xbox 360 extender works with ethernet but not wifi

Forums › Home Theatre (incl HTPC) › xbox 360 extender works with ethernet but not wifi

garygumdrops

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

Topic # 67614 4-Sep-2010 16:16

Hi.

I'm trying to get my new xbox 360 (elite 250gb) working as an extender with media center on my Windows 7 PC.

If I use an ethernet (wired) connection to my router then I have no problems and it works fine (except I did notice heavy pixelation when I tried watching live TV/Satellite but that's another problem).
If I use WiFi though it tries connecting to the media center and often looks like it will succeed but then hangs when it shows the main menu. If it does fail it says something about not being able to connect to the PC.

The wifi stuff is working fine on the xbox though as I can connect to xbox live and the networking stuff seems to be ok when I test the connection to the internet and to the media pc.

I am confused as to what the problem could be because it's obviously not a firewall problem on the home theatre pc (as it works with a wired connection) and surely if I had a problem with NAT/firewall on the wireless router, it would affect ethernet as well?

The home theatre PC is wired to the router so I'm not relying on wireless for both connections and have recently upgraded to a wireless 'n' router (Asus RT-N16).

The xbox and pc are on the same subnet so that's not a problem and the thing that annoys me as it works fine with xbox live etc.

Some ideas would be appreciated. Main reason I bought the xbox was to be as an extender, not a games machine so I'll be upset if this doesn't work on wifi.

samsam

167 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

Reply # 376662 4-Sep-2010 17:41

I have the same problem, when it did finally connect i had a look at the wireless tuning utility and found that it randomly drops to low then back to full so i had to move my router around to get it to work. Still doesn't work 100% but it works most of the time

garygumdrops

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

Reply # 376677 4-Sep-2010 18:25

I wish it was that simple. There doesn't seem to be a problem with it dropping out normally and with the new wireless 'n' network I have the range is excellent.

When I did the testing earlier I was only a couple of meters away from the router anyway so range wouldn't be a problem.

I did see it work for a tantalising five seconds or so earlier. I was able to browse my movies and even start playing one for a couple of seconds until the connection dropped out.

billgates

3832 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 234

Trusted

Reply # 376678 4-Sep-2010 18:33

Wifi on 360 extender is laggy for pretty much everyone. Even scrolling menus on 360 media center is slow over wifi. I use a wired connection now and it's fast and freeview/HD content works flawlessly.

Do whatever you want to do man.

garygumdrops

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

Reply # 376684 4-Sep-2010 18:47

If it was easy to do the cabling from my bedroom to the router I'd have gone for a wired connection for sure.

It's annoying on a couple of levels because wireless 'n' should have more than enough bandwidth and I have a wired connection from the PC to the router which is gigabit so it's not like the wireless network has to go hard out.

When I ran the speed test on the pc it showed the link was almost at max (oscillated between far right columns).

Somehow it feels like it's not just wireless as it mostly doesn't work at all, not just a case of it working some of the time.

billgates

3832 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 234

Trusted

Reply # 376696 4-Sep-2010 19:39

make sure, 360 is far away from 2.4GHz cordless phone base, microwaves and bluetooth gear.

Do whatever you want to do man.

garygumdrops

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

Reply # 376698 4-Sep-2010 19:48

Well I wouldn't say it was far away but it's not close. And surely that's only a problem if the phone is being used? Certainly the microwave is not doing anything.
I do use Bluetooth for my laptop mouse though but that's not close by.

If I had environment problems like that I think I would be seeing the connection drop out when I was playing a game on the xbox but I don't.

billgates

3832 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 234

Trusted

Reply # 376703 4-Sep-2010 20:12

I know it's not an environment problem but these are the precautions you can take to minimize wifi issues. Xbox media center over wifi is painfully laggy and you are certainly not the only one.

Do whatever you want to do man.