This 50-foot Ethernet cable snaking all the way through my apartment from the router in the bedroom to my Xbox 360 in the living room? That's how I used to play videogames online. The Xbox doesn't come with wireless capability built in, and I didn't want to shell out the extra $100 -- a third the price of the console itself -- for Microsoft's wireless adapter. Third-party wireless bridges cost a bit less but are still pricey. Finally, though, I found a way to ditch the giant wire with a solution that cost me only 40 bucks.
Mikenno --- You have to pre-configure your wrt54 with the WEP/SSID that your wireless network uses since this is the device that will be talking to your wireless network. Your XBOX is correct... it thinks you are using a wired connection.. you cannot use the XBOX to do this unless you use the MS wireless adaptor...
This 50-foot Ethernet cable snaking all the way through my apartment from the router in the bedroom to my Xbox 360 in the living room? That's how I used to play videogames online. The Xbox doesn't come with wireless capability built in, and I didn't want to shell out the extra $100 -- a third the price of the console itself -- for Microsoft's wireless adapter. Third-party wireless bridges cost a bit less but are still pricey. Finally, though, I found a way to ditch the giant wire with a solution that cost me only 40 bucks.
You can do this without a router --- all you need is an AP that supports "bridge" or "AP client" mode. I am currently using Linksys WAP54g's, but had WAP11's before I got the faster model. You can find the WAP54's on ebay for $30-50. You can use a crossover ethernet cable (or standard cabling if using a switch) to plug your XBOX into the AP. You will of course need to already have wireless networking in your area that you have access to, and you will need to configure the client AP with any security settings you would normally need to get online. I have been running my setup for many years... since whenever the original XBOX came out. Currently I have a WAP54g in my living room connected to a small 4-port switch with the XBOX 360, Tivo and AppleTV all plugged in. I recommend an 802.11g model if you are doing streaming within your own network (otherwise an 802.11b unit should be fine for gaming since few people have home network connections any fast than that anyway).
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