Unwire Your 360

Is "unwire" a word? I'd say it is now, but I don't assume I have the power to shape the English language. Anyway, if you own an Xbox 360 and you aren't on Xbox Live, you might as well have a rusted Pinto up on blocks in your front yard, because you're obviously the kind of person who doesn't enjoy getting the full use out of things.

But if your TV is nowhere near your computer, you might have trouble running the thousands of feet of Ethernet cable necessary to traverse your palatial estate. You could make use of your wireless network, but at close to $100, Microsoft's official Xbox 360 wifi adapter is over half the price of a new Arcade system. Ridiculous.

Enter Popular Science, the magazine that always scored more chicks than its less popular cousin, Science Dork. In an online edition of their Cheap Tricks column (you see what they did there?), they lay out a bargain basement solution to create your own 360 wireless adapter out of an old wireless router. Just flash the firmware, replace it with the free DD-WRT software, and you've avoided forking over a c-note to Bill Gates. If you happen to have a DD-WRT-compatible router lying around, this will be totally free. If not, you can always order a cheap used one online.

If you can't find a wireless router for under $30, though, there's another solution Popular Science doesn't mention. Buy this wireless access point/repeater, set it to your network's I.P. address, and it'll work just like the official Microsoft adapter. Don't say I never did nothin' for ya.

Source: Popular Science