Play on Xbox Live for Free
The Xbox 360 is a popular way to play online games, but to do so you need to pay for an Xbox Live Gold account. If you don't have the extra money to afford the monthly subscription, you can earn free months of Xbox Live Gold just by using the Bing search engine! If you'd rather use your Xbox to play against others for free on an alternate server, you can do that too.
Contents
Steps
Using Bing Rewards
- Create a free Xbox Live account. You will need a free Xbox Live account in order to upgrade it to a Gold account later. The free account lets you download demos and make purchases on the Market, but you cannot play online.
- Click here for instructions on setting up your free account.
- Visit the Bing website. This Microsoft's search engine, and you can earn points that you can redeem for free months of Xbox Live Gold.
- Click the "Sign In" link in the upper-right corner.
- Select "Microsoft Account".
- Sign in using your free Xbox Live account information. Use your Xbox Live account information to log into the Bing search engine. Your Xbox Live account functions as a Microsoft Account.
- Click the Rewards button. This is located on the main Bing page, next to your username.
- Enable Bing Rewards for your account. This service gives you points for performing searches on Bing. You can earn 1 credit for every two searches you perform, up to 30 a day on your computer and 10 a day on your mobile device (40 total per day). There are also often special offers for bonus points.
- Earn 699 Reward points. This may seem like a lot at first, but if you're a regular internet user you'll probably rack this up before you know it. Just be sure to perform all of your searches through Bing, and keep an eye out for special Reward bonuses.
- If you earn the maximum number of points each day, you can pay for a month of Xbox Live Gold in just 18 days. By continuing to earn rewards, you can actually get free months faster than you can use them. Just make sure to do all of your searches through Bing, both on your computer and your mobile device.
- Redeem your points. Once you've earned 699 points, you can redeem them for a free month of Xbox Live.
- Click the Rewards button on the Bing page and select "Redeem".
- Find the "1 Month Xbox Live Gold Membership" item in the rewards screen.
- Click the "Redeem" button. You may be asked to fill out your address and phone number if you hadn't yet.
- Start using Gold. The change to your account will apply immediately, so you can log into your Xbox and start playing right away!
- Earn your next free month. Once you've earned 750 points total, the price of the free month goes down to 679 points. Keep making your daily searches and you'll be swimming in free Xbox Live Gold.
Connecting to A Third-Party Service
- Download a connection program on your PC. One of the most popular programs is XLink Kai. This program will allow you to play System-link/LAN-capable games without having to connect to Xbox Live. You will need to adjust your connection settings on your PC before you can connect.
- You will need to register your XTag with the XLink servers. This is your username that other players will see when you are connected.
- XLink Kai is a free program.
- Connect your Xbox to your router via Ethernet. You cannot use a wireless connection.
- Find your computer's IP address. You will need this in order to set up the XLink Kai connection.
- for instructions on finding your IP address in Windows.
- Find-Your-IP-Address-on-a-Mac for instructions on finding your IP address in OS X.
- Find your router's IP address. You will need this to open the configuration page. If you are using a Mac with an AirPort router, Configure Your Apple Airport Router.
- Press ⊞ Win+R and type cmd. Press ↵ Enter
- Type ipconfig and press ↵ Enter
- Look for your active connection. You may have to scroll up to find it. Inactive connections will say Disconnected.
- Find the Default Gateway address. This is your router's address. Write it down.
- Open your router's configuration page. Enter your router's address into a web browser on your computer. You will be prompted to log in with your router's administrator account.
- If you don't know the administrative account, check the router's documentation or online for the default account information.
- Open the Port Forwarding section. You may have to open the Advanced section first. Port Forward may be labeled "Applications".
- Create a new port forwarding entry. The process for this varies depending on your router, but generally you will be asked for the same information:
- Set the External Starting and Ending ports to 30000.
- Enter your computer's IP for the IP address.
- Set the protocol to TCP/UDP.
- Label the rule "xlink" or something similar and save it.
- Start the XLink Kai program. Log in with your XTag account (you can create one for free on the XLink Kai website).
- Start a game in your Xbox that supports System-Link/LAN play. This is different than online multiplayer, and not all games support it.
- Search for a local game. This process varies depending on the game, but generally you want to go to the local multiplayer menu and search for available games.
- Open the Kai Diagnostics panel in the Metrics section of the XLink Kai program. If your console has been detected, you're good to go!
- Browse for games. Look through the XLink game browser and find a game to play. You must have that game disc inserted and looking for local games.
- Because of the way that the Xbox 360's LAN card is configured, you will not be able to connect to users with a ping higher than 35ms. This means that you will need to find games that are located close to your physical location, or you may not be able to connect to the game.
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