Xbox 360, ICS and IP Addresses

Hi,

I'm having a nightmare trying to get my Xbox 360 hooked up to the internet using ICS.

Checking out a load of online guides, most people seem to have problems with the DNS settings, but I can't even get XP to assign an IP address properly to the 360.

My setup is:

360 connected to LAN card in PC via Cat6 Patch cable (you don't need crossover with a 360, you can use either).

PC connected to wireless router via a Philips USB wireless apapter.

Netgear 834g downstairs.


When I plug the 360 into the PCs LAN port, it does the whole 'acquiring network address' thing, but then comes up with the 'limted connectivity' error message. When I go into the connection properties and click repair, it attempts to assign another IP address to the 360 but fails. It's always assigning an IP address that starts with 165, even when I manually set the IP address of the 360 myself.

If I try to set the IP address to match the one assigned by the PC (as per the properties in the Network Connection screen in XP), I get told that a device on the network already has that IP address.

I can't find anything in any guide about how to sort this out, it's obviously not something that many people have problems with. The annoying thing is, it has worked in the past, but since I started messing with some ICS settings it's stopped.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

ICS is a windows implementation of link-local networking [and I thought the assigned addresses were 169.254.1.0 to 169.254.254.255, rather than 165. addresses.] Whether ICS is expected to work with Xbox 360, I have no idea.

But the thing to try is a fixed IP address scheme on the CAT6 cable, which is a subnet in its own right. Leave the wireless alone, and manually assign IP addresses to the Network cards on either end of the CAT6 cable. These should be on the same subnet, and different from the wireless subnet. Try pinging both ways. The internet might not work yet, but that can be figured out once you have a working subnet.

Connect the Xbox to the router not the PC. Either a wireless Xbox adapter or an ethernet cable from Xbox to router. Going via the PC is going to cause nothing but grief. Even if it means buying a wireless adapter for your Xbox, it will be worth the time and effort saved. Plus you dont need your PC to go online with Xbox. If you have a router the last you want want is to be wasting time with ICS.

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Connect the Xbox to the router not the PC

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Yes, I would go along with that, except I think the OP is trying to piggyback off the wireless connection between the router and his PC

i have done this on XP using ICS to piggy back my xbox onto my wireless, i can safely say its rubbish, constant lag and drop outs, not really worth the excercise.. for an example pro evo soccer was unplayable online via ICS, into the router it plays perfectly..

go for the wireless interface for the xbox if you have no other option, ICS is not the way forwards


i didnt do anything special either to get the xbox online via ICS but if memory serves me right i did the following:

enabled ICS, put the xbox on the IP range 192.168.0.x with subnet of 255.255.255.0 and DG of 192.168.0.1 (which was the assigned ip ICS gave my computer) set DNS to be my ISP's ip as primary and the DG as secondary..

thanks.

yeah, I'm trying to piggyback off the wireless connection my PC has to my router. Basically, I don't want to have to shell out

think you click 'allow ics sharing' in properties on the wireless nic and windows then configures your spare card to a 192.168.0.1 address.. you then assign an address to the xbox, something like 192.168.0.2 with the default gateway pointing to the computers address (192.168.0.1)

that should work, unfortunatly i have not got the 2nd network card in my machine at the moment to test this..

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SO, if I use a fixed address on the network card, and set the address on the Xbox to the same (say, 169.254.1.77 at both ends?)

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No. On 2 counts. First off, each Network Interface Card [NIC] - or the software behind it - is aware of its own address, so it would only send stuff to itself [is this the root of your problem?]. You need different addresses at the 2 ends, which are on the same subnet.

Try 10.2.2.3 and 10.2.2.4, with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 - as long as these are not on the same subnet as your wireless.

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And I need to change the subnet to something other than 255.255.255.0?

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No, that is not the subnet, it is the subnet mask, which in conjunction with any IP address will tell you waht the subnet actually is.

Start reading this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subnetwork to get a better idea of subnets and addressing and this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_network for the ranges of addresses you can safely use on your own networks. Heavy going, but you will have trouble trying to set up your network unless you understand it.

I've managed to get a bit further with this (I've just been chcuking 10metres of network cable down the stairs to my router whenever I need to use Xbox Live... not ideal!).

I've set up ICS on my wireless connection from my PC to the router.

I then Bridge Connection between the wireless connection and LAN2 (which my Xbox is connected to via Ethernet cable)

I then start the Xbox. Everything works fine, IP address is assigned properly, the Xbox passes all it's tests and connects to Xbox Live. Meanwhile, my PC internet connection is still working and I can still browse webpages etc.

After about 5 minutes, the 'A Network Cable Is Unplugged' bubble pops up from the Network Bridge icon in the task bar, and my internet connection drops completely. I can't even access my router using 192.168.0.1, it just says it's unavailable.

If I then turn the Xbox off and delete the Network Bridge, my connection to the router comes back up again and I can browse again.

If I then repeat the above steps I get 5 more minutes of Xbox connection before it drops again.

Weird eh? I've gone into the registry and altered the default ICS hangup time to 300000 (as mentioned in the Windows Knowledge Base) which has made no difference.

Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated!

I use roughly the same setup at home with a standard xbox .. I use ICS to share the wireless connection out through my LAN port .. you dont need to use connection bridging.
PM me if you want more information and I'll try to help you configure the connection settings and IP addresses