XBOX Wireless adapter is used to connect the XBOX console wirelessly to the existing wireless network (that is connected to the broadband internet) to allow you play games online in the comfort of your living room without the hassle of running the network cable.
Wireless network in home provides the easiness and portability. For gamers, having the wireless network in home is a much benefits. With your XBOX console, you can find a convenience place to experience online gaming without the clutter of the wires. How can you do that? You need an interface that allows you to connect to the existing wireless network via the radio frequency band. XBOX wireless adapter will function as the bridge that will allow the XBOX console to communicate with the network via the airwave and then connect to the wild internet.
Identify Your Existing Wireless Standard
One of the main reasons you build a wireless network in home is to share the broadband internet connection with many computers or any other network clients including the XBOX in the household. Now, which XBOX wireless adapter will fit to your existing network? Firstly you need to identify your existing wireless environment which wireless standard it is: wireless b/g/n or dual band. Dual-band frequency can be wireless G/A (802.11a/g) or wireless N/A (802.11a/n) network standards.
Knowing which wireless standard your existing network is, certainly you need the adapter with the same wireless standard as your network. For example, if you use the wireless –G router for your network, you should also need wireless –G adapter for the XBOX. However that statement doesn’t always true. Basically you can connect wireless –N adapter to the existing wireless –G network. But, you need to identify if the adapter is labeled with the Wi-Fi Certified. With the Wi-Fi Certified labeled, the adapter is assured to be compatible with the wireless standards as described in the labeled (wireless b/g/n).
Should y0u choose the adapter from the same vendor as your wireless router? Wi-Fi Certified labeled will guarantee that the adapter will be compatible with any industrial wireless devices. Or you can identify the manufacturer specification if the adapter supports the XBOX console. Basically the principle of the XBOX wireless adapter is a wireless bridge. You can use any types of wireless bridges as the wireless game adapter with Ethernet port enable to connect to the existing wireless network.
Future Upgrade
Probably your existing wireless b/g network is not satisfactory for daily tasks that demand higher speed, reliable connection and longer distance coverage, and you plan for future upgrade with the new wireless technology available today – the wireless n with dual-band network. Then you need the XBOX wireless adapter that is powered by the most recent technology available in the marketplace today: the 802.11n standard with dual-band feature. With the adapter that supports the draft 802.11n and dual-band technology, you will achieve the maximum throughput when connecting to the most powerful wireless router that supports draft 802.11n, dual-band, and QoS.
Wireless –G Adapter
If your existing wireless network uses the router with wireless –b/g standard, and you will never plan for future upgrade to wireless –n dual-band, then you should choose the XBOX wireless adapter with wireless –g standard. The adapter with wireless –G standard is cheaper than wireless –N.
Microsoft introduces two types XBOX adapters with wireless –G standards, one of them supports dual-band (wireless –G/A) and the other one is wireless –G adapter that supports all the wireless b/g/n networks.
D-Link also introduces DWL-G820 and DGL-3420 which are powered by wireless –G standards, but the DGL-3420 is a dual-band (wireless –g/a) version with the maximum speed up to 108Mbps in ideal condition.
Wireless –N adapter
For XBOX wireless adapter with wireless –n standard, Microsoft also introduces the wireless –n version with dual-band features. The adapter is designed for compact and high performance and is powered by Xbox 360 to eliminate adapter clutter. TrendNet also introduces TEW-647GA gaming adapter which is also powered by wireless –n standard. Linksys also introduces WET610n Linksys Gaming Adapter which is powered by wireless –n with dual-band feature too.
If the price different among XBOX wireless adapter products are not much big different, having the wireless –n with dual-band technology would be much benefit. If your current wireless network is based on wireless –n router with dual band, the throughput would be optimum. But if your current wireless network is based on wireless –g router, make sure that your wireless –n adapter is backward compatible with wireless –g standard.
