Category: Xbox

Ask Jake / Xbox

Do I need a wireless connection for my Xbox 360?

Ryan writes, “OK, so I’m going to buy an Xbox pretty soon but I do not want to spend $100 dollars connecting it to Xbox Live, so my question is, can I hook up my Ethernet cable to a normal router, then connect the router to my my cable Internet source through just a normal cable wall outlet?”
I’m going to assume the $100 you want to avoid spending is for the Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter. If you want the Xbox Live Gold membership, you still need to pay the required subscription fee regardless of what type of connection you use. You do not need to connect your Xbox 360 using a wireless connection. In general, I recommend using a wired connection either by simply connecting your Xbox 360 directly to a router using an Ethernet cable or by using Ethernet over Powerline adapters. In my experience, things like streaming audio and video wirelessly to your Xbox 360 work just fine, but online gaming is very likely to lag using wireless and you get a far better experience with a wired connection.

Xbox

Bourne Conspiracy Xbox 360 and PS3 Tips and Cheats

Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy isn’t nearly as free-form as the marketing suggests. You can’t interact with the world during hand-to-hand the way the game suggests, it decides for you. Still it’s a fairly engaging game based on the Matt Damon interpretation of Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne character. Here are walk-through strategies and cheats that should help you beat Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy:

Xbox

Xbox 360 Live Vision Camera Alternative?

“Can i use any other cameras instead of the Xbox 360 Live Vision camera? I have a Logitech webcam that I’d like to use instead.”
As of this writing, the only camera supported by the Xbox 360 is the official Live Vision camera from Microsoft. It seems silly that they wouldn’t enable any webcam to work with the video chat for the Xbox 360, but so far, the Live Vision is the only option. Presumably this is because Microsoft didn’t want to test hundreds of cameras and store Webcam drivers on the reserved hard disk space available for updates to the system.

Xbox

Connecting Xbox 360 to Router on Another Floor

“My Xbox 360 is on the 1st floor and my router is upstairs on the 2nd floor of my house. What are my options for connecting my Xbox 360 to my network?”
If your router is wireless, you could simply get the Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter and connect (assuming you have a decent wireless network signal between floors). I’m in a similar situation. My Xbox 360 is upstairs and my router is downstairs. For a long time, I’ve used the Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter to play games and stream video to my Xbox. Sometime recently (possibly after my wife got her iPhone), the wireless network seemed to hit a point where too much traffic was causing hiccups in streaming video. I recently switched to using an Ethernet over Powerline solution, which has solved all the problems with my video streaming. Here’s a video showing how Ethernet over Powerline works:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyoGxtnFo6w&rel=1%5D

Xbox

Can I use a USB Wireless Adapter with my Xbox 360?

If you game, you know that network latency can be the difference between crushing opponents and ending up dead on the sidelines. One way to bridge the gap between a wired connection and wireless is to use Ethernet over Powerline adapters to connect your network using the power outlets in your home.

Xbox

Watch Amazon Unbox on Your Xbox 360

“Can I watch Amazon Unbox movies on my Xbox 360?”
Amazon Unbox videos will playback on your Xbox 360 by streaming them from any Windows computer with Windows Media Player 11 installed. This is a really convenient way to get a larger selection of downloadable movies than what’s currently offered by Xbox Live Video Marketplace. Unlike streaming DivX AVI movies, which also works with the Zune software, you need to use Windows Media Player 11 to make the following steps work. Older versions of Windows Media Player will also not work.