- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
I dont want their to be any confusion here, so I'll give it another shot at explaining it:
If you only have 2 xboxes that you want to connect
XBOX------(crossover)-------XBOX
i.e back to back xboxes need a crossover between them.
(the "link-cable" sold for xboxes will be a crossover.)
or if you have a hub, there's no reason why you cant use it to connect 2 xboxes, but this time you use straight through cable.
XBOX----(straight through)-----HUB----(straight through)-----XBOX
i.e if you have a hub or switch, you can connect 2 or more xboxes (depends on how many hub ports) through the hub, but each cable is a Straight through Patch cable like this:
|----------(straight through)-----XBOX
|
|
HUB----(straight through)-----XBOX
|
|
|----------(straight through)-----XBOX
Some people may have found that when you use a central hub in a LAN, a crossover cable works fine between the hub and an xbox. This is because some hubs are smart enough correct for it. You might get away with a crossover connection between the hub and ONE of the xboxes.
If you want a responsive LAN with as little lag as possible this may help:
1. Buy a switch, not a hub. Definitely, you should be using a switch. I'm not going to explain why here.
2. DO NOT cut open a cable and rewire it to convert crossover to straight through or vice-versa.
Althought this may work if you only have 2-3 xboxes in the LAN, if your xboxes are in the same room, and the cut cable isn't very long (<1m).
But if you plan on having a few more xboxes in the LAN, or have xboxes in different rooms in your house or dorm, you will start to feel the delay.
3. In larger LAN parties, if you only have one very good quality cable, use it on the link to the xbox that will "host" the multiplayer sessions.
Hehe delay should not an excuse for being owned! You will be at a disadvantage if the cable to your xbox is shoddy.
[Edited on 07.24.2007 2:13 AM PDT]