Xbox 360 wireless controller extended range

[klein103103]

Is it possible to increase the range of the 360 wireless controller range? If so would it be possible to mod the plug and play adapter to connect to the top of the unit with an antenna to increase the range? I have been looking at the circuit board and trying to figure out where to start, if it is possible.

[stephen0205]

can i ask why you would need the controller to connect the the xbox at a longer range. Its a 30 foot range

[klein103103]

Yeah, I have my 360 hooked up to a hdmi 4x2 switch where one TV is connected 3 ft away from the switch and the other output of the matrix goes a long a 50ft HDMI cable to my other TV which is mounted about 40 ft away. I can play the 360 on either TV or at the same time. When I play on the further TV my wireless signal on the controller drops every so often. The main area playing area is approximately 29 ft but is behind the unit and goes through a wall and then down about 6 ft. When the controller drops out I have to stand up and hold the controller over my head to regain connection and then I can sit back down to play. So I figured if I could boost the antenna maybe 1 dB (or less) on the controller I would be fine. There is no possible way of moving the location of the xbox any closer as it is also tied to my AV setup. I also have eliminated as much wireless interference that I could by turning off wireless phone system and wireless router but that did not help.

[stephen0205]

well the only thing i can think of is moving the xbox 360, i know you said you cant, but it looks like your only option

[klein103103]

I was just wondering because I had read that the metal bar by the charge port was the antenna for the controller and that you could solder a 30 awg wire to it and then run that wire out of the controller and have it attached to a single wire antenna and hot glue it to the controller. That is why I was wondering if it was possible to maybe mod a plug and play attachment to plug into the controller and have it modded so that it was basically a plug in antenna that you can swap from controller to controller. That said if that was possible then possibly modding that mod with say a battery and booster circuit contained in it to get even more extended range, but that's a little ahead of myself. Does anyone possibly have a complete schematic of the the controller that I could use? Another possible solution is to mod the 360 unit itself on its antenna but voiding the warranty on my unit is not very appealing to me at this time and breaking a $30 controller vs a $300 unit seems better to me.

[Black Six]

You have to remember something about the system: A longer antenna does not necessarily mean better reception. I'm sure the current antenna length was chosen based on the wavelength of the signal used to communicate. What you probably need is an amplifier to increase the gain of the signal so that at a further range it has degraded less. Now, thinking about the console versus the controller, the console is plugged into the wall and has all the power it needs, so it's probably transmitting a fairly strong signal. The controller, on the other hand, runs on batteries and probably is optimized to use as little battery power as possible when transmitting the wireless signal.

Now I don't know any of this for sure, it's just supposition based on other wireless systems I've studied. My guess would be if you boosted the power on the controller transmitter you could solve your issue at the expense of battery life.

[klein103103]

What you say is correct about a longer antenna, but I believe the antenna selection they used was so that it could fit within the constraints of the controller. As for the antenna selected for the wavelength, an antenna that is designed for wireless G would probably work. I am just using the same theory that has been applied with other wifi apps, more surface area = better tx/rx, but there is a trade off as there is such thing as too large and then of course there is degradation from the signal traveling in the antenna itself, but in this app could probably be neglected as I am thinking of adding 6" vs. adding 6'. Also with my idea with moving the antenna on the system itself was just to move the antenna outside of box so it could be clear of obstruction from frame and noise from the unit itself. Or am I completely off on this idea of mine? I am hoping to get some time to try this, this weekend and am just trying to get as much info before I start this. If its not as simple as what I think I guess I'll have to design a signal amp for it. If thats a case anyone have any IC chip recommendations?

[Black Six]

I guess you are right that moving it out of the case would reduce interference due to the plastic and such. Since you seem to be right on the edge of its range it could do it. I don't know how easy it would be to use the Play 'n' Charge kit to make the antenna external though.

[klein103103]

Well I managed to take the controller apart today at work to see exactly this metal bar was and it appears to be tied to the circuit negative. So I am not sure what this source is telling me but instead of soldering a wireless router antenna with 30 awg to the metal bar I ended up soldering 26 awg wire to the negative contact where the battery goes with the router ant soldered to it. When I get home I will test it to see if it worked. If it does than it probably is safe to say that I then could take a plug and play kit and cut the usb off and attach an antenna to the pin closest to the sync button in the pnc port as that is ground as well then test that. I'll update once I get some "testing" done. I hope this works as I am sure I am no the only one with this problem.

[klein103103]

Well it worked sort of, I did get about an extra 6ft of range, but the controller still dropped out just as much. I wonder if I am experiencing more of a noise issue as there is 8 wifi access points in that location?

[Black Six]

According to this page, the controller does indeed operate in the same spectrum as 802.11b/g. Also, EIGHT access points? Doesn't that seem a bit overkill? Also, are they each operating on different channels? If they are, that's probably gonna cause quite a bit of interference for the controller. Going back to the amplifier idea again, if you were to do that it would probably hurt some of your WiFi connectivity. Perhaps you could run a USB cable and use a wired controller at the location?

[klein103103]

The 8 access points aren't all mine 7 of em are from my neighbors networks and that doesn't include any of there cordless phone systems that they may use. I just checked again and 4 are on channel 1 and 2 on 6 and one a 11. I don't think a long usb cable will work unfortunately and the gefen wireless usb is not cost effective in this app. If I have time I will try moving the location of the solder point of the antenna and try to reverse engineer the wifi circuit of the controller. Thanks for keeping your input coming in, the more failures I get into the closer I get to the solution.

[klein103103]

I am just updating what I have found out experimenting with solder points/antennas. The best Solder point I found for the antenna wire is on the common side of the crystal on the solder pad (12EBAVN5) which is side furthest from the micro processor (the big chip). I attached a 15db gain antenna to it (15 in long) and I couldn't connect 2 ft away, so the antenna was probably to large. I then switched to a 5" 3db gain antenna and that seems to help out a bit, disconnect only every 30 min or so and it reconnects right away, but when batteries are lower it disconnects more frequently(obviously). I also have the antenna shield soldered to the actual antenna as well and that probably isn't helping out. So ill be getting some more antennas and test various ones out 3db to 7db gain antennas. Does anyone know anywhere I can buy sma or tnc panel mount receptacle so I can just drill a hole in the controller case and solder the receptacle so that it is easy swap antennas and make the modification a little bit more professional? Thanks

[rikitheshadow]

What type of batteries are you using? I'm just curious, just started reading the thread.

[klein103103]

I am just using the standard Microsoft rechargeable battery pack that comes with the plug and play kit.