 wirleass adapter for your 360.

 

You can also disable the wirless portion of the wireless router and only turn it back on if you get a wireless device you would like to use with it (i.e. a laptop or PDA)

 

You can add another network card to the PC and bridge the traffic but it's not as easy to configure.

[Cobra Kai]

Ok thanks for clearing some of that up. So from what I understand from jay, all things being equal, if the price of a wireless router is the same as a wired one (which they are for the most part), I might as well grab the wireless router, simply for the added potential later on. But I can use a wireless router AS a wired router, that's great.

 

Thanks for the tips guys, I'll keep all that in mind when I decide to buy the stuff I need.

[Hyper_Eye]

I have a lot of experience with networking and anything computers for that matter (as a software developer.) If I were you I would go for the wireless router. That will provide a solution to your current problem as well as any future problems. Unless you get an access point only, wireless routers generally provide you with 4 LAN ports along with the wireless connectivity (254 IP's means that a router could potentially have that many machines hooked to it through wireless/wired.) If you ever get a second computer in the future then you don't have to make any changes to your setup to connect it. Also, if you plan on getting either a PS3 or a Wii that is another console to hook up. The Wii has wifi built in.

 

You do not need to but the wireless adapter for the 360 to connect as you can use the ethernet ports for connectivity. Be aware that you don't necessarily need to buy the XBox wireless adapter either. If you want to go wireless you can also use an ethernet-to-wireless bridge which the 360 is fully compatible with. You might be able to find one of those for less.

 

I have a pretty complicated setup but this is the gist of it:

 

cable modem
   |
   |
wireless router --------------------------------------------
   |							 wireless			  |
   | wired											 |
   |												 _____________________________________________________
24-port switch										 Wife's Windows Laptop	XBox   XBox 360	Guest Room PC
 |
_____|__________________________________________________________________________
Main Linux Box  Mac Mini   Lingo Adapter   Linux Server	Cisco VoIP ATA	Hawking Print Server

 

 

I used to have a Linux Router in place of the wireless router and a wireless access point off the switch. I replaced those with the wireless router when I received it as a gift.

 

As you can see from my setup the wireless router has allowed me to add a lot to my network without replacing any network hardware. With the switch I still have plenty of space for more wired devices and the wireless allows me to attach things that are on the otherside of my house from my network hardware. This setup did not cost a lot of money and I am using it for my computers, web/game server, game consoles, laptop, VoIP phones (main house phone and an asterisk setup), and a print server. The wireless router is well worth the money.

 

Here are some pics of my setup (though fairly old... some things have changed):

 

http://www.huntsvegas.org/my-setup/

 

Those pictures are hosted on my Linux server so you are going through my cable modem, my wireless router, my switch, and then my server when you look at them.

[Cobra Kai]

Man I just bought a router and cannot get it to work. I followed all the installation instructions, and the installer goes through all the motions up through the step of 'configuring' the router, and then on the final step which is 'verify internet connection', that step fails every time it gets there. I just don't get it, I'm pissed off at the amount of time I've spent tonite trying to get this thing going.

[Hyper_Eye]

Man I just bought a router and cannot get it to work. I followed all the installation instructions, and the installer goes through all the motions up through the step of 'configuring' the router, and then on the final step which is 'verify internet connection', that step fails every time it gets there. I just don't get it, I'm pissed off at the amount of time I've spent tonite trying to get this thing going.

 

If your DSL is PPoE (which would require a login) it can be a little more difficult to setup. Most ISP's support the use of routers these days. Call your provider and ask them for help. We can't help with so little information.

[Cobra Kai]

Got my router working finally. Had to go to a direct address and reconfigure my internet connection, something about ports.

 

Luckily the company's (d-link) had a nice website with an internet connection wizard that did everything for me. But none of that info was on the installation disc, that's pretty bad. Oh well, I got it working, I'm happy now.

 

edit, oh and yes it did require me to 'login'. It did some stuff that I had no clue what was going on, but it was all automatic, like copying my MAC info (not Macintosh)...WTF? Just a bunch of different numbers to me. Anyway, it was an experience.

Edited November 30, 2006 by Gunstarhero

[Hyper_Eye]

Got my router working finally. Had to go to a direct address and reconfigure my internet connection, something about ports.

 

Luckily the company's (d-link) had a nice website with an internet connection wizard that did everything for me. But none of that info was on the installation disc, that's pretty bad. Oh well, I got it working, I'm happy now.

 

edit, oh and yes it did require me to 'login'. It did some stuff that I had no clue what was going on, but it was all automatic, like copying my MAC info (not Macintosh)...WTF? Just a bunch of different numbers to me. Anyway, it was an experience.

 

It is spoofing your computers MAC address. A MAC address is a unique number assigned to a networking device.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_address

 

In some cases MAC address spoofing can add a small amount of overhead that can be avoided. If your MAC address needs to be spoofed then your ISP requires MAC address authentication in order to connect. This can be avoided by calling your ISP and changing the MAC address they have on file to the MAC address of the WAN port on the router. That can usually be found on the bottom of the device. If you don't want to go through the trouble then don't worry about it.

 

I am glad you got it working.

[SimonTemplar]

Isn`t it cheaper to just buy a second modem? (for the 360). I use the same modem from my computer (i unplug it and plug it in the 360 when I want to go to x-box live). I`m planning on getting two other modems, 1 for the 360 and another for the PS3 so I won`t need to unplug the one from my computer eveytime I want to play.