IP Address Failed on Xbox 360 Live Test

And the reason for this part to fail differs along with the difference of the type of connection you are using to connect your Xbox 360 console as follows:

a. Direct connection to modem:

1. Make sure first no other devices connected to the modem at the same time as some modems has an Ethernet port along with a USB port so, you might think you can use both at the same time & connect the PC through USB with the console through Ethernet & that's incorrect so, we need to disconnect the PC first.
2. Turn the modem off then turn it back on after couple of seconds (by turning the modem off I mean to unplug it from the wall outlet even if you have a power button for it), then go on the Dashboard of your Xbox 360 console to “System” area then “Network Settings” then "Restore to Factory Defaults" and when it ask you to Apply Settings select "Test Xbox Live".

3. If it's still not working we need to get the Physical Address of your PC to put it on the dashboard of your Xbox 360 console as some cable companies are preventing any unknown MAC Addresses from connecting, to get the Physical Address of you PC connect the PC only to the modem then follow these steps here, the physical address will look like this 00-E0-98-C1-88-C2.

4. Go on the dashboard of your Xbox 360 console to “System” area then “Network Settings” then “Edit Settings” then “Additional Settings” tab then select “Advanced settings” & put the Physical Address of your PC without the dashes on the “Alternate MAC Address” part and select "Done", when it asks you to Apply Settings choose “Test Xbox Live”.

b. Wired connection to router:

1. Go on the Dashboard of your Xbox 360 console to “System” area then “Network Settings” then “Restore To Factory Defaults", when it ask you to apply settings select "Test Xbox Live".
2. Turn the router off then turn it back on after couple of seconds, then go on the Dashboard of your Xbox 360 console to “System” area then “Network Settings” then "Test Xbox Live Connection".

c. Wireless connection to router:

1. Go on the Dashboard of your Xbox 360 console to “System” area then “Network Settings” then “Restore To Factory Defaults", when it ask you to apply settings select "Test Xbox Live"

2. Go on the Dashboard of your Xbox 360 console to the "system" area then "Network Settings" then "Edit Settings" then select your wireless settings part down there "Wireless Mode, Network Name,..." the console will automatically then search for your wireless network and when it find it and you select it, it will ask you to enter your wireless key which is called WEP or WPA key - you can find it written on your wireless router or then you need to contact your ISP (Internet Service Provider) to get it from them - when it ask you to apply settings select "Test Xbox Live". 3. Just a kind of higher security that some router may use than the WEP & WPA key, you have also to accept the Xbox 360 connection to your wireless network on the router settings, you have to access to your router settings as mentioned before to check on the wireless security part whether your router apply a MAC filtering option, which is an option that blocks any unknown MAC address (the ID of any device) from accessing to your wireless network, and if it applies that kind of security you’ll find your Xbox 360 MAC address on the list there so, allow the Xbox 360 to get connected to the network, or even you can just turn off the MAC access control option instead of that, then go on the Dashboard of your Xbox 360 console to “System” area then “Network Settings” then "Test Xbox Live Connection".

4. If it's still not working, you can put the Xbox 360 console - as a trial - in a closer position to the router to see wither it's going to pick up an IP address or not.

5. If even after you turn off the MAC filtering option on your router settings your Xbox 360 can't still get connected to Xbox Live you need then to update your router firmware (The router software) and if you don't know how to do so then call your ISP (Internet Service Provider) to assist you with that, then go on the Dashboard of your Xbox 360 console to “System” area then “Network Settings” then "Test Xbox Live Connection".

d. ICS (Internet Connection Sharing):

1. Go on the Dashboard of your Xbox 360 console to “System” area then “Network Settings” then “Restore to Factory Default" when it asks you to Apply Settings choose “Test Xbox Live”.

2. Allow the ICS option on the PC as mentioned before, then test Xbox Live.

3. If it's still not working, set the IP Settings manually to be:

IP Address: 192.168.0.2

Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

Gateway: 192.168.0.1

Then go on the Dashboard of your Xbox 360 console to “System” area then “Network Settings” then "Test Xbox Live Connection".

4. If it's still not working, you can get the IP address of your connection from the PC as mentioned before then set your IP manually on the Dashboard of your Xbox 360 console using this IP address, when it asks you to Apply Settings choose “Test Xbox Live”.

If you faced any other kind of troubles with this part failing even after you tried these steps please don't hesitate to leave a comment.

Some important terms when you connect to Xbox 360 Live

When we try to connect to live we'll face some terms that may confuse some of us, that's why I added this page to illustrate the main terminologies that may be new to any one.

1. IP Address:
An Internet Protocol Address is a unique address that certain electronic devices use in order to identify and communicate with each other on a computer network in simpler terms, it’s the device address online.

2. DNS:
The Domain Name System stores and associates many types of information with domain names; most importantly, it translates domain names (Like: xbox360liveblog.blogspot.com) to IP addresses (192.168.0.1).

3. MTU:
Which is the Maximum Transmission Unit refers to the size (in bytes) of the largest packet that the router can pass onwards at the same time. The maximum MTU is 1500.
However large packets can block up a slow interface for sometime, increasing the lag on other packets so it’s better to be set to the lowest possible MTU.

4. ICMP:
The Internet Control Message Protocol is chiefly used by networked computers & operating systems to send error messages indicating, for instance, that a requested service is not available or that a host or router could not be reached.

5. NAT:
The process of Network Address Translation involves re-writing the source addresses of IP packets as they pass through a router or firewall. Most systems using NAT do so in order to enable multiple hosts on a private network to access the Internet using a single public IP address, Like when you have more than one device at home connected to a router, so the router using the NAT process will generate an internal IP address that differs from the original public IP address it got from the original connection. Nonetheless, NAT can introduce complications in communication between hosts.

- If the NAT on Xbox Live test is strict that indicates that you most probably won’t be able to access to Xbox Live.
- If the NAT on Xbox Live test is moderate you will be able to access to live but will not be able to join certain game sessions or to hear what other players are saying & that’s an important piece of info as it’s not always the headset faulty so check the NAT first before you troubleshoot the headset.

6. DHCP:
The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is a set of rules used by a communications device such as a computer, router or network adapter to allow the device to request and obtain an IP address from a server which has a list of addresses available for assignment.

7. MAC Address:
The Media Access Control address is a unique identifier attached to most network adapters. It is a number that acts like a name for a particular network adapter.

In some devices like PC’s it’s called Physical address.

Continue to other terms