How do I improve my Xbox wifi signal?

Question

I have an XBox in my living room and my wireless router is in another room. I can't lay a line so I use the XBox with WiFi. Problem is I drop my connection semi-frequently (very annoying when watching NetFlix or playing an online game.) I'm not sure what causes the issue but I'm wondering if a WiFi amplifier would help, so my questions:

1. Is a WiFi amplifier a fair bet solution? Do they work?
2. What's a good, affordable one?

Asked by Nick Gotch

Answer

Have you looked into PowerLine networking? Assuming your router and XBox are on the same mains circuit in your house, then that should be able to get a wired connection between your rooms without having to mess about laying new wiring. It's also generally better bandwidth and latency than a wireless solution (though not quite up with proper wired ethernet kit).

lots of companies do it these days, a quick Amazon listing for Powerline networking kit has a whole list of them.

Answered by GAThrawn

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I am trying to play Rock Band 3 with 2 wireless mics and cannot see the last one that connects

Question

I have the 2 mics from Lips (by Microsoft), and I am trying to play Rock Band 3 with one person singing harmony and the other lead.

Is that possible?

For some reason, when I start the game, it only "sees" the controller that was plugged in first.

Am I missing something?

Answer

In Rock Band 3, only one controller is used for vocals, no matter how many mics are connected. (Also, if you have "All Instruments Mode" on, then no controller is used for vocals.)

If you select Solo, then singing is mostly the same as in Rock Band 1 and 2, with a single track for the vocalist. (While there are differences between older RB tracks and RB3 tracks, the mechanics are the same.)

If you select Harmonies, then singing is the same as in Beatles: Rock Band. One, two, or three vocal tracks will be available, depending on how the song was set up, and the track you match is based on your pitch, not on your microphone. That means the following things are true:

• You can sing both lead and harmony on some tracks, depending on where the harmony comes in. If you are singing in Harmonies mode by yourself, you may need to do this, as some phrases may not have lead vocals. (This also means that on some songs, you can actually get a Double Awesome on some phrases even when you are singing by yourself.)
• On some songs, you may have difficulty on some phrases unless you have someone singing each part. Because RB3 guesses the part you're singing based on pitch, if you do not match the track you intend to sing, it may match you to another part instead, even if you started off the phrase on your intended part. (You can tell this is happening if a pitch arrow starts jumping back and forth between two parts.)

So, in your case, the first controller connected is assumed to be the vocalist's controller, and that person will need to select songs. You can decide between yourselves who will sing each part for each song - if necessary, you can change parts during the song without having to switch mics.

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I am trying to play rockband 3 with 2 wireless mics and cannot see the last one that connects

Question

I have the 2 mics from sing it (by microsoft)

And I am trying to play with both one person singing harmonics and the other lead.

Is that possible?

For some reason I start the game and only "sees" the controller that was plugged first.

Am I missing something?

Answer

In Rock Band 3, only one controller is used for vocals, no matter how many mics are connected. (Also, if you have "All Instruments Mode" on, then no controller is used for vocals.)

If you select Solo, then singing is mostly the same as in Rock Band 1 and 2, with a single track for the vocalist. (While there are differences between older RB tracks and RB3 tracks, the mechanics are the same.)

If you select Harmonies, then singing is the same as in Beatles: Rock Band. One, two, or three vocal tracks will be available, depending on how the song was set up, and the track you match is based on your pitch, not on your microphone. That means the following things are true:

• You can sing both lead and harmony on some tracks, depending on where the harmony comes in. If you are singing in Harmonies mode by yourself, you may need to do this, as some phrases may not have lead vocals. (This also means that on some songs, you can actually get a Double Awesome on some phrases even when you are singing by yourself.)
• On some songs, you may have difficulty on some phrases unless you have someone singing each part. Because RB3 guesses the part you're singing based on pitch, if you do not match the track you intend to sing, it may match you to another part instead, even if you started off the phrase on your intended part. (You can tell this is happening if a pitch arrow starts jumping back and forth between two parts.)

So, in your case, the first controller connected is assumed to be the vocalist's controller, and that person will need to select songs. You can decide between yourselves who will sing each part for each song - if necessary, you can change parts during the song without having to switch mics.

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Xbox 360 Wireless Controller Won't sync under Mac

Question

I have a genuine Xbox 360 wireless controller and a gaming receiver. I have downloaded the latest driver from Tattiebogle.net and installed successfully.

I have MacOSX Lion installed and under System Information, the receiver is recognised as following:

Vendor-Specific Device:  Product ID:   0x0291
  Vendor ID:    0x045e  (Microsoft Corporation)
  Version:  1.14
  Speed:    Up to 12 Mb/sec
  Location ID:  0xfa240000 / 9
  Current Available (mA):   500
  Current Required (mA):    260

When I installed first time, both receiver and the controller were synced up correctly, and showed the controller's information on Pref360Control, System Preferences.

However, later, the controller won't sync. On Pref360Controll, there is "No devices found".

What bugs me the most is that I had a controller going. Mac knew there was a controller and I could see it moving, rumbling and others.

Answer

Problem has solved with a genuine gaming receiver.

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Logging on to Wifi using Xbox 360 Slim

Question

I recently bought my first Xbox 360 Slim. When connecting to Internet, my ISP redirects me to a web page which asks me for a User ID/ Password. I get access when I enter that info.

Now when I try to connect to the internet using my Xbox it is able to connect to the network but to the the net (Xbox Live). The reason for this is that it never takes me to the web based login page.

Is there any way I can connect to Xbox Live (without changing my ISP)?

Thanks,

Answer

As far as I know, it's not possible to use browser-based logins with the 360.

The option most people choose is to connect to wifi using a laptop (or desktop), log in via the laptop browser and then share that internet connection over ethernet. On Windows 7, this is a function called ICS (internet connection sharing) for which there are numerous good tutorials on the internet. On a Mac, this is called "Internet sharing" in the Sharing preference pane. They're both pretty easy to set up.

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Wireless Headset with Wired Controller?

Question

I today purchased two Xbox 360 Wireless Headsets (black, if you must know) for each controller that I have: one is Wired, the other is Wireless.

I went to go sync them with my Xbox and the first one went great. I was able to select the Ring of Light my Wireless controller was on and I could speak and hear normally.

The wired controller, however, was different. Completely following the instructions word-for-word, I signed in and everything. I turned on the Wireless Headset and tried to select Quadrant 2, however the headset would skip over that quadrant as if the wired controller already had a headset connected to it.

Has anyone else had this problem mixing and matching a wired controller with a wireless headset? According to many message boards I've read on this topic, this should be possible.

EDIT I've tried all the suggested troubleshooting steps and still nothing.

EDIT2 I've tried to connect the headset first, but once I try to connect the Wired controller, it knocks the headset off that Ring of Light until you hit the Connect button on the headset again, whereby it'll just default to 3rd and 4th quadrants (skipping over 1st and 2nd).

EDIT3 Any other suggestions out there?

Answer

Have you tried connecting the wireless headset to the second controller port first, then plugging in the wired controller, much in the fashion that you first connect the headset to the wireless port then connect the wireless controllers?

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Is there anyway to observe my latency or wireless signal strength over a period of time?

Question

Perhaps two weeks ago or so, I began having terrible latency problems whenever I began playing online. At first, I thought the wireless receiver (a USB device) on my computer was simply failing, but these problems also occur when using my laptop, and for my brother on his laptop (we share the same wireless network for about a month or so).

There doesn't seem to be a problem with internet connectivity in general (i.e., I have no problem browsing the net, streaming a movie, or downloading a file), but random spikes of lag, which would be much more noticeable when attempting to play, say, Team Fortress 2.

I'm trying to diagnose the problem, and my first idea was to check the consistency of the signal strength (i.e., a problem with my wireless router) vs. consistency of ping (i.e., a problem with my wireless provider).

Are there any programs I could use to test one or both of these? Note: I would like to be able to test over a period of time, because the problem is not consistent.

Answer

So, observing last mile internet performance is notoriously hard.

Depending on your wireless card you may be able to monitor signal strength over time (you'll also want to watch for noise, in many wireless environments this is a limiting factor). Additionally, you could plug a computer into a land line to compare performance.

However, if this is a down stream problem neither of these things will correctly identify the source, what you really need is route tracing. On a Windows computer this can be done by running tracert:

This will create a packet train with varying TTL (time to live) based on the number of "hops." Because of the shortened TTL you'll be able to see network data from along your route:

By running this consistently over time you can identify common bottle necks.

An example of this came from when I lived in Canada, and I'd have intermittent issues connecting to WoW server. Tracert showed that occasionally (probably due to peering agreements) the path would route through Texas. In that case I was able to talk to my ISP and get them to fix the issue, but that's not always feasible.

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