Use Your Laptop As an Xbox Wireless Adapter

Most people using an Xbox 360 have Xbox Live in some way. You want to get online with your 360 but you have no way to connect except a wireless connection. The Xbox 360 wireless adapter costs about $100 (£60)(MSRP). But you also have a laptop (or just about any computer with a wireless adapter). In this article, you will learn how to set up ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) with your Xbox 360 and save that $100 that could be used to buy another game.

Steps

  1. Determine if your PC has a wireless adapter. Virtually, every modern laptop within the past few years has a wireless adapter built-in. This doesn't exclude desktops from this but its much more unlikely its built-in and its probably an add-in. If you don't have one, you can still buy a wireless adapter at many stores such as Walmart and Best Buy.
  2. Find an Ethernet cable. It can be any Ethernet cable. The Xbox 360 automatically does a cross-over process so you don't need a special cable. Plug one end directly to your Xbox 360 and plug the other into the PC/Laptop. Almost every PC/Laptop has one of these. If you have both your PC/Laptop and Xbox 360 on, you will see a green light on the PC/Laptop connector and possibly an orange (data) flashing light. This means the connection is working.
  3. Use your PC/Laptop,go to Start, Control Panel. Right click the wireless connection and go to its properties window. Click the Advanced tab and go to the "Internet Connection Sharing" section. Check the "Allow other network users to connect through this computer's internet connection" box and uncheck the "Allow other network users to control or disable the shared internet connection" box below it.(On Windows 7 and vista, to get to the properties box, right click the small icon in the bottom right of the task bar that shows wireless connection, and select 'open network and sharing center'. In this window, click on the "Change adapter settings" link, right click on your wireless adapter, then click properties. Click the "Sharing" tab, then check the top box, uncheck the bottom box). Then click ok. We have finished setting up the PC/Laptop.
  4. Now for the Xbox. Go to the Settings blade and go to Network Settings. Go to edit settings and go to section for IP addresses set it to automatic. Now test the settings. Everything should pass if set up correctly. The PC/Laptop should say that it found a local area connection. Your internet on your PC/Laptop should also work. If none of these work, something was probably not set up right. Go back and double check your settings and steps and keep retrying until it works.
  5. If done correctly, you should be connected to Xbox Live.
    • Another method is to simply select both your wired and wireless connections, right-click, and select "Bridge" as stated below. This will automatically route the connections without the need to set your IP address on Windows XP.
    • Using this method and a router, you can connect multiple Xbox consoles to the router, and the laptop as well, and have them all connected to Xbox Live.



Tips

  • Finally, change all settings so your laptop does not go to sleep or turn off!
  • When buying a wireless adapter, go for internal ones if you're buying one for a desktop computer. They generally give better performance and don't take up a USB port.
  • Your PC should be running at a fairly decent speed. If your computer is acting sluggish, your game might become laggy since your PC can't send the Xbox Live information fast enough.
  • Another tip is to click on your battery icon, usually on the bottom right of your computer. Once you do that click on more power options, then click on your change plan settings depending on your power plan.
  • When you connect the ethernet cable to the laptop be sure to locate to the network connections folder on your laptop and bridge the two connections together, this is a common mistake people make when trying to use a laptop as an Xbox wireless adapter.

Warnings

  • You must have your PC on at all times while you are playing. Your PC basically relays the information from the Xbox 360 to the internet. If your PC goes to sleep, shuts down, or restarts for a Windows automatic update, you will lose connection. Check tips for how to stop this from happening!
  • Be cautious because you might not be able to receive game or video content from the marketplace

Things You'll Need

  • Internet Connection
  • Computer with Internet Connection Sharing (Windows XP/Vista/7 have this for sure).
  • Wireless adapter installed on the computer. (Built into most laptops.)
  • Xbox 360
  • Ethernet cable.
  • Xbox Live.

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