I'm Live... Oh, ho, so Live...

April 5, 2007 12:31 PM

How should I best connect my (not-yet-purchased) XBox 360 to XBox Live?

Here's the sitch: tv is in livingroom which is about 20' down the hall from the computer (an eMac which will be replaced with an Intel iMac this year) hooked up to the Time Warner cable modem.

The cable splits about 10' away from the livingroom (opposite direction from computer room).

What's the easiest and most cost-effective way to set up XBox Live? Do I just get a long-assed cable to go from computer-room to livingroom? (This isn't that horrible of a solution as I don't play games that much, and usually only when my wife isn't home.)

Of course, I'd prefer something less messy. How expensive would a wireless router set-up be? What would I need?

Reading the Xbox site just confused the living hell out of me.

posted by papercake to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)

Here's how.

Cavaet: If there is too much wireless interfence your game my lag too much to be playable. There are things you can try if that happens, but you might just end up buying a cable.
posted by damn dirty ape at 12:40 PM on April 5, 2007

I recently hooked my (regular) Xbox up to my network so I could get more use out of Xbox Media Center. Best bet might be to move the modem to the living room, hook the Xbox up via cable, get a wireless router and connect the computer wirelessly.

You'll notice the lag a lot less on the computer than you would on the Xbox.
posted by boreddusty at 12:43 PM on April 5, 2007

You don't need to buy the Microsoft XBox wireless thingy. We have one from D-Link and it was $50, half the cost of the Microsoft. You can get a router for less than $50. This would also allow you to connect your computer in any room you wanted.
posted by johngumbo at 12:44 PM on April 5, 2007

I've gone wifi with mine, it works great.

DLink wifi router, ~ $100, and the Xbox adapter- if the dlink works, that's great.

Plus, you get to use your computer out on the deck, or whatever. Well worth the expense.
posted by jenkinsEar at 12:49 PM on April 5, 2007

Response by poster: Pardon my ignorance... this stuff just makes my head hurt.

My current router isn't wireless. If I change my router to wireless, won't I have to install airport in the eMac to make that work?

Or, are you saying I attach a wireless router to the cable one, and the XBox is connected to that?
posted by papercake at 12:50 PM on April 5, 2007

You can have many routers all linked to each other. I have a DSL router with 4 boxes (two via a hub) and a wireless router (for XBox and laptop) conncected, and a couple more spare ports.
posted by johngumbo at 1:01 PM on April 5, 2007

Wireless routers have cable ports on the back like your wired router does. You can plug devices into them like a wired router or use the wireless connection.
posted by MegoSteve at 1:06 PM on April 5, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks for the help, all.
posted by papercake at 1:20 PM on April 5, 2007

MegoSteve is right that you only need one router. In my case, I was having problems with my wireless through the fixed ports (wouldn't allow Yahoo mail access and I couldn't figure out why) so I went back to the old wired router for fixed boxes, but used the wireless for laptop (obvious) and XBox (so I didn't have to run cable again).
posted by johngumbo at 1:45 PM on April 5, 2007

For places where wireless is not an option, the Netgear Powerline Ethernet bridge connectors work fantastically well, although they're not the cheapest option. You plug an ethernet cable into each one, then plug them into the wall, and they find each other and it's as if you have one long ethernet cable. They work as long as the two outlets are on the same side of the transformer. This is the 200Mpbs model, and it's a great way to avoid running cable if you can't get a wireless signal. (Link goes to the kit, which contains two units. They're also sold separately.).
posted by Caviar at 1:20 PM on April 6, 2007