I have a wireless networking question. Please help!?

Question

I am not very computer savy but I need help. I have just a standard DSL internet connection. I have it setup where it's hardwired into the computer but my XBOX 360 is set up wireless for the connection. I sometimes get a lag or a slower connection when playing on XBOX live and its really bad if someone is on the computer surfing the web and I'm trying to play XBOX. My question is this. I don't know any specs on my wireless network router. I can tell you that it is a D-link and it is about 3 years old. If I was to buy a newer, better wireless network router, would it make my connection better and faster. I'm sure that these have gotten a lot better over the last couple of years.

Answer 1

Yes if you have the money for a new router that is the best way to go

Get a signal booster, the problem it sounds like is the signal isn't 100%, (the router is far from the xbox?)

there will always be moments of lag because there is always some packet loss in wireless. I play online with a wireless connection on my computer so I know what you mean..... :/ lag is not fun on a 3rd person shooter!

Answer 2

I doubt it!
You aren't going to get anything faster, thats your internet connection itself. The only thing that it MIGHT do is handle the load if people are sharing the internet more, but I doubt that! Its bandwidth problem! Not enough bandwidth to go around? Is this a new problem or been happening for a while? I have a similar problem (but my xbox goes straight into the gateway and then out to the DSL) the other computers in the house connect wirelessly. But last couple of times I have played Call of Duty 4 it have been getting bad connections, or not a good connection and so it jumps around a lot in the game (and I die). I can't tell if its a problem with Xbox live/there new update or if it is my internet?

Answer 3

I have a Linksys Wireless-G for my 360, and I use the Linksys network adapter. I had the same problem when I had the net adapter in my room, so I got a bigger Ethernet cord and put it outside my door. This made it a lot better because the router signal was not having to go through more walls. Also, whenever you are splitting your signal (such as other's using the router) you will lag. The best thing to do is put a password on the router so nobody besides residents of your house can access it. This will cut down on lag caused by outsiders using your connection.

Answer 4

It's always informative examining what everyone says. Here is what I would do if I were you, in the order of ease:

1) To make sure you are getting the most out of your DSL Service level, use a long Ethernet cable (get a Cat 6 cable if you can) and connect your Xbox 360 by wire. The limit on an Ethernet cable from the router is 100 meters. It may look ugly, but you can always use clear tape to tape the wire to the baseboard, and get a patch cable with a color that matches better to your carpet or baseboard.

2)Enable you router for Encryption (use WPA-PSK, or better yet WPA-PSK2 if you have it.) Although you won't be using wireless for Xbox, you don't want other people to steal you bandwidth through wireless. WPA-PSK2 takes a toll on their PC's horsepower if they still manage to hack in and piggy-back. That overhead may make them look for easier service to steal.

3) There are many things you can do to make it difficult for hackers to piggy-ride on your wireless: hide your SSID, use MAC Filtering. On top of that, if you are truly not using the wireless portion, you can disable the wireless portion in the settings, if you can. For a short term temporary solution, I've unscrewed the antenna off my LinkSys Router that I used as a bridge.

4)Check with your ISP Service Provider to see if they have a higher grade of broadband service and spring for that if it's worth it for you.

5) Your DSL connection speed will be slower than your neighbor's DSL connection speed (even at the same service level) if his house is closer to the box where they combined the signals from these copper wires and feed them into their Fiber Optics backbone. Not a lot you can do unless you can move closer to that box. So, if everyone in your neighborhood already has broadband service, talk to your neighborhood who has cable broadband and see what speed they are getting.

Cable broadband has higher top speeds than DSL, but it drops as more people in the neighborhood connect in for broadband or cable TV service.

Answer 5

Hi. There are basically 2 specs in consumer use. One runs at 11Mbps and the other at 54Mbps. Both are much faster than DSL. You probably should have a Broadband connection for gaming. So your answer is no, buying a better router is not going to speed things up.

Answer 6

slowness or fastness of your games or your computer downloads depends on the dsl speed you are subscribed to. you said you have standard dsl which means a speed of not more than 1 Mbps or lower (say 520 Kbps?). this means you may have the neatest computer on the block but it would also be the slowest. so, too, with your router. your router only passes on or splits the signal speed that you are receiving. that's the reason why you can't use both your computer and your XBox without sacrificing enjoyable speed.

Answer 7

It could be the connection speed of your broadband.
If someones surfing and downloading stuff at the same time, pictures, music etc. it will seriously hamper your Xbox...

Answer 8

Also, how fast is your DSL connection? What are the download (rated in Mbps) and upload speeds? That may be the issue.

Answer 9

The reason you lag is because of DSL
Definitely slower line

You need broadband

You can browse internet and play XBL

Expierenced*

Answer 10

I don't really think signal boosters help alot, but i got like three and just threw them all on there and it helped a good bit, and halo 3 sucks.