Getting the PSP online

[raphael2040]

I've had the PSP for a while now, well, since about May actually, and I've been trying to get it online with Xlink Kai. I have a D-Link 624+ router, and I thought just messing with the config would sort it out, but no; I still couldn't get my games online. Webbrowsing, I'm fine, it's just playing against other people.

I was told that I may need a WiFi card. If this is the case, can anyone recommend me any PSP-compatible WiFi cards, or just any other advice?

Thanks

~Tetsuo

[Pitch]

The PSP has an intergrated WiFi card. Not too sure what the problem is there is you can browse.

It seems it must be game specific.

[Kaitain]

The PSP with firmware v1.50 or less is very fiddly to get online. This is one of the many improvements made in later releases, for those that prefer functionality to homebrew

You need to make sure your router has the very latest firmware set up. Some routers (like the Netgear 834) could themselves be a little capricious in older firmware releases.

Set up a static IP address in the PSP. Although it's happy to do dynamic, a lot of games aren't. Make sure the little slider on the left-hand side is pushed up (enable/disable wifi) to enable the wireless.

Try first with the "Network Update" function. Don't worry if you don't want to flash your firmware, the Update function just connects to the net and tells you whether your PSP is up to date or not. You would have to download an 18MB file, charge your PSP fully, and run the downloaded file if you were to upgrade.

If you get a message saying that "updates are available" or that your PSP is already up to date, then you've no problem with networking.

[Áedán]

I never managed to get Xlink Kai working, so I gave up on it. Ignore the advice that most people here are giving, as it only applies to browsing the internet, not playing games.

The way Xlink Kai works *requires* a wifi card in a computer. It will not work with a router. Why? Well, most PSP games use Adhoc networking (which is good for temporary networks), not Infrastructure. Your router can only provide Infrastructure mode, which is good for browsing.

Each PSP game sets a different Adhoc network name - the PSP hosting the game acts as the 'master', and sets up the Adhoc network. All the PSPs acting as 'slaves' simply listen out for the correct name. What Xlink Kai does is to pretend to be another PSP by altering the settings of the WiFi card to match the game that is being played. Having said that, I've found that EU games, US games and Japanese games all use different Adhoc names based on the SKU of the game in question. That would mean that you can only play someone with the same SKU (IE, if it's a EU game, then you have to play against someone else with an EU game).

Can you tell who's been doing some research on how PSPs talk to each other?

[raphael2040]

Ah. I see. Well, I know how Adhoc works and all that fun stuff, but yeah, I just wanted to clarify that I need a WiFi card before I actually went out and spent some money on one.

Which reminds me. Can anyone recommend any good ones, that are guaranteed to work with my PSP?

~Tetsuo