Ok, so I'm getting the xbox with media center on it. How do i network. There are 2 places i'm going to use it. Right now I'm at home, with no home network at all, and just a dialup internet connection. During the year I will be in an on campus apartment with a LAN connection. Ideally I'd like to go wireless with the xbox. So how can I do this? I know about the 802.11g adapter for the xbox. Can I just get a wifi pci card for my computer and make my computer an access point like that? And then when I am at school the xbox could access the internet for weather and such through my computer? Or do I need a wireless router? And if so how does that work? At school it goes from the wall to the router, and also from the router to the computer with a cable and router to xbox wirelessly? And while i'm hope it would just have the 2 connections to my pc and xbox, no internet? Fill me in here, thanks.
How do I network my xbox?
- Thread starter CletusTheDwarf
- Start date
As far as at home with Dial-up, not sure about that one.
If you have a router at school already, you can just run a regular patch cable to your xbox. That would be the easiest way.
If you have a wireless network, you will need a wireless bridge for your xbox to connect to. I use a Linksys model. You just set it up and connect the two with a patch cord.
If you have a router at school already, you can just run a regular patch cable to your xbox. That would be the easiest way.
If you have a wireless network, you will need a wireless bridge for your xbox to connect to. I use a Linksys model. You just set it up and connect the two with a patch cord.
Yes
if i just get a wifi card for my computer and xbox, that seems like it would be the easiest, work both at home and at school, and be the cheapest. what's the disadvantages of doing that? i have no network or networking equipment at all in either place so far.
If you go WiFi, you will have a little more configuration to do, but you can always get help here to figure it out. If you are in a 1 or 2 room dorm you should not have any issues with signal strength I would think. Some people say wireless is bad for gaming, I personally never had a problem with it.
If you go wired, it will be cheaper. You will only need to buy a cheap router and some cables. Also there would not be any possible issues with the signal. But, that won't help you out at home unless you get broadband.
If you use dialup at home and expect to network your home PC and share the connection to your xbox, don't expect it to be playable. I think that it would be WAY 2 slow... jusy my .02
If you go wired, it will be cheaper. You will only need to buy a cheap router and some cables. Also there would not be any possible issues with the signal. But, that won't help you out at home unless you get broadband.
If you use dialup at home and expect to network your home PC and share the connection to your xbox, don't expect it to be playable. I think that it would be WAY 2 slow... jusy my .02
Just re-read where you said you are wanting to do media center stuff with it. If you are going to be movig big files like movies etc, I definatly reccomend wired over wireless.
hehe, no no. i don't plan on playing online at home with a dialup. at home i only care about streaming audio and video from my pc to the xbox with media center.
at school the same thing applies. i most likely won't play onilne much if at all. so the only time the xbox would use the internet it to get the weather and stuff like that.
so in my case i feel like i should either get a cheap router and a cable, or get the xbox wifi adapter and a wifi pci card and go wireless.
question tho, why does anyone need a wifi router then? why not just make an ad hoc (correct term?) network. can i still network more than one pc? my roommates will also have media on their computer we want to stream. If we all just have wifi cards would that work?
and what kind of prices am i look at here if i get a good deal. i know the xbox wifi is around 60, but no idea on the other stuff.
at school the same thing applies. i most likely won't play onilne much if at all. so the only time the xbox would use the internet it to get the weather and stuff like that.
so in my case i feel like i should either get a cheap router and a cable, or get the xbox wifi adapter and a wifi pci card and go wireless.
question tho, why does anyone need a wifi router then? why not just make an ad hoc (correct term?) network. can i still network more than one pc? my roommates will also have media on their computer we want to stream. If we all just have wifi cards would that work?
and what kind of prices am i look at here if i get a good deal. i know the xbox wifi is around 60, but no idea on the other stuff.
well i'm not going to be transfering much to the xbox, i'll be streaming it from my pc. 802.11g should be enough bandwidth for that, right? Media receiver boxes like Prismiq use 802.11g and have no problem streaming high quality video.
so what's the benefit of a wireless router vs just an ad hoc network? If no difference, then I should just get which ever is cheaper, a wireless router or a wifi pci card, right? I either have to buy the xbox adapter and the wifi router or the xbox adapter and the wifi PCI card.
A wireless router will give you more options such as a firewall, more security settings, yada, yada, yada.
If you use ad hoc, that's fine, but from what I have read, your options prety much go out the window. You can go either way you want to though. I don't have much experiance with ad hoc networks, I guess you can set up encryption on them??? In a school setting where many people there will have wireless devices you REALLY need to get it secure as you can. Otherwise some other student there WILL hack into your network for fun and mess with yo sh*t.
I reccomend the router, but if money is an issue, do whatever you need to.
My Internet connection is slow as hell right now or I would look up some prices for ya. I would think those xbox wireless devices are more expensive than a basic wireless bridge. All you need is the wireless bridge. Be sure if you get one of the "game" adapters, they can be set up to use WEP.
If you use ad hoc, that's fine, but from what I have read, your options prety much go out the window. You can go either way you want to though. I don't have much experiance with ad hoc networks, I guess you can set up encryption on them??? In a school setting where many people there will have wireless devices you REALLY need to get it secure as you can. Otherwise some other student there WILL hack into your network for fun and mess with yo sh*t.
I reccomend the router, but if money is an issue, do whatever you need to.
My Internet connection is slow as hell right now or I would look up some prices for ya. I would think those xbox wireless devices are more expensive than a basic wireless bridge. All you need is the wireless bridge. Be sure if you get one of the "game" adapters, they can be set up to use WEP.
A wireless router will give you more options such as a firewall, more security settings, yada, yada, yada.
If you use ad hoc, that's fine, but from what I have read, your options prety much go out the window. You can go either way you want to though. I don't have much experiance with ad hoc networks, I guess you can set up encryption on them??? In a school setting where many people there will have wireless devices you REALLY need to get it secure as you can. Otherwise some other student there WILL hack into your network for fun and mess with yo sh*t.
I reccomend the router, but if money is an issue, do whatever you need to.
My Internet connection is slow as hell right now or I would look up some prices for ya. I would think those xbox wireless devices are more expensive than a basic wireless bridge. All you need is the wireless bridge. Be sure if you get one of the "game" adapters, they can be set up to use WEP.
If you use ad hoc, that's fine, but from what I have read, your options prety much go out the window. You can go either way you want to though. I don't have much experiance with ad hoc networks, I guess you can set up encryption on them??? In a school setting where many people there will have wireless devices you REALLY need to get it secure as you can. Otherwise some other student there WILL hack into your network for fun and mess with yo sh*t.
I reccomend the router, but if money is an issue, do whatever you need to.
My Internet connection is slow as hell right now or I would look up some prices for ya. I would think those xbox wireless devices are more expensive than a basic wireless bridge. All you need is the wireless bridge. Be sure if you get one of the "game" adapters, they can be set up to use WEP.
oh, ok. i didn't realize any wireless bridge would work, i thought the only wireless xbox option was the xbox adapter from microsoft.
looks to me like the options are:
Wireless:
Microsoft Xbox wifi adapter - $60
Netgear wireless 802.11g router - $36AR
Total: $96
Wired:
Some random switch for around - $15
Lots of cable - $15
Total: $30
Wireless:
Microsoft Xbox wifi adapter - $60
Netgear wireless 802.11g router - $36AR
Total: $96
Wired:
Some random switch for around - $15
Lots of cable - $15
Total: $30
If you go wired, you need to use a Router, not a switch. Well, that's assuming that you can only get 1 IP from your school network. You can get a Linksys BEFSR11 off ebay for $35. You can get a new BEFSR41 from CompUSA for 59.99.
Wireless...
Geez! Those Linksys WGA54G Wireless game adapters are $119.99 on ebay.
Looks like the bridges are still fairly expensive. The b's seem to be about $99 and the g's seem to be $130 or so.
Is that MS game adapter 802.11g?
Wireless...
Geez! Those Linksys WGA54G Wireless game adapters are $119.99 on ebay.
Looks like the bridges are still fairly expensive. The b's seem to be about $99 and the g's seem to be $130 or so.
Is that MS game adapter 802.11g?
yeah, it's 802.11g, on sale on amazon, maybe buy.com. Maybe I should buy 2 and sell one on ebay.
so since i need a router, it'd be $50 for the wired connection, so only $46 more for wireless.....
so since i need a router, it'd be $50 for the wired connection, so only $46 more for wireless.....
another thing, there's no reason to get the Linksys BEFSR11 off ebay for $35 when I can get the Netgear WGR614 wireless 54g router for $31 AR. A wireless router has the same functionality as a non-wireless, just plus the wireless, right?
That's a pretty big quiestion... Here is a very BASIC answer.
A hub basically just splits up one line into many. The lines that split off all share traffic and it can run slower when multiple computers are using the hub.
A Switch is similar to a hub but better because it basically gives each of the lines that split off the full speed of the one that comes into it. Basically Switches are smart hubs.
A router basically analizes the packets that come into it and decide which way they need to be sent. It can tell if they are ment for the internal network or if it needs to be sent to an external network through the WAN port. Many SOHO (small office, home office, ie Linksys) Routers have small switches built into them. Really a Router only needs two ports, an internal one and an external one.
Hope this helps you some, i'm not the best at explaining.
Here is a very BASIC answer.A hub basically just splits up one line into many. The lines that split off all share traffic and it can run slower when multiple computers are using the hub.
A Switch is similar to a hub but better because it basically gives each of the lines that split off the full speed of the one that comes into it. Basically Switches are smart hubs.
A router basically analizes the packets that come into it and decide which way they need to be sent. It can tell if they are ment for the internal network or if it needs to be sent to an external network through the WAN port. Many SOHO (small office, home office, ie Linksys) Routers have small switches built into them. Really a Router only needs two ports, an internal one and an external one.
Hope this helps you some, i'm not the best at explaining.
- Oct 25, 1999
- 29,552
- 429
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You should do some reading.
Link to: AnandTech - FAQ. Basic Options for Internet Connection Sharing
Link to: AnandTech - FAQ. Hubs, routers, switches, DSL, LANs, WANs...?
Link to: AnandTech - FAQ. What do I need for wireless Networking?
Ignore the prices in the links above. The same or similar hardware can be found for 60%-90% less.
The whole thing looks like this.
Link to: Diagram of Broadband Connection with Cable/DSL Router.
:sun:
For that price, go with the wireless router. Works the same as a regular router but has wireless capability in addition to wired.
Those are some great links Jack gave there, you really oughta look over them. If anything it will help you decide what you want and you will be able to make more informed decisions. Alsways willing to help!!!
Those are some great links Jack gave there, you really oughta look over them. If anything it will help you decide what you want and you will be able to make more informed decisions. Alsways willing to help!!!
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