How to Play Xbox Live on a College Campus Network

Contributed by Aaron St. Clair April 21, 2011  
Tagged: Games  

PLEASE NOTE: This tutorial is for connecting to Xbox Live using an Ethernet cable. I’ve yet to find a workaround for wireless connections. If you figure one out, please post in the comments below.

First and foremost, connect your desktop (or laptop) to your school’s network via an Ethernet cable. Do not plug the cable to the Xbox yet. If you unplug and then plug it back into your computer, some settings could get changed and you would have to do the first few steps over again.

The second step is to register your computer on your school’s network. I am not going to go into detail about this because it is likely different for each campus. Once you are registered, you will probably see a screen similar to this:

MAC Users: Go to the following links, follow what they say and write down the corresponding info. Skip the next four steps.

IPv4 Address: http://www.wikihow.com/Find-Your-IP-Address-on-a-Mac
DNS Servers: http://www.askdavetaylor.com/find_the_dns_servers_on_your_mac.html
MAC (Physical) Address: http://www-dcn.fnal.gov/DCG-Docs/mac/ (Choose your OS from the list)
Subnet: http://www.ehow.com/how_6312220_subnet-mask-address.html
Default Gateway: http://kb.iu.edu/data/ajfx.html

PC Users:

Once you’ve registered your PC on the network, open your Start menu.

Search for “CMD.” (Without the “quotes”) When you find it, click it.

Type “ipconfig /all” (without the “quotes”) into the Command (CMD) Prompt that you opened and hit Enter.

You will be presented with a list of information concerning your computer’s current network configuration. There could be many things listed here, but you’re looking for a section titled “Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:”. When you find this section, copy down the information highlighted in red.

DOUBLE CHECK that you’ve written down the numbers correctly and make sure you’ve labeled them so you don’t get them mixed up.

MAC Users continue here…

Now, unplug the Ethernet cable from your PC and plug it into your Xbox 360. Turn your Xbox on. Since you’re not connected to the internet yet, I’ll assume you’re presented with a screen similar to this:

If not, scroll up or down until you get to the My Xbox menu. Press until you get to System Settings. Press .

Scroll down to Network Settings and press .

Press on Wired Network.

Press on Configure Network.

Under the Basic Settings menu, press on “IP Address, Subnet, Gateway.”

Make sure Manual is selected and press .

Press on IP Address.

Enter the number you wrote down for “IPv4 Address” from the CMD. Be sure you press on the button.

Go down to Subnet Mask and press .

Enter the number you wrote down for “Subnet Mask” from the CMD. You must press on the button.

Go down to Gateway and press .

Enter the number you wrote down for “Default Gateway” from the CMD. Once again, be sure you press on the button.

Go down to Done and press .

Go to DNS Settings and press .

Press on Primary DNS Server.

Enter the first number you wrote down for “DNS Servers” from the CMD. MAKE SURE you press on the button.

Go down to Secondary DNS Server and press .

Enter the second number you wrote down for “DNS Servers” from the CMD. You must press on the button.

Go to Done and press .

This will bring you back to the Basic Settings menu. Go right to the Additional Settings menu. Go down to Advanced Settings and press .

Press on Alternate MAC Address.

Enter the alphanumeric address you wrote down from the CMD. NOTE: On the CMD it’s listed as “Physical Address”. It’s vital to press on the button.

Go down to Done and press .

Now press to return to the Network Settings screen. Go down to Test Xbox LIVE Connection and press.

Three things will happen now.

1. Your Xbox will test for a connection to a Network. If this passes then you know everything you entered worked. If it doesn’t pass then you need to double check your credentials.2. Once the Network connection is established your Xbox tests for a connection to the Internet.3. Finally, your Xbox will test to make sure it can connect to Xbox Live.

Once all three pass you’ll be fully connected to Xbox Live.

Troubleshooting

On rare occasions, while testing for your Network, your Xbox will give you a DNS Error.

To fix this error, try entering Google’s free DNS Servers. (Primary: 8.8.8.8    Secondary: 8.8.8.8 or 4.4.4.4)

This is the only problem I’ve ran into thus far. If you have any other error PLEASE leave a comment below; I will respond ASAP.