Protect Yourself While Gaming: Use a VPN on XBox

The Xbox series of gaming consoles have been incredibly popular. With the only true rival being the equally popular Playstation gaming consoles, Xbox enjoys a big slice of the home console and online gaming scene. With that success comes problems. And problems online means hackers. This can be DDoS attacks, online identity theft, and information stealing. Protecting yourself while gaming is now a serious need.

Fortunately, you can use a VPN on Xbox to protect yourself against these threats, your privacy, and help you enjoy a few perks like better group gaming, and even getting you through geo-blocks. Read on to see how to setup a VPN on your Xbox so that you can be secure, and enjoy a better gaming experience.

Who wants to harm a gamer on Xbox anyway?

There are any number of reasons that someone would want to harm a gamer. It could be a DDoS attack designed to disrupt a live tournament. It could be a cybercriminal stealing sensitive information, like with the Steam hack. It could even be someone stealing your Xbox account and using it to make purchases that they send to themselves!

This can be a real problem if you’re a frequent user of Xbox live. And with more and more games requiring an Internet connection, it’s almost impossible to not connect. A VPN gives you an encrypted connection to the Internet so that you don’t have to worry about a vast majority of these issues. Some of the best VPN providers even help gamers enjoy a better experience as multiple friends join the same server for online play.

For bonus points, a VPN will also help you get around geo-blocks. These are restrictions placed on what you can access based on where you live. It can also be an issue of getting cheaper online games as prices can vary widely from country to country due to unjust taxation laws.

Setting up a VPN on your Xbox using your computer

Connecting your VPN to your Xbox through your computer is a pretty simple process. First, you obviously have to have a VPN setup and installed, with a valid account. You can choose the best VPN provider for your needs right here on our website.

Once you have the VPN downloaded, installed, and connected on your computer:

Use an Ethernet cable or WiFi to connect your Xbox to your computer.
Go to the ‘Network and Sharing’ area of your computer’s Control Panel.
Choose the ‘Change Adapter Settings’ from the sidebar on the left.
Use a right click on your VPN connection and select ‘Properties.’
Go to the ‘Sharing’ tab of this window.
Select ‘Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s internet connection’ with a check mark.
From the drop down menu that is below ‘Home Networking Connection,’ choose ‘Local Area Network.’ Now you can press ‘Ok!’

What you have basically done is set up a Local Area Network for your computer and Xbox to both work through. This allows you all of the protection I was talking about above, while changing your server before you connect your Xbox gives you the chance to get around geo blocked content and games. With companies offering games and discounts exclusively to North America from time to time, this can be a huge advantage.

Connecting your Xbox to a VPN router

You can also tunnel your entire Internet experience through a VPN enabled router. Now everything that you connect to the router will be going through the VPN, including your Xbox. Here’s how to do that:

Connect to your router’s system control panel. You can do this via WiFi, but Ethernet cable works best.
Go to the place in your system where you can control your WAN and Internet setting. This tab is usually called ‘Network,’ ‘Basic,’ or ‘Basic Setup.’
Use the setup details provided by your VPN provider, like your username, password, and any gateway or subnet mask settings they send you. If in doubt, ask your individual provider for specifics. These things can vary slightly from provider to provider.
Change the connection type to the appropriate protocol. I prefer L2TP or OpenVPN protocols. PPTP does allow for faster connections while sacrificing encryption.
Select the DCHP settings provided by your VPN.
Save the settings.

Now you can experience a VPN connection on your Xbox, and anything else which you connect to that router! Your experience with online games will be more secure, you’ll be able to surpass geo blocks, and cheaters at online competitions will actually have to beat you rather than DDoS you!

Feature image via Production Perig / Shutterstock
Riri playing Xbox photo credit Gamescore .