Help me get my Xbox360 onto the American internet!

June 1, 2012 4:13 PM

How can I make my Xbox 360 play nice with a VPN? Oh, and to further complicate matters, I want this to happen so that I can access Amazon OnDemand... From Canada. More inside...

I have an Xbox 360. I have a Canadian Gold account.

I have Amazon Prime set up with my US shipping drop address.

I have a VPN service that allows me to connect through the USA. I mostly use this to access American Netflix (on my iPad and my Boxee), though also to access geo locked content.

I've tried to set up my VPN on my router, but I'm a bit confused as to how to do it. I have a WRT54GL that is running Tomato firmware. This is connected to my DSL service. As far as I can tell, since I'm using DSL I'm unable to add VPN service on top of it?

I understand I can maybe bridge my internet connection to my Xbox 360 through a laptop. Can this be done with an MacBook Pro? Wired to MacBook Pro, which is connected to VPN, which is wirelessly connected to my router, out to the internet? How do I get the Xbox to use my MacBook's internet connection? Can I use a straight ethernet cable or do I need a crossover cable?

Then, from my understanding, I need to have an American Xbox Live account in order to even get the Amazon OnDemand app to load up. Will I need that account to be a Gold account? I really don't want to have a second Gold account.

posted by smitt to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

I'm using DSL

I would first take another look at whether DSL (and your VPN) delivers the bandwidth you want for Xbox Live and Netflix Streaming, as well as (most importantly) whether the additional latency added by the VPN will make Xbox Live gaming acceptably free of lag.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 4:57 PM on June 1, 2012

I'm using DSL

I was you three months ago, then we discovered TekSavvy dry cable. Twice the bandwidth for the same monthly price.
posted by bonehead at 5:21 PM on June 1, 2012

Response by poster: I'm on TekSavvy. However, I'm in Cogeco territory so no cable for me. That said, I have 12Mbps service on my DSL line and am not wanting for bandwidth.

I won't support Cogeco in any way..

I have not had any issues streaming HD to date.
posted by smitt at 5:22 PM on June 1, 2012

Response by poster: In any case, I have no desire to game over my VPN service. This is mainly so that I can access all the Amazon OnDemand video I am paying for, but am trapped watching on a laptop.
posted by smitt at 5:24 PM on June 1, 2012

Alternate solution: Cut the Xbox out of the equation and connect laptop to TV. You should be able to find cables that will work with your television input. There are also iPod/Phone/Pad to TV cables which a, ahem, friend often uses to watch US Netflix.
posted by yellowbinder at 5:43 PM on June 1, 2012

I'm using Unblock-US to access international content, which just requires me to override the DNS on my router, no VPN fiddling required. Works fantastic on the 360 and PS3. If you get stuck on the VPN front you might want to look into their service.

I have a throwaway US Silver account, and a Canadian Gold account. Some services, like Hulu, are only visible when you're logged in to the US account. However, I found that if you log into the US account and access Hulu, it goes on your "Recently accessed" page on the XBox - which is then accessible from the Canadian account also.
posted by Gortuk at 6:02 AM on June 2, 2012 [1 favorite]