Digital Lifestyles Reference Guide

Aug 27, 2004

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I had a surprisingly easy time connecting my Xbox 360 to my home network, and even adding Media Center Extender functionality proved to be a piece of cake. Still there are a few things to consider before attempting to add an Xbox 360 to your home network.

Get Wired

If you want guaranteed Xbox 360 network performance, wired networking is the way to go. Run a drop in your wall or string cables through the house to get a wired connection from your router to the Xbox 360. Having a 100Mbps wired network connection will ensure great gaming frame rates, fast download speeds from the Xbox Live Marketplace, and reduced likelihood of dropped frames for even the best-looking HD video served from a Media Center.

Use Wireless Security

If your network is wireless, security should be a top priority. It's ridiculously easy to grab personal information from an unprotected network. If your router doesn't support WPA-PSK encryption, it's time to upgrade. WEP is barely better than leaving data in the clear. Use a strong password with a combination of numbers, letters and symbols at least 10 characters long. As a bonus tip here — if you have a USB keyboard, plug it in to one of the Xbox 360 USB ports when you configure the wireless network settings; it will save minutes on your setup time over entering a long password using a controller.

Create a Separate Network Node

While I'm not convinced you need to invest in more expensive 802.11a hardware simply to connect your Xbox 360 wirelessly, you definitely want to keep the wireless traffic from your Xbox to a Media Center or the Internet segmented to optimize your connection experience. If your Xbox 360 is the only wireless device on your network, this is already easy: just get a wireless access point for your network and wireless adapter for the Xbox 360 and you're ready to go. If you have several other wireless devices, things get a little more confusing. Ideally, you want to use two different access points for your wireless network traffic: one for the Xbox 360 and one for "everything else." Each of these access points will have a different SSID (the name of the router) and connect using a different channel to prevent crosstalk and network congestion.

Switched Networks versus Network Hubs

If you're still running your network on older hardware, verify your router uses network switching to transfer data as opposed to acting as a network hub. A hub blasts all network traffic to each port on the router waiting for the right path to pick up the data. A switch offers a smarter implementation, improving network speed by routing traffic to the right part of the network without blasting extra packets to all the other ports too. If you aren't sure what your current router offers, consult the documentation. Most new routing solutions are switches, but it's always a good idea to verify.

Connect to a Second Xbox without a Network

If you want to play Xbox 360 games with more than 4 people, you'll need an additional Xbox 360 console. You don't necessarily need a full home networking setup. Assuming both consoles have a wireless controller connected, you can play head-to-head using Ad-Hoc wireless, which essentially makes it possible for two consoles to talk to each other over a network consisting only of those two consoles.

Avoid 2.4GHz Cordless Phones

It seems strange to mention a cordless phone in a set of tips on Xbox 360 networking, but nothing kills an 802.11 network faster than a 2.4GHz cordless phone. 2.4GHz happens to be the frequency 802.11b and 802.11g use to send data (not to mention the frequency your microwave uses to cook food). If your phone is a 2.4GHz model, the best solution is to either replace the phone or spend additional money on an 802.11a routing system.

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