Help setting up an Xbox Live connection?

I'm currently at Fort Knox (permanent party) and I would like to set up an Xbox Live connection if possible. Right now I have to use their American Warrior Networks connection (plug into a wall with ethernet cord) and I heard that during AIT you can reroute the internet from your computer to Xbox. How would I go about doing this if my computer only has 1 ethernet port, which is being used to access the internet? Would a simple port splitter thing work, or am I SOL?

Suggestion:

If you have only one network card in your computer (a single network jack on the back, no wifi card or usb card, etc etc) then you cannot reroute the internet through it because it has to have an input and output card.

If you have (or get) two or more network cards in your computer then you can reroute the internet through it, but you will need your computer to be on whenever you want internet access. You'll also need to setup a network bridge on your computer to connect the two cards, its pretty easy to do in windows. Sometimes with windows XP the bridge wouldn't operate right, in that case you can use the network connection wizard and tell it your computer connects directly to the internet and other computers connect through the second card.

If you get a router, or possibly a switch but those can be finicky depending how the network is setup, then you can put that between the wall and your computer (as long as they allow you to), and use it to split the network connection to multiple devices. If its a wireless router then you can also connect wireless devices to it (If your XBox has a wireless kit, or you have a wireless bridge, then you can connect it via wifi). Also, you would only need to leave the router powered on to connect, as opposed to your computer.

A note on port splitters, in my experience they can be annoying to set up, some of them require a splitter on both sides and if you don't control the network it can be difficult to get it setup. For the most part a switch or router is a better bet because it'll not only split the cable but also control the information flow so its understandable to the network.

The easiest path is typically a router in cases like this. Like I said a switch might work, but its not certain. If you decide to go with Wifi and decide to use encryption (for a private network) just remember to stay away from WEP if possible and use WPA, much more effective.

If you want to setup a wireless bridge as well (wireless router that connects to a wireless network) then I suggest looking into dd-wrt, its a free firmware upgrade that greatly expands the capabilities of a number of routers, they have a list of compatible routers on the site.

Hope this helps.

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Help Setting Up an Xbox Live Connection?