LAN (local area network). A network switch and standard straight-through Ethernet cables may be used to link multiple consoles together, or two consoles can be connected directly. Connecting two Xbox consoles to each other without a switch requires a crossover cable, while Xbox 360 consoles can use standard cables. On the Xbox One, if one's console will not connect to their home Wi-Fi system, the best thing they can do is to factory reset the console and change their DNS resolver
when the console is restarted and refreshed.
One copy of each game for each Xbox console is required to use System Link. Each game must be an identical release, with or without identical bonus and/or downloadable content. Some Platinum Hits discs will not link with non-Platinum Hits discs.
The purpose of this is to have multiplayer gameplay on multiple consoles, which allows for a non-split screen multiplayer gaming experience and far more players in one game than a single console can support.
Halo
. While "system link" was popularized by the pre-Xbox Live era Xbox games, the capability has been used for years in computer gaming. The primary advantage of system link is to allow users to host their own games and control the settings. System link can be visualized as an Xbox being used as a small server and "hosting" other Xboxes.
System Link also allows for Virtual Private Networks (
VPNs
) to take place, which allows LAN to take place over the internet.
