When playing a game your ping is normally displayed as 4 different things:

1 Red Bar = High Ping
2 Yellow Bar = Fairly High Ping
3 Green Bar = Normal Ping
4 Green Bar = Good Ping

Ping is the amount of time it takes for you to send and receive a packet of information to and from a server. The lower the ping the better. Related to ping is jitter, jitter is the amount of time between each packet of data being received. Jitter is also referred to as the stability of the line. In relation to Xbox the lower the ping the better your connection for that game will be, as it means that you are sending data and receiving it fast so you are technically revive the data before anyone else. Host advantage, is a massive thing in cod as the host has 0 ping, so that means there the sever and everyone else has to connect to them, With this said you know that the lower the ping the better it means the host can kill people a bit quicker as the data does not need to go to the sever as you are the sever

IP stands for internet protocol. There is not much to write about when talking about IP, but this is what your Xbox is assigned when accessing the internet. IP is split in two parts. External IP address is unique to you and will not be used by anyone else. This is your unique identifier, the IP will be registered to you and with the correct legislation the police can find details about you from your IP. Internal IP is the IP address that your Xbox is assigned within the network. Again not much to put here apart from that if a PC within the network has the same internal IP then they will try to connect to each other. Dynamic IP address is an IP address that changes whenever you connect to the internet. This was used as when the internet was first made every computer was assigned a static IP, this is the opposite of a dynamic one, and then the creators did not predict that there would be this many users so dynamic IP's where created.

Ports are the way that others connect to your network or your computer. Ports can be either open or closed, Open means that with the correct tools someone can connect to your computer or devise and then potentially do malicious things. Closed ports mean that people cant connect to you on that port. Having closed ports is safer as there is less chance of people connecting. If someone connects then using an open port then they can do a few things. Such as sending a virus or worm. Or editing settings. And they can also perform a DDoS attack. This means that they bombard your computer with packets of information, the idea of this is to disconnect you from your network.

Port forwarding, is allowing ports to accept data. There are many uses for this. The main one in relation to Xbox is to forward the Xbox ports. This means that the connection gets accepted quicker.

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Basically you will be changing your DNS settings on your Xbox Console. I always had the default settings on mine, but they were terrible. I found a program that's called Namebench from google, it scans for the best DNS settings in your area. You just open up the program and press start and when its finished it will open up a webpage with the recommended DNS settings on the top right hand corner of the page.

DO NOT stop the program until the webpage with the recommended settings pops up.

To change your DNS settings go to System Settings, Network Settings.. Click on which ever you use to connect your Xbox to the internet, lets say Wired connection. Then you click on Configure Network, then go on the DNS settings tab, Choose Manual then enter your recommended primary DNS and recommended secondary. Job done, this helps to improve speed, security and might help with connection issues on live.

About Ports - Look in the "All About Xbox Connection" section in this thread under ports and you will find everything you need to know about them.
How To Port Forward
[ Register or Signin to view external links. ] and select your the router you have and follow the tutorial.

1. Turn off or disable any electronic devices in your household that access the Internet. Think of your Internet connection as a swimming pool full of water the more things you have using the water, the less water there will be to use. Make sure the 360 is the only device using your network, and you should see performance improve immediately.

2. Hard-wire your Internet connection (Ethernet cord). While the Xbox 360 does have a Wireless Ethernet Adapter, the fastest performance will be guaranteed by a hard line from the modem/router to the Xbox 360. This will minimize interference from stationary objects or other things that may drag on your wireless signal.

3. Reduce the number of players that are allowed to access your game when hosting. Fewer players will cause less stress on your connection, so if you're having issues with large parties try tuning the settings down to see if your connection speed improves.

4. Play on Live at different times of day. While it may seem silly, it is not uncommon for Internet connections to become bogged down during certain hours (think of everyone coming home from work to check their email or stream movies, for instance) and it is possible you are attempting to play on Live during a high-traffic period.

5. Speak with your Internet service provider and ask if there are any restrictions on your bandwidth or any recommendations they may have for speeding up your network. Certain providers may have bandwidth limitations that can negatively impact your gaming.