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Neo.cmg · Sep 13, 2003, 11:12 AM

Hey,

I was wondering what others out there were doing to connect their Xboxes for use with the Xbox live service. My Mac is in a separate room, and it utilizes DSL connected via PPPoE. I'm interested in sharing this internet connection with my Xbox in another room, and I was interested in how others may have handled this networking issue.

I was thinking that the DSL modem could be connected to an Airport Extreme Basestation in the "Xbox room", the Xbox I think could also be connected to the Airport Basestation with an ethernet cable, and then the internet connection could be configured wirelessly by my mac in the other room. Does the Airport Extreme Basestation have a second Ethernet port to allow the DSL modem and Xbox to be connected simultaneously? If not, can a simple ethernet hub to connect the two solve this? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Neo.cmg

aaanorton · Sep 13, 2003, 11:41 AM

Ya, you could do this, but the AEBS is an expensive item and you wouldnt' be taking advantage of it price justifications with your setup.
Just get a Netgear MR814. You can pick one up from buy.com today for 35 bucks.

wataru · Sep 13, 2003, 01:14 PM

Your idea is basically to physically connect the Xbox and wirelessly connect the Mac. Just so you know, you could do it the other way around with a wireless ethernet bridge like Linksys's WET11. Hook that up to the Xbox and it will be able to receive a wireless signal. Does your Mac have Airport? If it does you could share your DSL over wireless (assuming you're running 10.2).

Neo.cmg · Sep 13, 2003, 01:21 PM

Originally posted by wataru:
Your idea is basically to physically connect the Xbox and wirelessly connect the Mac. Just so you know, you could do it the other way around with a wireless ethernet bridge like Linksys's WET11. Hook that up to the Xbox and it will be able to receive a wireless signal. Does your Mac have Airport? If it does you could share your DSL over wireless (assuming you're running 10.2).

My mac has an installed airport card. I'm just not sure how the Xbox would configure itself to receive a wireless signal. If it can, then I could use my Mac's internal airport card to share the connection wirelessly.

aaanorton · Sep 13, 2003, 01:54 PM

Originally posted by Neo.cmg:
My mac has an installed airport card. I'm just not sure how the Xbox would configure itself to receive a wireless signal. If it can, then I could use my Mac's internal airport card to share the connection wirelessly.

This is do-able, but you are always, always, always better off with a router. Always. Plus you'd still have to buy an AP for the Xbox. So why not just get a cheap (but VERY capable) router for probably the same price?

wataru · Sep 13, 2003, 02:11 PM

Originally posted by Neo.cmg:
My mac has an installed airport card. I'm just not sure how the Xbox would configure itself to receive a wireless signal. If it can, then I could use my Mac's internal airport card to share the connection wirelessly.

Like I just said, you get a wireless ethernet bridge. The bridge receives the wireless signal, and then sends it via ethernet to the Xbox. The bridge itself is tiny, so it's not like you're adding some giant piece of equipment to your gaming room.

Just a thought. I agree with the other poster about the Netgear router being the best solution. It's a quality machine.

Right now in fact I'm using a Linksys WET11 and a Negear MR814, along with a Cantenna to yoink my school's wireless internet service from the student union across the street into my apartment.

Chips G · Sep 13, 2003, 11:31 PM

Run ethernet-cord from mac to xbox.
Go into System Prefs
Go to Sharing (Under Internet/Network)
Go to the 'Internet' tab
Press start

Xbox live automatically detects all settings for me and I am good to go.

Good luck.

aaanorton · Sep 13, 2003, 11:41 PM

Originally posted by Chris Gilpin:
Run ethernet-cord from mac to xbox.
Go into System Prefs
Go to Sharing (Under Internet/Network)
Go to the 'Internet' tab
Press start

Xbox live automatically detects all settings for me and I am good to go.

Then how is he going to be on-line if his ethernet port goes to Xbox?

Robo-X · Sep 14, 2003, 12:38 AM

You can do it with a hub or switch in OS X.Connect the DSL modem, Mac and X-Box to the hub/switch. Setup your Mac to connect to your ISP using PPPoE like you have now. Now create a new Ethernet port in the network port configuration. Set an IP or use DHCP for it. Click on Sharing and share your internet connection to the other ethernet port and your x-box should have now internet access.

You can also share your Internet access to your airport card in which case you don't a switch and can get the wireless connection to your x-box and connect through the airport card.

Both methods need to have the Mac on when you want to play on the x-box. If your Mac is not always on you can get a WLan router which is maybe the most costeffective option.

//Rob

OwlBoy · Sep 14, 2003, 12:36 PM

Originally posted by aaanorton:
Then how is he going to be on-line if his ethernet port goes to Xbox?

Chris obviously has the internet coming into his mac wirelessly.

-Owl

Padwan Learner · Sep 14, 2003, 10:05 PM

Just get a Netgear MR814. You can pick one up from buy.com today for 35 bucks.

Thank you very much for the suggestion. I just picked one of these up and am very pleased. It works well with the XBox and wired to my Mac. Now I just need to pull out the iBook and see how it works with the Airport card. Anything I need to know before getting started?

Pieter

GENERAL_SMILEY · Sep 15, 2003, 05:29 AM

Originally posted by wataru:
Right now in fact I'm using a Linksys WET11 and a Negear MR814, along with a Cantenna to yoink my school's wireless internet service from the student union across the street into my apartment.

Geek chic