Console Networking

Unlike PCs, consoles are not easy things to upgrade. The expansion ports found on some systems are usually meant to fit only proprietary hardware designed and sold by the original maker – you can’t just walk out to you favorite Fry’s and pick up a wireless network card or USB adapter.

The Xbox comes with an ethernet port built in, and with the Network Adaptor from Sony, the PlayStation 2 becomes similarly equipped. Both are then ready to accept an ethernet cable plugged into the back. That’s all fine and dandy if you don’t mind having network cables running around your television.

D-Link

In our experimentation with wireless online console gaming, D-Link provided us with a selection of hardware aimed at gamers. D-Link recognizes that gamers represent an important segment of the market. Its website has a special section called Gamers Haven, which is dedicated, oddly enough, to gamers and highlights tournament sponsorships.

Unlike certain products from other networking companies, D-Link does not specially package any part of its catalog exclusively for gamers. All the products featured in D-Link’s Gamers Haven are simply its existing line that can be used for (console) gaming applications.

We needed to get our PlayStation 2 and Xbox online without wires, and went about it using D-Link’s DWL-810+. The DWL-810+ is an enhanced 2.4GHz ethernet-to-wireless bridge conforming to the 802.11b standard. Its product features list that it is able to connect your game console to a wireless network (though that’s not all that it is capable of, which we will get to in a couple pages).

If it was an X, it'd be like a mini-Xbox

Where's the CPU core?