Xbox 360 and my PC
October 27, 2011 4:25 PM Subscribe
I'm using my computer to connect my Xbox 360 to Xbox Live. In a nutshell, this. I've tried it both ways: sharing the internet connection, and also creating a network bridge.
Neither seems to work, and I can't figure out why. I cannot sign in to Xbox Live manually. Also, when I test the network connection on the Xbox, it shows that there is a broken link between the Xbox and my computer.
HOWEVER (and this is the weird and confusing part): The Xbox has somehow detected, two times, that it needed an update. Both of these times were initiated by the Xbox after I turned it on, and it was able to download the updates and install them, via the network link with the computer. I was unable to sign back in to Live, though, after restarting the Xbox.
So what could be the problem that the Xbox is only able to connect when it needs to update, right after I turn it on, but at no other time? I have Windows 7. I was able to successfully do this previously with Windows XP by sharing the network connection, and there were no problems.
Neither seems to work, and I can't figure out why. I cannot sign in to Xbox Live manually. Also, when I test the network connection on the Xbox, it shows that there is a broken link between the Xbox and my computer.
HOWEVER (and this is the weird and confusing part): The Xbox has somehow detected, two times, that it needed an update. Both of these times were initiated by the Xbox after I turned it on, and it was able to download the updates and install them, via the network link with the computer. I was unable to sign back in to Live, though, after restarting the Xbox.
So what could be the problem that the Xbox is only able to connect when it needs to update, right after I turn it on, but at no other time? I have Windows 7. I was able to successfully do this previously with Windows XP by sharing the network connection, and there were no problems.
Do you have any firewall programs or peerblocker-type applications running on your PC? You might like to try turning those off temporarily as an experiment.
posted by tumid dahlia at 5:13 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by tumid dahlia at 5:13 PM on October 27, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks for the ideas. Would a firewall be temperamental about the access, though? I'm wondering why it wouldn't have blocked access every time...
posted by SpacemanStix at 6:36 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by SpacemanStix at 6:36 PM on October 27, 2011
Yes. The XBox Live update check could be using a different set of ports than the authentication process.
posted by IanMorr at 8:21 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by IanMorr at 8:21 PM on October 27, 2011
I honestly couldn't say. I've certainly seen it happen but I've never connected and Xbox through a PC before.
Apparently virus scanning programs might be a problem too, see here.
If I were you I'd turn everything off, try and get it working, and if it does, bring everything (firewall, virus scanner, anything else) back online one by one.
posted by tumid dahlia at 8:23 PM on October 27, 2011
Apparently virus scanning programs might be a problem too, see here.
If I were you I'd turn everything off, try and get it working, and if it does, bring everything (firewall, virus scanner, anything else) back online one by one.
posted by tumid dahlia at 8:23 PM on October 27, 2011
Firewalls and AV can be temperamental in an "intrusion detection" kind of way if it doesn't know it should trust the source. I'd experiment by turning these services off temporarily to see if it helps.
posted by samsara at 5:53 AM on October 28, 2011
posted by samsara at 5:53 AM on October 28, 2011
I've run my Xbox through a shared connection on my Macbook (wireless without having to buy the Microsoft wifi adapter).
Getting it set up the first time was challenging though. At the time, Xbox needed about 5 or 6 unusual ports available to both incoming and outgoing traffic. If you're left with just port 80, I'm not surprised that it's finding updates, but you'll have to figure out what else it needs for full connectivity.
Turning off your firewall would probably get you there, but that's not a great standard practice. Better to find out which ports Xbox needs in order to selectively open them
posted by owls at 8:18 AM on October 28, 2011
Getting it set up the first time was challenging though. At the time, Xbox needed about 5 or 6 unusual ports available to both incoming and outgoing traffic. If you're left with just port 80, I'm not surprised that it's finding updates, but you'll have to figure out what else it needs for full connectivity.
Turning off your firewall would probably get you there, but that's not a great standard practice. Better to find out which ports Xbox needs in order to selectively open them
posted by owls at 8:18 AM on October 28, 2011
Response by poster: I turned off Microsoft's firewall and the antivirus, which didn't help. So I'm thinking that it is likely port forwarding through the router?
Xbox needed about 5 or 6 unusual ports available to both incoming and outgoing traffic.
From what I've read, it's these ones:
Port 88 (UDP)
Port 3074 (UDP and TCP)
Port 53 (UDP and TCP)
Port 80 (TCP)
If you're left with just port 80, I'm not surprised that it's finding updates,
Cool, that's what I was hoping to hear.
Thanks everyone for the advice so far. It's helped me narrow in on, what I hope, is the probable cause of the problem.
I'll try it when I get home tonight.
posted by SpacemanStix at 9:36 AM on October 28, 2011
Xbox needed about 5 or 6 unusual ports available to both incoming and outgoing traffic.
From what I've read, it's these ones:
Port 88 (UDP)
Port 3074 (UDP and TCP)
Port 53 (UDP and TCP)
Port 80 (TCP)
If you're left with just port 80, I'm not surprised that it's finding updates,
Cool, that's what I was hoping to hear.
Thanks everyone for the advice so far. It's helped me narrow in on, what I hope, is the probable cause of the problem.
I'll try it when I get home tonight.
posted by SpacemanStix at 9:36 AM on October 28, 2011
The router itself may also have a built-in firewall, which you might want to check. If you turned off THAT one and kept the Windows one going you'd still be safe.
posted by tumid dahlia at 1:31 AM on October 29, 2011
posted by tumid dahlia at 1:31 AM on October 29, 2011
Response by poster: I'm not sure if anyone is still checking this, but I tried a lot of things, including port forwarding through the router, no dice. It works just fine with ethernet cable connected directly to the router, so I'm not sure what that means. I can live with this, although I was hoping to find a solution
posted by SpacemanStix at 3:57 PM on November 5, 2011
posted by SpacemanStix at 3:57 PM on November 5, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by bzn at 4:54 PM on October 27, 2011