- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
The problem might be that you can't connect to live, period. Of course, you said that you can play Forza, so I don't know. Lucky for you, I have a guide that I wrote up to help someone in the exact same situation. College dorms are tricky to get XBL to work sometimes. I don't know the specifics, but what you have to do is trick the network into thinking that your XBOX is your computer. At least, at my school (Penn State) you have to - they are very tight with security and such. How do you trick your network into thinking your xbox is your computer? Follow these steps! Keep in mind that I have a 360 - I'm not sure if you can do with an original box, never tried it.
Hey, I saw your post and I'm bored as -blam!-, so I'm gonna do you a favor and write you up a comprehensive guide on how to do just that - connect your Xbox to Live through a dorm. I just did this the other day - took me a while to figure it out, but I did. Keep in mind I think this only works for a 360, which is what I have - but if there's options to change the IP address, DNS server, host name, and MAC address than this will work on a regular box as well.
1. Make sure your computer is still connected to the internet.
2. Click "Start", then "Run".
3. Type in "cmd", and click OK.
4. Type "ipconfig/all" into the command prompt.
5. You will see a lot of stuff come up. The important stuff here is Host Name, IP address, Subnet mask (should be255.255.255.0, at least it was for me and a few other people, may not be, though) , Default Gateway DNS, Secondary DNS, and Physical Address.
6. Keep all that on the screen. Now, unplug the ethernet cable from your computer and put it in your Xbox.
7. Go to Network Settings. Copy down all the above info into the Network Settings. Keep in mind you will have to switch it to Manual to do this, Automatic obviously assigns you an automatic IP, DNS, etc, so it won't work.
8. This is where most people screw up. You have to change the MAC address of the XBOX and the Host Name, or it won't work. These settings are under Advanced Settings. The MAC address of the XBOX is already pre-determined, but the Secondary MAC is not. Remember the "Physical Address" from the ipconfig/all? That is the MAC address that you need to enter. The host name is the name of your computer - on most people's comps its something like "JoesComputer" but your's might just be some random letters and numbers.
9. Enter all that. You should be set.
Let me know if this helps.