Do I have to use a wired connection or can I go wireless?

Don't feel that you're restricted to having cables running all over your room. Microsoft sells an Xbox 360 wireless network adapter which can tap on your home Wi-Fi network.

There are, however, some minor issues. This proprietary adapter works in the 2.4GHz frequency range. Many other electronics, including wireless phones and microwave ovens, work at this frequency and interferences could ensue. Wireless connections are also generally slightly slower than wired ones, with higher instances of dropped signals. If you're a very competitive gamer, a wired connection is the way to go. Though for the vast majority of gamers, there's no appreciable difference in speed or signal strength.

I've plugged my Xbox 360 into my router and nothing happens. Help!

If you're having trouble with your network recognizing your console, or your Xbox simply isn't acting as if it's connected, try using the Xbox 360 connectivity wizard located in the Settings blade of the New Xbox Experience menu.

By following the onscreen prompts, your Xbox will check your IP address, network adapter or wireless connection; Network Address Translation settings; and whether the issue is with Xbox Live itself, among other things, to see if it can detect a problem in your settings. It will then advise you what to do to correct the problem and get you playing online faster.

I just connected and now my Xbox is downloading something. What did I do?

Don't worry, it's just the New Xbox Experience, an update for the Xbox 360 operating system that enables you to play on Xbox Live. The download is about 128MB in size, which will take up a fairly hefty chunk out of your storage if you have only a 256MB Xbox memory card. One of the benefits of the New Xbox Experience is the ability to install games directly onto a hard drive, dramatically speeding up load time in-game. So we recommend buying an Xbox hard drive if you don't already have one.

Newer "Jasper" series consoles have a limited amount of internal memory to fix this issue, so you may want to check what model you're buying as there is still a lot of older stock on store shelves.

Tags: Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Xbox Live, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Xbox 360, cable