Network Layout: (im at work so i apologize for not having model numbers) Router: netgear 4 port wireless router. Xbox360 and Playstation 3 connected directly via cable. Another cable connects directly to a linksys gigabit switch. Wirelessly connected: Iphone, PSP and an occational laptop. Switch: 1 of the two xp 64 computers is DMZ'd (both are primarily used for gaming and downloading tv shows on bit torrent). Another gaming computer (rarely used) and a laptop directly connected. Problem 1: my netgear router would occasionally stop working, I would lose internet connection and be unable to contact the router. Unplugging it and plugging it back in would fix the problem. I borrowed a linksys 802.11b router and the problem would occur far more frequently. Unplugging it and plugging it back in would fix the problem. I have now switched back to my netgear router. Any ideas as to why the same problem would occur on 2 seperate routers? Problem 2: Occationally a friend will bring over anotehr xbox360 and there are always problems with internet connectivity when we do that, 1 xbox has all the xbox live ports forwarded but the other does not. Is there a way to have multiple consoles DMZ'd? Problem 3: More of a question. If a computer has 2 gigabit network cards, can you connect two cable to a gigabit switch and recieve faster speeds?

Problem 1: Make sure your routers are put in a well vented area. Most lockups of the router/switches occur when the hardware overheats because is not vented or doesn't receive good air circulation. (This is just first step suggestion) Problem 2: The problem will be in the address translation. Having ports forwarded or DMZ'd is fine and all, but the XboxLive service won't connect to two Xboxes on the same IP at the same time. You need two separate internet connections to connect to Xboxlive at the same time. Problem 3: Gigabit is really useful in home if you have the proper hardware. So, connecting two computers through a gigabit switch or gigabit router would work well for those computers. However, most cable/dsl modems have either a 10mpbs or 100mbps connections. Hope this helps! Life is love of computing :)

Awesome thank you for your help. I could see a potential for my router and switch overheating, ill try moving them. I know that my cable wont do gigabit speeds, but when i transfer large files on the internal network it seems slow. I was hoping to boost my transfer speeds by hooking both computers up to the switch twice.

that should work on the switch because it Problem 3: no top speed is 1 gig on switch so thats the total maximum bandwidth so 2 gig connections from 1 pc gives a total of 2 gig. so the network will bottle neck at the switch since 2 gig cant go into 1 gig switch. but since your cabeling isnt up to 1 gig your only going to get a max of 200mb(2X 100mb) full tilt out of one machine and the switch can handle 1000mb so 200mb will go into 1000mb you need to set the computer up to load balance though for it to be effective. depends on what the routing protocol on the pc is(how it choses which connection to use). i don't know if windows naturally load balance. what it might do and i suspect this from my laptop is it uses 1 connection no matter then if something faster comes along it uses that. but if something the same speed is there then it keeps that for back up in case the first connection fails also xbox live i would have thought the nat on the router would have sorted that out or is it something to do with the verification of the connection with the xbox live system? could you explain more wappa also wappa might be right on the dropping the connection but i had a netgear router and it done that at regular intivals and i found a flash for it that fixed the problem. it was something to do with the up time in my case and not heat cos a simple reboot(software not powered down)on it would kick it back into life. all text needs typos. There there for the reader to find,to distract them from the total lack of content. google it! wasnt the answer to the question i asked so dont be dense and give me that repl

On the DMZ thing... you can DMZ both Xboxes (or should be able to) to allow the Xboxes to connect to see if everything works that way. As for the XboxLive service, you would need to see if they allow multiple connections from the same IP. I tried searching (in their FAQ) but came up with nothing. Life is love of computing :)