[doolally]

Hilo,

I've searched the fora, and read a few threads on this, but haven't really seen a definitive answer.

We're buying an Xbox 360 and can't decide how to network it. We have an Airport wirelss network running up in my office, and friends who come over with laptops find it and log in no problem. My question is this:

Should I buy the Xbox wireless adapter - and hope that the Xbox finds the network and logs in okay - or do I buy an Airport base station (which has the added benefit of extending our network) and just plug the Xbox into the ethernet port on the back of it?

I've read lots of dissenting opinions on this, and I'm hoping someone has moved from the theoretical realm into the actual, and can say for sure if Xbox Live works with an Airport network.

advTHANKSance

dool

[ghporter]

The Xbox wireless adapter is simply a wireless bridge device that's styled to look like the 360; it should work fine. Failing that, any wireless bridge or "wireless gaming adapter" will work without a hitch.

The majority of "the Xbox adapter won't work with my..." posts come from people who need help with their shoe laces, or have the attention span of gnats. Even Microsoft isn't dumb enough to torque off a potentially lucrative market by not making their equipment interoperable.

[doolally]

Yeah, so, as I wrote, is there anyone who has some empirical evidence to offer? I've read plenty of posts by people saying '...it should work', and I'd like a little more granularity than that.

[ghporter]

Sorry, I have a LONG ethernet cable for my son's Xbox (the original one). I can't see any reason it WON'T work though.

Update: I've checked out Microsoft's Xbox 360 wireless connection support site, and their list of "approved" networking hardware is pretty sparse. However, though there are a bunch of hardware makers not represented, the ones that are represented are indicative: they say that the Linksys WRT54G (v1, v2, and v3) are "Logo Certified" (as long as you turn off UPnP, which is a good idea anyway), DLink's popular DI-614+ is too, as is their DI-624. A bunch of Netgear boxes are also compatible. This tells me that standards-conforming equipment WILL work.

Further, the Xbox 360 wireless adapter is based on the Atheros WiSOC chipset, which IS standards compliant. And Atheros is the maker of the newest AirPort card in the iMac as well...there's no hardware reason for it NOT to work. Keep in mind that there is NOTHING in the WiFi standards that says "identify manufacturer of the hardware on the other end" of "deny connections to brand X products," so as long as something is compatible, it will be compatible with everything.

[Macpilot]

It is working at my place.

Although I had intial setup difficulties when the 360 tried to connect to my Airport network when my settings included WPA or access control. I turned all that stuff off and went with the factory settings on the Airport and the 360 connects every time.

Oh yeah, get Gears of War. The best game yet on the 360.

[doolally]

I thought I'd update in case anyone else goes searching:

I went with the Xbox Wireless Adapter, and initially, had the same issues Macpilot was having. Once I removed the WEP and made it a closed network everything was fine.

And Gears of War is remarkable