FAQs

The recommendations I make in this section are of my own personal experience and based on feedback from 100's - 1000's of Xbox live users I have communicated with since the Xbox Live Beta days.

I base my recommendations on the following:-

• Compatibility with Xbox live and general home networking use
• Reliability
• Ease of use and Set-up (How long it takes to get setup and on live after unpacking the box)
• Support - Firmware updates and technical support

The routers I recommend match all four of the above. Some others on the market don't even match any. Some routers have very basic and silly bugs which just frustrate users, which I’ll never recommend.

Below is a link to the official Microsoft list of Xbox Live Certified Networking equipment:-

Microsoft Certified List

Microsoft List

All of the equipment on the list above has been certified by Microsoft to work with one or more Xboxes "out of the box". If you are using two or more Xboxes connected to the same router, some will not give all of your Xboxes a NAT status of Open. All of the routers on the Microsoft list do give a NAT status of Open, however there are other things to consider please look here for more details.

Also look out for the logo above when making a router purchase, it means that the item has undergone the Microsoft Vista Compatibility program which includes the UPnP support needed to support multiple Xboxes on a single device with Open NAT. Click on the logo to see which routers have passed the test.

For the Microsoft list click here
For the Dlink list click here
For the Netgear list click here