No Adaptor, No Problem

So, you have an Xbox 360 and want to connect to Xbox Live without running 100 feet of ethernet cable through your house? You have two options: the Xbox 360 WiFi adaptor, which sells for $100, or use your MacBook for free. If you have a 360 WiFi adaptor, then you might as well stop reading this right now. If you refuse to spend that much money for a feature that should be free for a $350 dollar device, then read on!

You will need:

• Apple MacBook, MacBook Pro, iMac, or any Mac with WiFi and an ethernet port that runs Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard or above. You will need to move this Mac so that it will be close to your Xbox 360.
• Microsoft Xbox 360
• Ethernet cable
• A WiFi connection

The lowdown:

This is a relatively simple procedure, and should not take you more than 10 minutes. Its FinderFixit difficulty rating is 1 out of 5.

The Procedure:

On Your Mac:

Step 1:
Log into your router’s configuration page, and locate your router’s main IP address. Write it down.

Step 2:
Go to system preferences, then network. Then, chooses to show the settings for  your Mac’s built in ethernet.

Step 3:
Go to the “Configure IPv4″ selection, and change it to “Manually.”

Step 4:
In the “IP Address” field below, type 10.0.0.1

Step 5:
In the “Subnet Mask” field below, type 255.255.255.0

Step 6:
Apply the settings, and enter your password if necessary.

Step 7:
Now, go to the “Sharing” pane in System Preferences.

Step 8:
Now check the “Internet Sharing” check box.

Step 9:
In the “Share your connection from” check box, select “AirPort.”

Step 10:
In the “To computers using” list, check “Ethernet.”

Step 11:
Apply the settings, and enter your password if necessary.

On your Xbox 360:

Step 1:
Connect your Xbox 360 to your MacBook with the ethernet cable.

Step 2:
Go to the “System” blade on your Xbox, and go to edit settings.

Step 3:
Open your IP settings, and click manual.

Step 4:
Change the IP address to 10.0.0.2

Step 5:
Change the Subnet Mask to 255.255.255.0

Step 6:
Change the Gateway to 10.0.0.1

Step 7:
Save your settings.

Step 8:
It will automatically do a network test, and fail. Don’t worry, this is normal. Just quit out of that, and go back to the edit network settings page.

Step 9:
Now, go into the DNS Settings.

Step 10:
For the Primary DNS, just enter 192.168.1.1, or whatever IP you use to enter the router configuration page.

Step 11:
For the Secondary DNS, enter whatever you IP address you wrote down from the router configuration page.

Step 12:
Save the settings, and it will go into the test. Let the tests run, and you will pass the test.

Step 13:
Congratulations! You have now saved yourself $100 dollars by using your $1000 MacBook instead of a WiFi adaptor. Ironic, isn’t it.