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Troubleshoot Your Wireless Networking Adapter

If you encounter problems with your Xbox 360™ Wireless Networking Adapter, try the possible solutions provided below.

• Console Doesn't Recognize Wireless Networking Adapter
• Console Doesn't Detect Wireless Network
• Signal Is Intermittent
• TV Pauses When Used with Console and Windows Media Center
• Unable to Save Network Settings or Password
• Wireless Security Settings Rejected
• Status Light Indications

Console Doesn't Recognize Wireless Networking Adapter

Make sure the power light on the adapter is on. If it isn't, check the USB connection. Try disconnecting the adapter cable and connecting it again.

Console Doesn't Detect Wireless Network

You might be out of range of your wireless network. Place your Xbox 360 console in the same room as your wireless router or second Xbox 360 console and try again. You can also try the following suggestions:

• Verify that an Ethernet cable is NOT plugged into your console's Ethernet port.
• Verify that your network's wireless access point, gateway, or router is powered on.
• Make sure that your router is broadcasting a wireless network name (SSID). The wireless router broadcast of the SSID might be disabled. See your router documentation for information about enabling SSID broadcast.
• Remove any obstructions between your Xbox 360 console and your wireless access point.
• Turn off any devices that may interfere with your wireless network (for example, microwave ovens or 2.4-GHz telephones).
• If you are using an infrastructure network, make sure the security settings on your wireless adapter match those on your wireless access point, gateway, or router (for example, your WEP key or WPA passphrase must match).
• If you are establishing an ad-hoc network, make sure the network name, channel, band, and security settings match the settings on the device with which you are establishing a connection.

Signal Is Intermittent

Some wireless devices using the 2.4-GHz radio frequency band—including the wireless adapter (MN-740) designed for the original Xbox console, most 2.4-GHz phones, some cell phones, and microwave ovens—may interfere with your wireless networking adapter.

If you experience network performance issues, try moving your 2.4-GHz device(s) away from your console (or vice versa). Or, upgrade your wireless network for 802.11a/g operation and set your adapter to operate on 802.11a, which should reduce interference and improve throughput.

Before relocating your console or wireless access point:

• Imagine a straight line between your Xbox 360 console and the access point.
• Locate your console and access point or router so that as few obstructions as possible exist along the straight line.
• Allow no more than two walls or two floors between the wireless adapter and the central access point.

TV Pauses When Used with Console and Windows Media Center

When connecting a PC running Windows Media Center to an 802.11 a+g access point or router, use 802.11a for the PC and 802.11g for your other wireless devices, such as laptop computers.

Unable to Save Network Settings or Password

Restore the factory defaults on the wireless networking adapter. When you go to the System area of the Xbox Dashboard to restore the factory defaults, the adapter status light will blink green and red, and then turn solid red to indicate that the defaults have been restored.

Wireless Security Settings Rejected

When entering your wireless security settings, remember that WEP keys must be in hexadecimal (0–9, A–F) format and WPA passphrases may be alphanumeric (consisting of both letters and numbers).

Status Light Indications

The status lights on the Xbox 360 Wireless Networking Adapter indicate the following:

• Green steady: Adapter is on and connected to a wireless access point (infrastructure) or another wireless device (ad-hoc).
  
  
• Red steady: Adapter is ready to be connected to a wireless network.
  
  
• Red blinking: Hardware failure.

Resources

To learn more about building a home network, see our primer on Home Networking.

To download a product manual, see our Index to Xbox 360 Instruction Manuals.