Cheap good Xbox 360 Wireless How to?

[samuel1613]

That's what I'm looking for... a "How to" make a good and cheap xbox 360 wireless connection. (The current xbox solution costs $99). Google and these forums don't make the simple answers obvious, but from reading many posts it seems a very popular question. I think a good and simple "how to" would really help (without acronyms or technical verbiage).

I have a wireless router, (I'm at work so don't know the brand or model). I'd like to make the xbox 360 connect to it. I understand I need a "bridge" or can "flash" a wireless router to make it a bridge?

Can someone just tell all us 360 owners how to simply connect to a pre-existing wireless network?

My setup requires me to put the mac address of any computer into the wireless router before they can connect, and to put the access key into the connecting device as well, so that will need to be done (somehow?), I believe I am running a B/G speed router, I play Halo 3 so I assume I will need something "speedy", but perhaps not. But I would also like to keep up with standards without being cutting edge. (which I think is where "N" is at kinda right now).

So what is a good solution, good bang-for-the-buck, minimal technical setup, that will get my 360 online? I am looking to save at least half, so around $50 bucks (or less preferably). And as quick to implement solution as possible. Oh and I would like my cake and eat it too! I build and understand computers, but my wireless knowledge is clearly lacking. I would just like something that is a pleasant mix of good, fast, and cheap, without sacrificing any one!

Feel free to flame, point me directly to the obvious answer I clearly couldn't find, or just tell me "how to". Thanks all!

[Prodeus]

I have done several wireless setups for people wanting to use their gaming consoles via there wireless networks. First off, you are correct that the only usb wireless device currently available to use with the xbox360 is the $99 unit. My suggestion to you is that you want a wireless gaming adapter. the problem is that they will run you about 80-90 dollars. The cheaper solution is to go and buy you a wireless g router. Some of these will support a client mode which is the same setup as is in the gaming adapters. You just log in and setup all your security information and you should be right on the network. If there router does not support client mode, then what you will want to do is to reflash the unit with DD-WRT. It is a third party firmware which will open up all kinds of features for your wireless device. It can be found at www.dd-wrt.com. There are lists of the supported hardware on there website as well as how-tos for flashing the routers. My suggestion for routers would be:
1. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833162173
Buffalo makes a fantastic router.
2. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124010
Not as crazy about the linksys router when it has there firmware on it but once you get done with the reflash, it will work great.

There are other ways of doing what you are wishing but most will cost you more money and may be more problematic. This solution will work with your current setup and your current equipment.

PS. if you decide to go with the linksys router, you will want to use this step-by-step walkthrough on how to flash it.
http://www.scorpiontek.org/portal/content/view/27/36

[samuel1613]

That's great info, just to clear up some things.
1. Do the two routers you suggested have client mode? Or must these two be flashed?
2. If they must be flashed can you suggest routers that don't need that step, and are as cheap?
3. Confirm that during the initial setup the new router wll have a place to input my current wireless router's required code to access the wireless network?
4. During setup will I be able to locate the new wireless router's MAC address so I can add it to the list of allowed MAC addresses on my current wireless router, or do I need the MAC address from the XBOX 360, or both?
5. Will the security I have in place on my current wireless router be carried over to the new router, or do I need to do something different?

Thanks for your excellent post, I look forward to getting online with ths thing!

[Prodeus]

1. The two routers that I have suggested DO NOT have the client mode but most routers that do have a client mode 9 times out of 10 will cost more than the budget that you have set aside for this project. And seeing as how the firmware upgrades are free, in my opinion it is better to spend a few extra minutes getting it to do what you want it to do than to spend more dollars.

2. Answered in the answer to Question 1.

3. If you are using the DD-WRT firmware (which will come highly recommended, not just by me but by most people on the forum as well), you will go into the wireless settings and setup the SSID of your current router and then under the wireless security you will be able to input your security key (the latest version of dd-wrt supports up through wpa2).

4. You can lookup the mac address either before or after you flash the unit. Just make sure that you are getting the WLAN (wireless) MAC address and not the MAC address of the WAN port, this will matter. But it will be quite simple to tell the difference if you just make sure to pay attention. You will not need the MAC address of your XBOX360 as you will be plugging the XBOX into one of the 4 LAN ports on the back of the flashed router and as far as the xbox is concerned it is hard lined in and as far as your existing router is concerned the only MAC address it will see is the MAC from the flashed router.

5. Yes, you will be able to keep your current security setup so you won't have to change the setups on your other wireless equipment.


I hope that I have helped in this situation and if you need another other help, please feel free to ask.

Also welcome to the forum.

PS. Looking forward to seeing you in a game of HALO3 soon. I play under Prodeus99 on xboxlive, so if you see me give me a shout. Have fun.

[samuel1613]

Ok Looks like all my questions are answered, Hopefully someone other than me finds this thread, and finds it useful. I looked up the free firmware site you (and everyone else) raves about. I was hoping to avoid that step, as the buffalo router you suggested is really a good price but needs a special process to flash it involving some tricky unplug-replug timing. I was looking for "plug-n-play" but I guess as the old axiom still applies, Fast, Cheap, Good, pick any two. The buffalo will be good (after the flash), and certainly cheap, but not fast, damn... Thanks again, and I'll look you up when I get this thing going...

[robbro]

I have done exactly what you are wanting, with the Buffalo router. If you hit any problems please post again. It was not that hard to accomplish the straight up internet connection with this setup. Getting it to work with a windows media center pc on the other side of a nother bridge was difficult, but I eventualy got that working also

And as for flashing the Buffalo, it sounds slightly intimidating but its not that bad, just read the directions thoroughly to the end before even starting. While a linksys would be easier to flash, the Buffalo is much less obtrusive in my living room, which is nice. The cool thing is occasionally I hook a computer up to my tv and with the buffalo router I can just connect the pc to the Buffalo via ethernet cable and have internet and network access in my living room.

The forums at DD-WRT are very handy too with problems.

[Prodeus]

You say that the buffalo won't be fast. I actually did a setup very close to this for a cousin of mine. We both got XBOX360s for christmas and wanted them to be online. Mine is being done via some Ethernet over Power units that we were testing at work and I am now using at home. His house was gunna be harder to do as the internet connection was upstairs and the xbox is down stairs in a place were it would not be possible to run cable. He had an older linksys router but it was not a wireless router. So what I setup for him was to have him get 2 of the buffalo routers that I recommended for you and set them both up as access points (turned off routing functions) (had to as the linksys router was configured very specially for some things that had to be done for peoples jobs).
Then we setup a WDS connection between the routers, which basically is a wireless bridge and a repeater all in one. So now he has 2 separate access points functioning on 2 different sides of the house so it makes his wireless cover much more of the house and still allowed us to connect the xbox hard wired into it. The only down side to this setup is that you can't use wireless mac authentication and you can't use WPA keys, you can only use WEP keys. But with were he is located, people trying to hack will be a minimal problem.

The reason I brought that up is that he uses that setup for all his XBOXLive gaming and it has never given him a problem and he will use that while there are 3 other laptops using the wireless connection all at once. So I thnk you should be plenty fine with the setup the way you are looking at it.

[samuel1613]

I meant "easy", comes from the old saying "fast, cheap, good, pick any two" meaning that any project can be only 2 of those 3 things, you must sacrifice one. The buffalo is certainly cheap, and certainly good, but the setup isn't as fast or easy as plug n play. I'm sure it has the wireless speed I need, it's just not as easy as I would like... also I go to www.lifehacker.com a lot, and guess what article popped up on their radar yesterday: http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2007/10/02/how-to-cheap-wireless-for-your-xbox-360/