Home network and Xbox console

[Amethyst_08]

I have a satellite modem connected by wire to a linksys router. The router has been set up with WEP security. There is a PC connected by cable to the router. The router also connects wirelessly to an Xbox 360 console. I also have a laptop connecting wirelessly to the router. All three devices connect to the internet. The printer is installed on the PC and connected by cable.

On the PC there is a little blue icon with an exclamation mark in the center. It says it has detected a new connection to an Xbox 360 and to click on the icon to connect it to this computer. I have never done that, as I do not want the Xbox to connect to the PC, nor the laptop either for that matter. That blue icon has been there for a long time, I think ever since we first got the Xbox...long before we got the laptop and before I set up the network wizard.

I just set up a home network using the connection wizards on both the laptop and the PC so that the laptop can now use the printer. That connection was successful. When I click 'show all connections' on the PC and on the laptop, there is a connection under "Internet Gateway". When I right click that icon under 'Internet Gateway' and go to 'properties', and then the 'advanced' button, there is a 'services' tab, and the Xbox shows up there. It is the only device that does.

So, in summary:

Three items successfully share an internet connection through a router:

PC (wired)--printer installed

Laptop (wireless)

Xbox 360 (wireless)--PC knows its there but so far it has not been set up to connect to the Xbox, nor do I want it to be...EVER!

The PC and the laptop are connected to one another so that the laptop can use the printer. (I'm not interested in sharing files at all.)

My question is security related because I want to make sure that there is NO communication whatsoever between the Xbox and the other devices. I don't plan to share any files between the PC and the laptop either. All I wanted was for the laptop to be able to access the printer.

Any responses appreciated.

P.S. The PC is Windows XP Media Center Edition (a dressed up version of XP Pro)

The laptop is Windows XP Pro

I'm using the Windows firewall for both.

[Amethyst_08]

I see my first post might have been somewhat convoluted. To simplify things, can someone explain to me in simple terms the "Internet Gateway" in the Network Connections box of the PC? What item is that referring to? When I right click on that to see properties, it comes up with:

only a 'General' tab which says 'connect to internet using':

and in the box it says "Internet Connection".

If I click on the Settings box, it says "Select the services running on your network that internet users can access". The XBox 360 is listed there along with the wireless router's IP address followed by a set of numbers which I would assume is the port it is using and then "UDP" at the end of it. The Xbox can still get on the internet even if the PC (wired to the router) is shut off, so I don't believe the PC is serving as a "gateway". The Xbox has wireless internet access through the router.

Is the router the 'gateway' then?

And why wouldn't the laptop be listed?

Just trying to learn something here. I've never done anything in the way of networking before. I haven't found an explanation of the "gateway" that I can understand. Thanks for any responses!

[johnwill]

If you don't want ANY possible connection to the XBOX, I would think you'd have to have it isolated by some sort of firewall from the other two. The Windows firewall can do the trick if you limit the access to just the two machines.

The "Internet Gateway" is the router's uPnP showing you the router, it's really just a cosmetic entry at this point.