Xbox:Online Play

While Xbox Live was shutdown for the original Xbox in April 2010, you can still play over the Internet using a free Xbox Live recreation — Insignia. Alternatively, there is XLink Kai or XBSlink on any game that supports System Link, and XLAN on most.

Xbox Live Recreation

Insignia is a reverse engineered recreation of Xbox Live for the original Xbox. Below is a full registration and setup tutorial by MrMario2011.

Required Items

A modified original Xbox (the service does not work on Xbox 360 or later consoles). A stock Xbox can be used if you exploit the console without installing a softmod.
- If you have a softmodded console, you will need to upgrade it using the Rocky5's Xbox Softmodding Tool.
- If you are running a hardmodded console, only the Evox BIOS is supported.

Installation

On your dashboard, set your Network settings to a Static IP address and add your network's subnet mask and gateway.
- Subnet mask and gateway can be obtained on a Windows PC by pressing Start, searching for "command prompt", and running the command ipconfig.
Set the first DNS setting to 46.101.64.175 and second DNS setting to 0.0.0.0 (or 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8).
Download the setup.xbe file from the Insignia GitHub.
Use Xbox:FTP to transfer the setup.xbe file to your Xbox. It's recommended to put it in E:\Apps\Insignia Setup\.
Restart your Xbox (or refresh the dashboard) and the application should show up in your dashboard. Launch it.
Select "Register Xbox" and it should pop up a message that it was successful.
Select "Quit Setup Assistant".
Launch the Microsoft Dashboard and navigate to Settings > Network Settings, and choose Connect. All four connection status lights should light up green, indicating a proper connection to Insignia.
- If you run into issues, launch the Insignia Setup Assistant again and click the "Troubleshoot" button.

Registration

Visit the Insignia website and sign up using your email address. If you are accepted into the beta, you will receive an invite email containing a single-use code.
On the Microsoft Dashboard, select the Xbox Live tab > New Account, and follow the prompts to create an account. If your country is not listed, choose the geographically closest country.
When prompted for a "Subscription Code", enter the single-use code that was sent in your invite email.
When prompted for a credit card number, use the fake information below:
- Payment Method: Visa
- Cardholder Name: (any name)
- Credit Card Number: 4111 1111 1111 1111
- Expiration Date: (any future date)
- Phone Number: 123-456-7890
- Email Address: Use the valid email address you used to sign up for your account.
Choose "No" to the options asking about sharing information.
Choose "Yes" to activate your account, and choose "Done".
Choose your account you just created > Account Management > Account Settings. You will be prompted for the last four digits of a credit card number, which you will retrieve from the Insignia website in the next step.
Log into Insignia website, click your name in the top-right corner and choose "Dashboard". Click the "Recovery Info" tab > Reveal. Enter the last four numbers into your console and it will open the Account Settings menu.
Change the Voice, Premium Purchases, and Created Content settings to "Enabled". You can now access all features of Insignia.

System Link

XLink Kai is account based, uses a central server, is more popular, and allows adding friends and chat messaging. XBSlink on the other hand has the option to use peer-to-peer (P2P) connection between players, and therefore does not rely on a server being up, is more stable, easier to setup, and open source. XLAN only supports client - server netcode games, but allows ping restrictions on rooms, is very stable, and has the unique feature of being able to simulate the same latency to the host for all clients.