Recently a friend of mine purchased a Verizon Novatel MiFi 2200. This was his only option for home broadband, and for playing XBOX Live.
The MiFi has built in port forwarding options for common tasks, but does not allow custom ports or applications to be added. There was no option for XBOX Live, and no amount of tweaking allowed the XBOX to connect properly. You could play just fine, but partying up was impossible.
After I thought all hope was lost I read that some users had had success with a device called a CradlePoint. The device was rather pricey, and just not an option for something that wasn’t a sure thing.
After thinking about it off and on for about a month I came to the conclusion that the CradlePoint had to be using the MiFi as a USB modem, a feature that is easily accomplished with DD-WRT. So I grabbed an old router (with a USB port), flashed DD-WRT, set everything up an violla! It worked! Yes, there are some latency issues, but the result is a very playable XBOX live experience.
Now, onto the important part, how to do it.
Required materials:
- Verizon MiFi (this will work with other carriers MiFi devices, you will just need to change the connection settings)
- A USB cable to plug the MiFi into the router (the one that came with the MiFi is just fine)
- A router supported by DD-WRT with at least 1 USB port. (I used a Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH router)
The Setup:
- Connect to the MiFi and go to the settings panel (192.168.1.1 in a browser default password is admin)
- Go to Advanced -> Diagnostics -> System Information
- Write down the MDN number. You are now done with the MiFi
- Flash DD-WRT onto the router
- On the DD-WRT router, navigate to 192.168.1.1
- Select the services tab, then USB
- Enable at least the first three items. (Newer versions will just be the first item, basically anything related to enabling USB support and not mass storage ect.)
- Go back to the set-up page
- Select “3G / UMTS” for Connection type under the WAN connection
- Dial number is #777
- Your username is <MDN>@vzw3g.com (replace <MDN> with the number you found in step 1)
- Password is vzw
- Leave APN and PIN blank.
- Save settings
- Apply settings
- Reboot the router
- Plug the MiFi into the router with the usb cord.
- Enjoy a nice XBOX Live experience
NOTE:
If you still can’t get open NAT enable uPnP or forward the necessary ports.
Conclusion:
Ideally a usb modem paired with the same router set-up would have been much better than the MiFi. However, if you are stuck with a MiFi, it works, and that’s all that matters.