Pick of the Week - Nov 10 [Show all picks]
Path Finder 5 - A feature-laden Finder replacement
Submit Hint Search The Forums LinksStatsPollsFAQHeadlinesRSS
12,000 hints and counting!

Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox Network
With the release of Halo 2, its much anticipated multiplayer action, and a coupon for two free months of Xbox Live in every box, I bet a lot of people are looking for ways to get their Xbox online. My situation is that my Xbox is too far away from my router to string cable, and I don't feel like shelling out $100 bucks for an ethernet - wireless bridge when I have a perfectly good iBook (original clamshell) doing nothing.

I thought it would be as simple as turning on Internet sharing and plugging in an ethernet cable, but alas, the Xbox refused to acknowledge the connection. It agreed that a cable was connected, but steadfastly refused to get out to the `Net. After a few hours of frustration, and much Googling, here are the two "gotchas" to look out for:
  1. If you're using an older Mac, then you must use a cross-over cable, not a standard patch cable. This is easy to identify. With both your Mac and your Xbox connected, open the Network control panel. Make sure that you're showing the Network Status section. If Built-in Ethernet's status light is red, you need a cross-over cable. If it is yellow or green, you're okay.

  2. For whatever reason, the Xbox will not accept DHCP info from the Mac. Everything else I've ever tried will, but not the XBox. Monkeying with bootP or NetInfo is more than I want to tackle. The workaround is to manually enter the IP info for your Intenet Sharing Mac's subnet in the XBox live menus. Unless you've made changes, your info should be the same as mine:

    • IP: 192.168.2.x (x being the number your want to give your Xbox; anything greater than 1 will be fine.)
    • Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
    • Router: 192.168.2.1
    • DNS: You'll need to get this from your ISP, everyone's is different)
That's it. Oh, one more thing -- don't let your Mac go to sleep or Internet Sharing turns off, and you have to manually restart it.

[robg adds: I haven't tested this one, as I don't have an Xbox.]
    •    
  • Currently 0.00 / 5
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  (0 votes cast)
 
[50,978 views]  

Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox | 32 comments | Create New Account
Click here to return to the 'Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox' hint
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: hedgeland on Mon, Nov 15 2004 at 11:03AM PST
Oh man! I didn't even think of this! I have the exact same situation and I was going to spend a couple of nights this week running an ethernet port to the wall behind my TV/Xbox (went to Home Depot this past weekend to buy all the hardware).

I will be trying this when I get home tonight with my G4 iBook and post the results.

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: Alceste on Mon, Nov 15 2004 at 11:43AM PST
Actually, you just need to put 192.168.2.1 for the DNS server. I've been using this for a while now with my Powerbook. The router automatically forwards DNS requests to the ISP.

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: adamhalodude on Mon, Apr 3 2006 at 3:18PM PDT
i need help, if you could contact me, please, i get to the last step and it says can't reach dns server

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: Hes Nikke on Mon, Nov 15 2004 at 12:37PM PST
2 more thins that go along with this hint (i did it on friday when i signed up for XBox Live! to play Halo 2 online)

1) if you are running the firewall on your mac, you need to open up 3 ports (3074, 88, 53) otherwise the XBox will refuse to connect to live.

2) i had issues hosting halo 2 parties. some times it worked, other times it didn't - i only knew this because the friend i was inviting was on iChat at the same time. as soon as i switched to a live IP address, (i realized that there shouldn't be any need for a firewall for my xbox, it doesn't run any services!) hosting halo 2 parties worked fine. i realize not everyone has 8 IP addresses hooked up to their broadband connection, but if you have an extra IP, go ahead and give it to the xbox. it just works better.

---
vacuums do not suck. they merely provide an absence that allows other objects to take the place of what becomes absent.

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: lincolnshaun on Wed, Nov 17 2004 at 9:41PM PST
Could you expand on your second comment? I am using Internet Sharing to get my XBox onto XBox live and I cannot host parties. I have a very basic understanding of networking, so a more elaborate explanation would help. Thanks.

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: hcmiyata on Tue, May 2 2006 at 2:41AM PDT
what do u mean "extra ip to give to the xbox?"

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: EatingPie on Mon, Nov 15 2004 at 1:20PM PST
Great! I can't believe I didn't think of this either! I set up a Roku with Internet Sharing and Airport in exactly the same way.

This rocks because now I can try xbox live without investing in a wireless adapter!

-Pie

---
-Pie
<http://www.storybytes.com>

[ Reply to This | # ]
Easy-to-Remember DNS Servers
Authored by: dontlikehippies on Mon, Nov 15 2004 at 3:06PM PST
I forget who owns them, but here's the DNS servers I always use:
4.2.2.1
4.2.2.2
4.2.2.3
4.2.2.4
4.2.2.5
4.2.2.6

They are reliable and more importantly easy to remember.

[ Reply to This | # ]
Easy-to-Remember DNS Servers
Authored by: svanstrom on Tue, Nov 16 2004 at 7:38AM PST
It's not nice using someone elses services/bandwidth etc without asking first...
[tony@tibooken] /Users/tony/ {1} whois 4.2.2.1

OrgName:    Level 3 Communications, Inc.
OrgID:      LVLT
Address:    1025 Eldorado Blvd.
City:       Broomfield
StateProv:  CO
PostalCode: 80021
Country:    US

NetRange:   4.0.0.0 - 4.255.255.255
CIDR:       4.0.0.0/8
NetName:    LVLT-ORG-4-8
NetHandle:  NET-4-0-0-0-1
Parent:
NetType:    Direct Allocation
NameServer: NS1.LEVEL3.NET
NameServer: NS2.LEVEL3.NET
Comment:
RegDate:
Updated:    2004-06-04

OrgAbuseHandle: APL8-ARIN
OrgAbuseName:   Abuse POC LVLT
OrgAbusePhone:  +1-877-453-8353
OrgAbuseEmail:  abuse@level3.com

OrgTechHandle: TPL1-ARIN
OrgTechName:   Tech POC LVLT
OrgTechPhone:  +1-877-453-8353
OrgTechEmail:  ipaddressing@level3.com

OrgTechHandle: ARINC4-ARIN
OrgTechName:   ARIN Contact
OrgTechPhone:  +1-800-436-8489
OrgTechEmail:  arin-contact@genuity.com

# ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2004-11-15 19:10
# Enter ? for additional hints on searching ARIN's WHOIS database.

---
--


[ Reply to This | # ]

Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: glusk on Mon, Nov 15 2004 at 10:16PM PST
I have a Cisco ATA from Vonage that refuses to accept a DHCP offer from OS X internet sharing over ethernet. This was with Jaguar and Panther, clean installations. Tried with iBook and PowerBook. I watch with Ethereal and see the ATA make a request and see the Mac make an offer, but the ATA doesn't seem to accept it.

The ATA works great (I'm very pleased with Vonage and the Cisco ATA) behind a standard consumer router. But it'd be nice to share my wireless internet connection while in a hotel room.

Any ideas??

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with Vonage
Authored by: garella on Wed, Dec 1 2004 at 1:26AM PST
I have the same problem getting a Vonage box (Cisco ATA 186) to get an IP from my iBook in 10.3.6. If you've figured it out, let me know. If not, here's my story in case there's something useful there...

I'm sharing the Airport connection (Airport Express) and have the ATA plugged into built-in ethernet. The ATA's light blinks slowly, indicating it's trying, but no luck. If I unplug it and plug in my Linksys router, it goes right on line -- and if I plug the ATA into the router, shazam! I get a dial tone. But the whole idea here was to avoid carrying the router around. It's a mystery to me why the ATA can't get an IP number on its own.

If you pick up the handset, press the button on the ATA and dial 21#, you will hear the IP number. (details on all this at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/gatecont/ps514/products_administration_guide_book09186a00800c496e.html) When I connect directly, it reports 0.0.0.0, which means I can't even get to the ATA's web admin page to tell it to use IP 192.168.0.2, which I think is what the Mac wants it to be.

I've tried with a crossover cable and a straight one, stopped and started internet sharing, turned off the firewall, cycled the ATA on and off, etc and still no luck. I'm wondering if this has something to do with port forwarding -- I read somewhere that you have to forward UDP 5060-5061, 10000-20000 to the client IP (though since I can't get it to pick up an IP, this wouldn't be possible, I suppose).

I read (at http://www.geeksrus.com/archives/cat_vonage.html) that Vonage will upgrade you to a Motorola V1000 ATA for around $60. That one has two ethernet ports so you can put it between the router and the modem (so I could use my Airport Express, which has no wired ethernet connections) but I want to use sharing so I can make calls from other wifi hotspots.

Advice welcomed from all quarters...

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with Vonage
Authored by: garella on Wed, Dec 1 2004 at 1:51AM PST
Sorry, that should have been 192.168.2.x as has been pointed out in various posts in this thread. Anyway, from what I read in the Cisco manual, I don't think you could change if even if you could get to the web config page.

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: hedgeland on Tue, Nov 16 2004 at 10:21AM PST
It worked! I played Xbox live for about 3 hours last night through my ibook shared internet connection. Awesome!

An additional note, I bought my xbox before xbox live was available, so the xbox live and network settings menus didn't appear in my dashboard. I thought maybe they would only show up if the xbox detected a network connection or something. I tested the connection from my iBook with a PC, worked fine. Searched the internet. Scratched my head. Then I found a tiny blurb on some Australian website that mentioned that you could start xbox live by starting up an xbox live enabled game. So I put my Halo 2 game in, and viola! It detected the network connection and then installed the missing software/menus onto my xbox! Now the dashboard is all up to date with the xbox live and network settings menus!

It was at this point that I could actually start using this hint to fix the network issues in the xbox, and it worked perfectly. Nice job.

[ Reply to This | # ]
Xbox Live Install
Authored by: HarrisonRHW on Tue, Nov 16 2004 at 11:04AM PST
That's the way xbox live works. Infact, to be able to use any game with live, most games will require that you install new software. All live compatible games contain the latest version of xbox live. Basically each time that it asks you to install everytime you try to play a new game on live it is just installing software that allows you to do things like create icons, read friends lists, etc..

[ Reply to This | # ]
Great... now how bout wireless connecting?
Authored by: rlaney on Thu, Nov 18 2004 at 2:56PM PST
THANK YOU! I've been trying to figure this problem out from even before Halo2 came out... I was basicaally trying to do the same thing... but having the XBOX connect wirelessly... with the XBOX wireless adapter... never got it to work until I introduced a router... and even then it was touch and go... I would still love to know how to get the XBOX to connect wirelessly to shared internet from my G4... but for now... THIS ROCKS! Thanks!

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: gyroslice on Thu, Nov 18 2004 at 8:34PM PST
I am a novice mac os x user and this hint seems to rather straight forward but after 4 hours of trying i could not get my xbox to connect. i am using an ibook connecting to the internet via ABS. i couldn't even find the right ip address ( is it the 10.0.1 number or what?) also, if my ISP randomly distributes default gateway addresses can i even connect?

help please
adam

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: joe12south on Sun, Nov 21 2004 at 8:08PM PST
The IP address info you should enter in the Xbox live menus is the info listed in the original hint: 192.168.2.xxx

The only section that may differ for you is the DNS servers, which vary depending on your ISP. You can find these in your Network preferences. (Someone has noted that you can simply use 192.168.2.1 and your Mac will forward the DNS requests.)

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: maxlevens on Mon, Nov 22 2004 at 5:18PM PST
To Gyroslice, I was in that situation for several hours. I can give you a conclusive answer to you: The guy earlier that gave a DNS code and said you needed nothing else was right.
All you do is turn internet sharing on over your network or standard connection via your in built ethernet port. Plug your xbox into the port. You will get a connection trouble shooter when you turn on your xbox. Go to settings (this is on the xbox) and turn the IP stuff onto default. Go to DNS address and enter the code that was given previously by Alceste (PS thanks to him, he saved me many hours of pain) into the primary address. It did for me. This should work. I am doing this out of empathy for your situation. I know how annoying it is and I would hate to think bad words might be spoken to your mac computer.

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: carlos1078 on Wed, Dec 1 2004 at 7:16PM PST
I've used this information to successfully connect to Xbox Live but I am unable to play Halo 2 games- I get dropped from a game shortly after joining it. Interestingly enough, this also happens if I plug the Xbox into the LAN port of my Airport (dual Ethernet). I think the problem is with the Airport. Are there any portmapping settings which need to be set? Xbox Live works flawlessly if I plug the Xbox directly to my cable modem.

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: jsares on Sun, Feb 13 2005 at 11:58AM PST
How do I forward ports to the system that is connecting through the Mac?

I don't have any firewalls running on the Mac and the other system (Windows) isn't able to establish inbound connections.

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: wmenez on Mon, Mar 14 2005 at 3:06PM PST
Great stuff. Will the same workaround apply to a wireless ethernet bridge? I've got one I used when my wireless LAN was Windows-oriented, but now I'm using Airport Express. Now the Xbox says it can't find the bridge, let alone the signal for the LAN. Help!

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: jpred88 on Thu, May 12 2005 at 11:39AM PDT
I have tried entering those details on the Xbox Network settings, but when I try and connect it says 'Gateway not found'. What number goes in there?

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: MLG_Andros on Tue, May 23 2006 at 2:43PM PDT
I get the same prompt. Can anyone help?

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: zbgump on Thu, Dec 1 2005 at 3:32PM PST
I'm trying to share a non-wireless connection; I've got a second nic in a pci port. The nic is good as I can connect to the internet via that port.

Is there anything else I need to do? My Mac is behind a router. (I Don't want to run another 50+ feet of cable to reach it with my xbox)

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: Brutal on Sat, Dec 3 2005 at 2:34PM PST
FYI: This also works on Xbox360

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: jmatt on Thu, Jan 5 2006 at 1:38PM PST
I've been trying to set up my xbox to connect to my Powerbook.

I have a cable modem that is connected to my Airport Express.

(Someone has noted that you can simply use 192.168.2.1 and your Mac will forward the DNS requests.)

I've tried to change this setting on my xbox, but I'm still unable to connect.
Since I'm getting my internet connection wirelessly from the Airport, does this change anything?



[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: wil87 on Thu, Feb 2 2006 at 4:28PM PST
I can't get this to work!
I re-did all the instructions like, 3 times over and it still gets stuck at
"DNS not resolved". I have an iBook G3 500 "Snow" using Airport, made sure I had a crossover cable and checked all my internet sharing settings. Still, every time I try to use Live I get problems with the DNS. Can anybody help?
Wil

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: wil87 on Fri, Feb 3 2006 at 12:12PM PST
Well I got the DNS fixed by manually giving my built-in-ethernet an IP address.
I just made it 192.168.2.xx. But then, the ethernet took over the connection and my wireless connection stopped working! Of course, the xbox couldn't connect to Live. I tried a direct connection to my router and that worked fine.
Anybody have any idea how I can get the wireless to work?

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: adamhalodude on Mon, Apr 3 2006 at 3:20PM PDT
mine stops on the the 3rd step saying DNS not resolved, can somone help me?


[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: XxJ-DOGxX on Wed, Sep 20 2006 at 3:43PM PDT
I can't get the Xbox to pass its DNS test either... I've tried a number of things so far... the Xbox does not seem to want to accept DHCP information from the MAC, so I have entered all of the information manually, but so far no luck. If I knew more about networking I don't think this would be that difficult... but I simply don't know the order of operations for troubleshooting these things. Anyway, if anyone has any ideas on why it would continue failing its DNS test, I would love to hear it. Thanks.

New 24" Imac Intel Core Duo
Setup: Internet Sharing On: Sharing your Airport Connection (with Built-in
Ethernet)
Network Status: Airport is connected to the network. Built-in Ethernet is
currently active
Airport: Using DHCP (with manually entered primary & secondary DNS IP's)
Built-in Ethernet: Manually (also with manually entered pri. and sec. DNS)
Network Port Configurations: In order, Bluetooth, Airport, Built-in Ethernet

[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: shawneeblack on Tue, Aug 18 2009 at 2:45AM PDT
This is not advise but I was trying to connect my dir tv hddr hr21 box to my g4. Well finally after 3 days of research and trying just about every suggestion, I found a forum that advised to got to net info manager - config-dhcp then change reply_threshold_seconds value to 0 instead of 4... this worked for me.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Share wireless Internet connection with an Xbox
Authored by: vinaykagarwal on Thu, Jan 15 2009 at 10:56AM PST
To wirelessly connect a Blu-ray player or Xbox to Internet, you need a device that may be called by many names including wireless bridge, wireless gaming adapter, wireless access point, and AP client. Even their prices vary all over since it is hard to compare. Here is a page that lists all the Blu-ray wireless connection options available and their pricing.

[ Reply to This | # ]