Connecting the Xbox 360 to the internet is a relatively simple process if you are already setup for networking but can be somewhat more daunting if you are not. This guide will guide you thought the network setup required to connect your Xbox 360 to Xbox live via CAT 5 cable.

Required items:

• Xbox 360 with hard drive unit
• Fast and stable, low latency internet, connection (T1, Cable, DSL)
• Router/Gateway
• 3 CAT5 cables of varying length (1 from your modem to router, 1 from router to Xbox 360, and one from the router to your PC (optional but you will probably need it))

Part 1: purchasing the components
If you already have a router and all the cables you can skip this step this is for people who currently have their internet setup to only support one computer.

Choosing a router:
If you need a router just to hook up Xbox live then go for the cheapest one you can buy without buying a generic one. The best way to get one is to simply pick up the Sunday paper and look at the advertisements. Usually Compusa or BestBuy will have cheap Netgear, D-link, or Linksys routers for around $20-25 after rebate most routers are compatible with Xbox live but for a list of certified routers you can visit Microsoft’s router compatibility page.

For some reason wireless routers tend to be cheaper then wired ones and they still have all the ports you need so just buy one of those. Avoid buying a generic brand routers, the store employees will probably push them but don’t listen to them all as they tend to be more trouble then they are worth. Also don’t buy a very expensive fancy router unless you are going to use all the features as they will most likely cause more trouble then benefit.

Choosing cables:
The general rule here is to choose the cheapest cables you possibly can, all CAT5 cables are pretty much the same you don’t need anything special. Usually a the routers come with one 6’ CAT5 cable and you likely have another 6’ CAT5 cable that already connects your modem to your computer (if you don’t you should buy one).

Therefore the only cable you should need to buy is the one that goes from your router to the Xbox 360. So measure out how much cable you need to stretch comfortably from your modem to the Xbox 360 and buy it or see if you cant get one of the IT guys at work to give you some. If you can’t pick up some CAT5 cable from work you will likely have to either order it online or spend around $30 on it at computer/electronic stores as not many places carry cheap long CAT5 cables.

Part 2: Hooking up your router
Now that you have all the parts you can start hooking everything up. The first step is to hook up the router and make sure it works with your internet connection. So plug in the router power, and connect the CAT 5 cable from the back of the modem to the uplink/internet port on the router *note this port is usually located separately from the other ports or is at least labeled differently*.

The router should turn on when you plug in the power and the internet notification light should turn on after a few seconds after you connect the cable that goes to the modem. If the internet notification light doesn’t turn on just ignore it for now.

Next connect the computer’s network card to one of the routers other ports via CAT5 cable. If you connected it properly and the router is working you should see a blinking light on both the computer network card and the router port that indicates that the computer is talking to the router.

Once everything is connected either turn on your computer or if you plugged in the CAT5 cable while the computer was just wait for it to recognize the new connection. Now check if your internet works; the easiest way to do that is to just open your web browser and go to any website. At this step your internet may or may not work so if it doesn’t don’t panic.

Configuring your router
Regardless of weather your internet is working you computer should be able to see the router and connect to router. Connect to the router by entering the IP address of your router in the address bar of your web browser. It should look something like this 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.100.1.

The router IP address changes depending manufacturers so either look on the router itself or consult your router manual to find out what it is. There should also be a default username and password written somewhere either on the manual or the router itself so use those to login.

If you are having trouble connecting to the router ensure that your computer is connected to the router (network adapter light is blinking) and that you connected it to the right port on the router (do not use the uplink/internet port).
If this is still not working and you have a windows based computer go start>run> type “cmd” w/o quotes. Then type ipconfig and you should see something like this

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.100.1

If any of those fields are blank or if your default gateway is not the IP of your router then you are likely either not setup or are not connected to the router. Consult your router manual on ways of troubleshooting these issues.

Once you have connected to the router the first thing you should do is change the administrator password. After that you should disable wireless (unless you are going to use it in which case you should setup a WEP key for it so other people cannot leach off your internet).

Also if your internet is not working you may need to enter any account settings ISP that your ISP provides otherwise leave the account settings fields alone. If your internet is not working still try cycling the power to the modem and router a few times in varying order that usually helps.

If you still cannot connect to the internet after those steps or your don’t know what your account settings are, give ISP a call (their number can usually be found on your last monthly statement) and ask is there are any special settings you need to get your router to work.

Part 3: Xbox 360 setup
Once you have the router setup, connecting your Xbox 360 should be fairly easy. Just plug it in the long CAT5 cable into one of the non uplink ports on the router and the other end into your Xbox 360 and everything should work. You can verify this by attempting to connect to live or by going to the Settings tab on your Xbox 360 dashboard and selecting network settings then choosing the “Text Xbox Live Connection” option.

If you are trying to run your Xbox 360 w/o a router then there are advanced settings in the network tab that you can change using the “edit settings” option but these are outside the scope of this tutorial as you should not need them when using a router.

Creating an Xbox live account
Load into the dashboard by pressing the green button on the controller and then hitting Y and confirming exit to dashboard or by turning your Xbox 360 on without a disk inside.

Once you are in the main Xbox live tab login into your current profile and then select the grey Xbox Live icon above the “Play Game” option. This will come up with a menu describing the features of Xbox live; select the “Join Xbox Live” option. Once selected the Xbox will notify you that you will have to exit all your current sessions, confirm and being creating your account.

If you already have a gametag on Xbox live, sign out of your current profile and chose the gametag recovery option.

Choosing an Xbox Live Gametag
The next menu will let you chose you chose your Xbox live gametag. The gametag is how other people online will know you so take a moment and choose it wisely as it will cost you 800 Microsoft points to change it. Try and be creative and not pick a really common name, jediknight252 might not be a very good name nether is ubernoob253, as general rule of thumb avoid names that contain the following: numbers, leet speak, names of characters from movies.

Pick a name that’s easy to pronounce and remember. If your gametag is “Hurly Burly”, for example, it will be much easier to say your name in voice that then if it is “Xlinga”. If the game tag that you are currently using for your profile is available it will also give you an option to use that. It might take a few tries to find a tag that’s not being used by someone so don’t get discouraged if someone already the first tag you came up with.

Filling out your information
After you have chosen a gametag you will be asked if you have a Microsoft passport account, if you don’t you will be asked to input some personal information and create one. Otherwise just link your passport account to your gametag and save yourself the trouble of entering all that information.

Keep in mind that you don’t really have to be truthful about what information you put in. But if you ever want to retrieve your gametag sometime in the future you might consider using your real information. Also when entering information remembers that everything system is case sensitive so capitalization consistently (or not at all) otherwise you will have problems recovering your profile.

Sometimes you might actually want to use false information for your profile (for example if you want to get access to Japanese demos and trailers you will need to select Japan for your country when registering a passport account

Creating a passport account
To create a new passport account you will be asked the following information:

• Country –Current country, I highly recommend you use your real country unless you want to play games with people in other countries and get bad lag.
• Language – Language you and your opponents will be speaking
• Birth Date – Make sure you entered your real one or at least one that makes you over 18 as otherwise you will have to get parental permission and it wont let you back out and change it so it’s a real pain
• Email – A current active email address that your passport account will be linked to this will also likely be your passport login
• Password – Password you will use if you ever want to check your profile remotely
• Secret Question – Pick something you can consistently answer if ever forget your password. Here are the options (your answer to these questions must be alt least 5 letters long):
  • Favorite fictional character
  • Favorite person in history
  • Favorite book/story childhood
  • Favorite food
  • Two best friend’s names
  • First car
  • First company
  • Favorite TV show

• Your Real Name (First and Last– Used for profile recover
• Your Phone Number – Also used for profile recovery so use one you will keep for a while

Terms of service
Finally you get to the terms of service which basically tell you that Microsoft controls Xbox live and that you have absolutely no rights what so ever and if something goes wrong Microsoft is not responsible. Read them over if you like and hit accept. If your need to reference them ever they can be found at xbox.com.

When you get the dialogue that asks if Microsoft or its affiliates can send you email, answer “no” to both unless you want spam in your mail box.

Choosing an account type
Finally you get to the account chooser. Here you can choose between the live and silver account options. The only difference between the two is that on silver you don’t get match making so you can’t play against other players online.

If this is your first time registering you should get a free month of Gold so just choose that one. If you like the Gold service you should purchase the gold package from a store as you get a headset to go along with you’re your subscription for about the same cost.

Here are the prices for those interested:

• 7.99 For 1 Month
• 19.99 For 3 Months
• 49.99 For 1 Year

After you select the free month option you will get a dialogue that asks if you are really sure, just say yes.

It will ask for some information:

• Your Address – Used for profile recover
• Your City – Used for profile recover
• Your Zip code – Used for profile recover

Final account settings
The last couples options can be changed later in your profile so don’t worry if you choose the wrong ones.

Next you will be asked to chose a gamerzone here’s the basic break down

• Recreation – This is usually the zone that most people chose
• Pro – This is the zone for people who are really good
• Family – This is the clean zone so no trash talk or “mature language” on voice chat
• Underground – Cussing and racism galore

Once you are finished you will get one final dialogue asking whether or not you want to login to live automatically. Choosing “Yes” will set that account to be the default one for the Xbox 360.

You are now setup to use Xbox Live.

If you're having trouble be sure to check our XBL troubleshooting section for more help.

See also
XBL Arcade Games
XBL Feature List
XBL Memberships
XBL Troubleshooting
XBL User Reviews