360 Wireless without an adapter

y2jake215

My 360 is connected to a wireless bridge, which is then connected to my wireless network. I've used this setup for several years, but recently our internet connection has slowed down. I've spied random names on "Shared computers" in iTunes, I'm assuming people have started using our network, so it's about time to add a password. I haven't done this in the past because, since I have the 360 set up the way it is, it doesn't consider itself connected wirelessly, and won't let me put in a network password, so I can't use Live with one. Is there any way to connect to a wireless network with a password without buying a $50 network adapter?

DevoutlyApathetic

Uh, shouldn't all the password stuff be in the wireless bridge?

Alternatively set your router up to filter by MAC address so the bridge is included.

This is supposedly easy to get around but it will still stop 99% of people.

Edit: I know at one time I also had my xbox hooked up by bridging a laptops wireless connection to the xbox. As for the xbox was concerned it was a LAN connection.

y2jake215

the problem is I set up the wireless bridge so long ago I really have no idea how I did it. I think it may have even been originally for a PS2, and just kept working.

I use an Airport (Extreme, I think) Base Station. How would I filter by MAC address?

edit: Figured out how to filter the MAC addresses for the router. How exactly do I find out what a certain computer's MAC address is? or more importantly what the bridge MAC is

punk

MAC addresses can be spoofed, so a MAC filter is kind of useless unless you augment it with other security measures.

All your bridge does is connect to your WLAN just like another computer would - so it shouldn't be as complicated as a "true" wireless bridge would be. Like a client, it should have wireless settings that you can configure. You can probably find the device's manual online. From there it's a simple matter of configuring your wireless router with a pre-shared key. Use WPA2-AES if available, WPA2-TKIP if not. Then hop onto the bridge and enter the new credentials and you should be good to go.

DevoutlyApathetic

MAC address are hardware specific. Should be on a plate somewhere on the bridge.

Wait, are you even certain the bridge is still connected? If you added the password on your wireless but didn't update it.....I don't see how that'd be still working.

Edit: punk is right about the spoof-ability but really, I question the reward versus the time expended of fucking around with extra precautions.

y2jake215

Bridge definitely still works - I enabled a guest network for the night so my brother could still use Live and it worked fine. I'll try what you said next, punk.

Essee

Yeah, adding a password for the wireless aspect should do absolutely nothing whatsoever to your 360's internet connection because IT is actually connected via LAN. The only things affected will be wireless devices, which your 360 is not, because yes-- the only way you can get an old 360 to go wireless is to buy a crazy-expensive adapter, because Microsoft says so (okay, presumably somebody might have come out with a 3rd-party adapter as well, but my point still stands). What you have done didn't actually make it wireless, so you should be just fine.

Edit: Oh yeah, I have an Airport Extreme myself (though it's at my mom's house right now), so if you're having any trouble setting things up I can probably help.

corky842

Essee wrote:

Yeah, adding a password for the wireless aspect should do absolutely nothing whatsoever to your 360's internet connection because IT is actually connected via LAN. The only things affected will be wireless devices, which your 360 is not, because yes-- the only way you can get an old 360 to go wireless is to buy a crazy-expensive adapter, because Microsoft says so (okay, presumably somebody might have come out with a 3rd-party adapter as well, but my point still stands). What you have done didn't actually make it wireless, so you should be just fine.

Edit: Oh yeah, I have an Airport Extreme myself (though it's at my mom's house right now), so if you're having any trouble setting things up I can probably help.

Actually, it is wireless. A wireless bridge is basically a wifi adapter that passes the wifi signal to an ethernet port, which then goes through an ethernet cable to a device that only has an ethernet port for networking.

You should be able to configure the bridge with any computer. Any idea what model it is? The manual is probably online somewhere.

Essee

corky842 wrote:

Essee wrote:

Yeah, adding a password for the wireless aspect should do absolutely nothing whatsoever to your 360's internet connection because IT is actually connected via LAN. The only things affected will be wireless devices, which your 360 is not, because yes-- the only way you can get an old 360 to go wireless is to buy a crazy-expensive adapter, because Microsoft says so (okay, presumably somebody might have come out with a 3rd-party adapter as well, but my point still stands). What you have done didn't actually make it wireless, so you should be just fine.

Edit: Oh yeah, I have an Airport Extreme myself (though it's at my mom's house right now), so if you're having any trouble setting things up I can probably help.

Actually, it is wireless. A wireless bridge is basically a wifi adapter that passes the wifi signal to an ethernet port, which then goes through an ethernet cable to a device that only has an ethernet port for networking.

You should be able to configure the bridge with any computer. Any idea what model it is? The manual is probably online somewhere.

I know that the bridge is wireless. I was trying to say that nothing has to be changed on the 360 itself. Obviously he is basically connecting wirelessly to the internet in that way. He was worrying about the 360, I thought, not so much the bridge (although naturally he has to make sure that side of things is properly set up), and I responded with that in mind.

Edit: I mean, I didn't try to address the bridge part at all because I'm not used to using a bridge myself. I was just trying to make it clear that he can leave the 360 itself alone and just make sure the bridge is connected to the router. Maybe that didn't come across.