[trippsmom]

My son wants Xbox live gold for his xbox 360 for his birthday next week and I have limited info to go on. I will tell you what I know: He never used the silver that comes with it. We have a Linksys WRT54GS2 Wireless working with a hughes.net satellite. Will LIVE work with that connection? Does he need anything for it other then for me to purchase a Gold card?? He has the head phones. I'm not a novice with a computer (I go back to MS-Dos days!) but I am so totally with the gaming systems and the hughes/linksys connection. I hope you can help me. Please tell me anything you can as if I were Dumb & Dumber!!! Oh - additionally - will using the xbox live cut into my fair access policy with hughes?? That's a biggie for me as I sell on Ebay!!

[Windsor007]

You will need either a Microsoft Wireless adapter to connect the xbox to the router connection or a ethernet cable to connect the xbox to the router. The wireless adapter costs around £60/$60 but the cable only costs around $10.

I personally dont have your router but the xbox connects to most routers as long as it has a good connection. You will need to enter details like passwords on the router into the xbox once you search for a connection so the xbox can connect to the router and it is a safe connection.

Hope that helps a bit.

[Couriant]

just a note to the above:

There are other adapters that are cheaper that works just as well, but if the XBOX is near the router and the router has a spare ethernet port, then you should use that instead with an ethernet cord.

As to the router, you may need to set port forwarding to make sure that the router doesn't block the data traffic for the XBOX. You will need to make the XBOX have a static IP address though.

Also if you are going to go wireless, you will need to make sure you have the correct information for the SSID and password (WEP/WPA etc)

[burnthepc]

I agree with the above posts, should connect to most routers. Thought I'd add that the Xbox website has a some good information on connecting to Live.

http://support.xbox.com/support/en/u...etworking.aspx

Don't understand the fair use thing, is that something common in the US? (I'm in the UK)

[trippsmom]

Thanks for your responses. It sounds a bit daunting to me and for an 11-year-old. DH is no help with nada... I may call Linksys - any time you call hughes about anything router - they won't help! I guess I need a very simple step by step.

[burnthepc]

I think you should give it a try and see. You don't need Gold membership to connect to the live (you can't play online games though). And you should be able to get a connecting lead from somewhere. It looks like this:


You probably have one plugged between the router and your computer.


One end of the lead needs to go in the router and the other in back of the xbox. Turn it on and select connect to live.

[Jason08]

Here is a guide for opening the ports for Xbox.

[Couriant]

If the xbox is near the router (less than 85m) then all you need is a ethernet cable, most commonly known as a straight-through cable.

Make sure it's NOT a cross-over cable, or it will not work correctly.

Jason's link will ensure that your xbox is communicating with the online game servers correctly.

[trippsmom]

Thanks for more. The console is no where near being able to connect to the modem. It would have to go through the router. I do have a blue cable like that Lynksys enclosed but a lot of good that will do! Onward and upward!

[Couriant]

That cable would do... unless it's too short