Buy Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter A/B/G & N Networks

Customer Ratings:

360 is in the basement, router is on the 2nd floor. My main reason for upgrading was because while watching streaming netflix movies, it would stop and downgrade the quality to keep up with the streaming movie. This doesn't happen on my pc or when I moved the 360 one floor closer to the router.

The package comes with an instruction manual, installation cd and the adapter. The CD sleeve tells you to put it in first before connecting the adapter. I put it into my 360 and it just stared at me. Probably because I had already downloaded the latest 360 update through Live. The instructions were not clear on this but I feel it is for people that have never updated their 360 and need the WPA2 configuration installed to run wireless n. To clarify, to use wireless N you must use WPA or WPA2. You cannot use WEP encryption. If you do not change it on your router configuration, this adapter will run in ABG only. NOT N. You must also have a wireless N compatible router to run at wireless n speeds (duh).

I already had the older MS ABG adapter wirelessly connected to my 360 and linked to my router, so I just shut it down, unplugged the usb cable and plugged this one in instead. Rebooted and ran "test connection" and it kept the old configuration memory of the connection settings (MAC and ip addresses, passwords, WPA2, etc), except it connected full "4 bars" strong and stated the connection type was n instead of g. I checked this on the router as well through my pc. Connection speeds had varied from 28 to 54 mb/s but now jumped to 52 to 108 mb/s. Tested the unit thoroughly with MW2. No hiccups in voice or connection problems with server during multiplayer or spec ops. Also tested netflix streaming. No problems here either. Watched a full movie with no recalibration/interuption. This has never happened before even on a good day.

The adapter comes with little fold out feet on the bottom so you can stand it remotely if you buy a usb extension cable. Very handy feature if your 360 is buried in an entertainment rack.

Offnote complaint: Router is DLink DGL4500 GamerLounge ABGN, non-firmware updated (which has been known to cause problems). People have complained that this router is not simultaneous dual band. I was on xbox live playing a game in wireless n and using my iphone (wireless g only) to look up info on the net at the same time. I believe the "simultaneous" complaint refers to wireless n devices not being able to see wireless g devices on the same server. Does not affect my configuration.

Conclusion:

Does everyone need this? No. But if you don't want or can't run cable through your house and want the fastest connection speed possible, this is a great trouble free solution. When choosing between the older version and the newer one, the price differences between the two MS supplied adapters is minimal enough that this should be your purchase choice unless you NEVER plan to upgrade past g or your 360 is pretty much in line of site of your router.

I do not work for MS, own a PS3, have red ringed my 360, and still recommend this product.

Pro's: speed, pain free installation, speed, remotely locatable, speed, 2 antennae, did I mention speed???

Con's: clamshell packing, price, vague installation instructions, fragile antennae only pivot left/right, not forward/back or rotateable, same with old one. But since it can be located remotely, not really an issue.

GT: Jinx32

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I was getting ready to ship this adapter back after two days of tinkering with my network to get it to work with no results. My old Xbox wireless-g adapter worked fine, albeit with marginal connectivity and speed. I upgraded to this wireless-n adapter to solve those problems but found that it worked so poorly that I barely had a connection and couldn't use media center at all.

I spent two days tweaking everything I could think of on my network and then, as a last resort, I just switched my router (Linksys WRT330N) to operate in the 20MHz band instead of the 40, where I had it set previously. That was all it took, and now it works great with a strong signal. So, if the adapter doesn't work for you, make sure your router isn't set for wide-40MHz channel.

Best Deals for Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter A/B/G & N Networks

Can't route Cat-5 cable? This latest A/B/G & N Wireless Adapter, from Microsoft, is the next best bet. Emphasis on the "N."

Do you use the Apple Airport Express or the Apple Airport Extreme as your router? No worries, there are no compatibility issues; nor are there any NAT issues that interrupt game play, an issue that plagues certain routers on the market.

If you do not have an 802.11n capable router, but can spare the extra money, spring for this latest A/B/G & N wireless adapter. The Xbox 360 wireless adapter conforms to all four current wireless network standards and will work with any devices that support such.

Concerned about the color of the adapter not matching the color of your console? Regardless of how you display your console, horizontally or vertically, the adapter (if plugged into the rear of your console) is hidden and all that is visible are the grey antennae.

This newest adapter shares the same, almost plug-and-play, installation as the previous A/B/G generation wireless adapter. Simply plug the adapter into the back of your console and power the console on. If you are not already online, navigate to the system area of the Dashboard. Within the system area, enter in your network settings, test the settings, then log into Xbox Live and you are ready to go.

I was able to tell the difference in speed immediately, even when testing the Xbox Live connection in the network settings. Gone are the issues with streaming, and Netflix looks amazing in high definition. And most importantly, I am gaming multi-player lag free!

Things to consider: If you use wireless controllers with your system, you may get better performance using the 5-GHz band for your network connection, since the wireless controllers operate in the 2.4-GHz band. This also holds true with other common household devices such as cordless telephones and microwave ovens. Also, your 802.11n network only operates as fast as your slowest connected device. Therefore, if you want best performance it is suggested to switch to 5-GHz 802.11n only when gaming. Or, better, have a dual-band router dedicating feeds to the appropriate devices.

Honest reviews on Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter A/B/G & N Networks

Let's be clear upfront, if you are only using wireless for gaming, you won't see much improvement in speed in selecting a "N" band adapter versus a "G" band adapter. However, the "N" band adapter does give you slightly more range.

So why do you want this adapter then? For same reason as me, I purchased this to support streaming of audio and video to my XBox from my PC. I didn't want to run Ethernet cable between floors either. If that's your goal, or you are looking to stream Netflix to your XBox, then this adapter is what you want.

I should point out that in order to use the "N" band, your wireless router must support "N" band as well. I would think that's pretty obvious, but maybe not to everyone. I am using a DLink DIR-655 router that supports "N" band. One more thing, you need to ensure your router is set to support WPA and WPA2, these are the only encryption methods that support "N" band. If you have your router set to WEP, you'll need to change your router configuration.

INSTALLATION:

I found the installation of this to be very simple, plug it into back of the Xbox, turn your Xbox on and configure the adapter. This was done in only a couple of minutes. If you are replacing your existing XBox "G" band adapter with this one you shouldn't need to make any changes to your XBox set-up, run a "test network connection" to verify everything is working as expected.

The adapter can attach directly to the back of your XBox. However you'll probably want to install this using a USB cable so you can extend that away from the console to get a better signal. The adapter comes with feet that you can extend to stand it up.

PERFORMANCE:

Once my XBox wireless network was set-up I checked the performance. First, I verified the connection of the adapter on my router. It was listed as 802.11n (2.4GHz) as expected. The connection speed was showing between 220 and240. My router is on a different floor than my XBox, but still find this to be quite good. I then ran the network performance tune on the XBox. The graph showed I had a full connection suitable for TV as well as HDTV!

I tested the actual performance of the adapter by streaming a movie from my PC (high resolution) using Media Center. The movie started buffering first for about 2 seconds and then my movie started playing immediately. I watched the movie for about 5 minutes and noticed no delays or interruption in the playback. I also used Media Center to stream audio, as well as display my collection of family pictures in the background. I left this to play for over an hour with no interruptions in the playback.

CONCLUSION:

I did try another wireless "N" adapter before getting the Microsoft adapter. I was VERY displeased with that adapter. You can read my review on the Trendnet Wireless Adapter, "Save Yourself the Hassle if Using on Xbox 360 Get the Microsoft Adapter Instead" TRENDnet Wireless N Gaming Adapter-Black (TEW-647GA) (V1.0R). The Microsoft adapter is as simple as you can make it to add wireless "N" to your XBox. Performance is excellent. Sure it cost a few bucks more, but as I noted in my Trendnet review, you'll save yourself a lot of time and frustration, will easily justify the additional $$ to get Microsoft's "N" band adapter. As always, shop around for the best pricing. I've seen these offered for $79.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter A/B/G & N Networks

I have a WRT54G v2 wireless router and a G network. At first I thought this wireless adapter won't work with my router since it wasn't on the wireless routers compatible list on the Xbox 360 website... but I tried it and it works. I've described below how to get it to work with your console as well.

Before I plugged the adapter in the xbox 360 I inserted the accompanying disc in the console. When I restarted the console, no instructions came up on the screen and like one of the reviewers I thought I had the latest update on my xbox but that wasn't the case. I then inserted the wireless adapter in the console and it wouldn't detect my wireless network. It wasn't working.

After talking to an xbox customer support representative I was able to connect my console to the internet and xbox live. Here is what you need to do in order to get it to work:

First you have to disconnect the N network wireless adpater from the USB port. Then you have to go in the console system settings and enable Auto Start. Then in the system settings you need to select Startup and select "Disc" as the option. After that you need to insert the disc and turn off the console. Wait 10 seconds and then turn the console back on. At this point the instructions for the update will show up on the screen and ask you to install the update. Select "yes". After the update is done, the console will restart on its own. Next, you have to insert the wireless N adapter in one of the USB ports. Then a message will come up that your adapter was detected and will take you to network settings to have them set. You have to enter the SSID and possibly the WEP/WPA keys if your network is secured. After that you have to go in Network Settings and test the xbox live connection. It should all show green. When you do the test another update will have to be installed in order for you to be able to connect to xbox live.

This should save you a lot of headache when getting the adapter to work with the console.

Good luck!