Connecting your Xbox 360 to your home wireless network
21.10.2007
So you've got your X-box 360 or plan on
getting one this holiday season. I can tell
you that hooking up to Xbox live is an
absolute must for 360 owners. Even if you
don't plan on paying for a membership to
Xbox live, you'll still have access to a lot
of great online features. Probably the
biggest difference between the membership
that you have to pay for and the membership
that is free, is that you get to play
against other gamers with the paid
membership but not the free one. With both
of them, though, you'll be able to download
the updates you need to play original X-box
games, download trailers and demos for new
games, keep a friends list with other gamers,
send text messages, and a lot more. Xbox
live also has weekends where they let
everyone participate in online tournaments
and download full versions of Xbox Live
Arcade games for free. Before we get ahead
of ourselves though, we've got to get the
game console connected to the Internet. The
purpose of this article is to show you how
to connect your Xbox 360 to a home wireless
network.
Here's what you'll need to get started:
- X-box 360 with a storage device (ie.
internal or external hard drive)
- Xbox 360 wireless network adapter
- Wireless network router AND
- Broadband (ie. cable or DSL)
Internet connection
The first thing you need to do is get your
wireless router connected to your cable/dsl
modem or other high speed internet
connection method. If you are already using
a home wireless network, you can skip this
paragraph. Your best bet is to follow the
instructions that came with your router word
for word. Here's a very basic synopsis of
how a wireless router is set up to establish
connectivity to a high speed internet
connection...
- Turn off your cable modem and your
wired PC
- Unplug the Ethernet cable from your
cable modem and plug it into one of the
four LAN ports on the back of the
wireless router. The other end of the
cable should remain connected to your
PC.
- Connect a second Ethernet cable
between your modem's Ethernet port and
the wireless router's WAN port. (The WAN
port is separate from the four grouped
LAN ports.)
- Turn on the modem and wait for the
status lights to indicate that it's
connected to your service provider. This
may take up to two minutes.
- Plug in the router. The status
lights will blink as it goes through its
own diagnostics; this may also take up
to a minute.
- Boot up your wired PC.
Now you will need to configure the router to
work with your PC and Internet connection.
Again, this should be done exactly as the
documentation that came with your router
describes. This process varies depending on
what brand of router you have. If you do not
have the manuals, I strongly reccommend
checking out the manufacturers website. Most
of the major brands have pretty good
technical documentation on their sites for
router configuration. Here's a very basic
solution for configuring a wireless
router...
- Open a web browser (ie. Internet
Explorer, Netscape, etc.)
- In the URL or Address bar type in
the IP address indicated in the guide or
from the manufacturer's website. It
should look something like 123.456.7.8.
- Follow the on screen instructions
making sure you give your wireless
network a name, change the default
password, and select WEP or WPA. If and
when the setup gives you any kind of
information such as a ten digit key, or
requires you to select a password, make
sure you write it down because you will
need it when you configure your Xbox
360.
If you just set up your wireless router and
have all the information mentioned in the
above section written down, you may be able
to skip this paragraph. Otherwise you will
need to go to the administration or
configuration page for your wireless router.
If you don't know how to get to this
information, see your router's manual for
details or Google 'wireless router
configuration' or something of that nature
to find out how. Once you get there, you'll
need to find and write down your wireless
network name (SSID), channel, and the
security key (WEP key or WPA passphrase) for
your wireless network.
Now let's move on to the Xbox. Make sure
that your system does not have a disk in the
tray, and turn the power off. Now connect
the USB connector of the Xbox 360 wireless
networking adapter to the USB port on the
back of the console. Do not use the front
USB ports.
In the System area of the Xbox dashboard,
select Network Settings. Select Edit
Settings.From the Basic Settings tab, select
Wireless Mode, (You may be asked to set the
country you are in if you have not already
done so.) You should now see the network
you just created (or your home network name
if you already had a wireless network in
place) displayed on the screen. Select it.
(Note, If you do not see your network
displayed, choose Specify Unlisted Network.
Select the security type for the network,
and then enter the wireless security
settings for the network.) Now if your
network is secured with a WEP key or WPA
passphrase, you will have to enter your
wireless security settings here. If your
network is secured with a WEP key or WPA
passphrase, enter your wireless security
settings. Once the Xbox live is doing its
thing, you will be prompted to test your new
settings. Select Test Xbox Live.
That's it. You should now be able to connect
to Xbox Live.
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