Xbox Elite sound prob.

[oO DARKSAINT Oo]

My buddy just got a 'Elite', and when he goes on-line his microphone is muffled real bad. I thought that it was his mic. so I loaned him one of my extras. It still is muffled. His unit is on a wireless network, could that be the problem?
Checked the settings, and everything looks good. Any suggestions?

[Leathersoup]

Having a poor wireless connection can cause voice to be degraded. I cheaped out when I first got a wireless router and I payed for it. I would get disconnected from Live at inconvenient times and the voice quality made it sound like I was drowning or something. That's how I heard the other people too.
I picked up a better router and my problems have disappeared. Faster downloads from Live, better voice comms, and less disconnects when gaming.

My first wireless router was the cheapest I could find which was a D-Link Airplus Extreme G. I thought it would be sufficient. The setup was easy but the performance was horrible.
I now use the D-Link Rangebooster N. Although the Xbox doesn't do 80211n the functional range is increased over the older one and it is well worth the extra 50 dollars.

[oO DARKSAINT Oo]

Thank you for your imput. Thats what I thought was. I'll loan him my router to check, his is pretty old.

[stonyarc]

Well actually the operating of the 360 is supposed to adapt itself to the available bandwidth as it comes to voice quality and/or 360 webcam quality.

So indeed if the connection isn't optimal (WPA 2 can also cause it) the quality (actually the compression) is changed to reflect it.

[oO DARKSAINT Oo]

It's fixed. Not all the ports were open. Once the settings were fixed, everything is working propertly. He(kraplan) will be joining us for the Halo 3 gamming sesion this week.

[stonyarc]

It's fixed. Not all the ports were open. Once the settings were fixed, everything is working propertly. He(kraplan) will be joining us for the Halo 3 gamming sesion this week.


Good to hear it's fixed now.

For those that wonder what ports on your firewall that need to be available/open


Most broadband routers use Network Address Translation (NAT). Windows Internet Connection Sharing also uses NAT.

For most devices that use NAT, port forwarding is not required to connect to Xbox Live. This is especially true if you use an Xbox Live certified device. Port forwarding should only be needed if you use a proxy server or a true firewall device instead of, or in addition to a NAT. Sometimes, you may have to configure port settings on a non Xbox Live certified router or gateway.

If there is a firewall device between the Xbox console and the network device, you may have to configure the firewall to enable communication on specific network ports. If the NAT status in the Network Status area of the Dashboard is "moderate" or "strict," you may have to configure port settings.

The following ports must be available for Xbox Live to operate correctly:


UDP 88
UDP 3074
TCP 3074


For information about how to configure port settings on a firewall, router, or gateway, see the documentation that came with the device. If you are using an Xbox Live certified device, and the NAT status in the Network Status area of the Dashboard is "Moderate" or "strict," verify that the device has the correct firmware. For information about Xbox Live certified devices, including the correct firmware version for the device, visit the following Xbox Web site:
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/connecttolive/