Use a USB Ethernet adapter as the network connection on a homebrew Xbox 360.
_{A faster fork of CUsbEnet by proferabg. See what this fork changes.}

NetUsb360 is a driver plugin. Once it is loaded, a supported USB Ethernet adapter works like the console's own network port: Aurora, FTP servers, games and other apps use it without any changes.

Version 1.1 is tuned for speed. Together with FastFTP, it is the fastest way we know of to copy files to an Xbox 360 over FTP: about 28 MiB/s measured on uploads, against about 19.5 MiB/s with Aurora's built-in FTP over the same adapter and about 10.5 MiB/s with normal FTP over the console's own 100 Mbit port.

NetUsb360 is experimental kernel-level homebrew. Read Safety before you install it.

What this fork changes

NetUsb360 starts from CUsbEnet 1.0 by proferabg. CUsbEnet ports the USB Ethernet driver Microsoft shipped in early Xbox 360 development recoveries, and adds ASIX and Realtek chipsets to it. All of that work is proferabg's.

This fork, version 1.1, makes uploads to the Xbox about a third faster (27.66 MiB/s against 20.7 MiB/s):

• Bigger receive transfers. The AX88179 hands data over in 24 KiB USB transfers instead of 16 KiB.
• Batched delivery. Received packets go to the Xbox network stack in batches instead of one at a time.
• The acksmall build. Small packets, mostly TCP acknowledgements, share a USB transfer instead of each taking its own.
• TP-Link UE300 support. Its USB ID (2357:0601) is recognized as an RTL8153.
• Test switches for receive transfer sizes and for speed and CPU logging, all off by default. See Build switches.
• Original Xbox games. Games running in the Xbox 360's original Xbox emulator can use the adapter too, for example when NetDisc360 streams them from a PC. With release 1.1.1 and older, the console froze or kept showing "Fatal Crash Intercepted!" as soon as such a game started.

The plugin file is NetUsb360.xex. Coming from CUsbEnet? Put NetUsb360.xex in its place in launch.ini, and don't load both. NetUsb360 used to be called UsbNet360: an old UsbNet360.xex works the same, so keep it, or rename it and change launch.ini to match.

Contents

• What this fork changes
• Quick start
• Which file to use
• Supported adapters
• Use it with FastFTP
• Speed
• Troubleshooting
• Safety
• Build from source
• Build switches
• Branches and history
• License and credits

Quick start

You need an Xbox 360 that runs homebrew plugins (RGH/JTAG with DashLaunch, RGLoader, or a stock console with BadUpdate or ABadAvatar) on dashboard/kernel 17559, and a supported adapter.

1. Download NetUsb360.xex from the Releases page. See Which file to use if you want the faster experimental build.
2. Copy it to the console, for example to Hdd:\Plugins\NetUsb360.xex.
3. Load it as the first plugin:

   • DashLaunch: in launch.ini, put it in plugin1 and move your other plugins down, so it loads before xbdm.xex:

     [Plugins]
     plugin1 = Hdd:\Plugins\NetUsb360.xex
     plugin2 = Hdd:\Plugins\xbdm.xex

   • RGLoader: make it the first plugin entry in rgloader.ini.

4. Plug the adapter into a USB port on the Xbox, connect it to your router or switch with a network cable, and restart the console.
5. Aurora, FastFTP and your other apps now use the adapter. The IP address they show comes from your router as usual.

Keep a copy of your old launch.ini and driver so you can switch back.

Releases from 1.1.2 on use these names. Older releases have the same files under earlier names: UsbNet360.xex and UsbNet360-acksmall.xex in 1.1.1, CUsbEnet.xex and CUsbEnet-acksmall.xex in 1.1.

Which file to use

Each release has two builds, both for a retail kernel 17559:

File	What it is	Use it when
NetUsb360.xex	Standard build. All experimental options are off.	You want the safe choice.
NetUsb360-acksmall.xex	Adds ACK batching: small packets, mostly TCP acknowledgements, share a USB transfer instead of each taking their own. Experimental.	You have an original AX88179 adapter (such as the TP-Link UE306) and want the fastest uploads to the Xbox.

The acksmall build reached 27.66 MiB/s from PC to Xbox with every byte checked. Long, unlimited transfers from the Xbox to a PC have not been fully checked yet, and a freeze was seen once in that direction. If your console freezes during downloads from the Xbox, go back to NetUsb360.xex.

Supported adapters

The driver picks the chipset from the adapter's USB IDs, not its brand name. Check the chipset before you buy: adapters with the same name can use different chips in later revisions.

Chipset	USB ID	Example adapters	Notes
ASIX AX88179	0B95:1790 rev 1	TP-Link UE306	Used for all the speed results here
ASIX AX88179A / AX88179B	0B95:1790 rev 2
ASIX AX88772D	0B95:1790 rev 3
ASIX AX88279	0B95:1790 rev 4
ASIX AX88178A	0B95:178A
ASIX AX88178	0B95:1780		The original devkit adapter chip
Realtek RTL8153 / RTL8153B	0BDA:8153		Hardware versions 3–6 and 8–9
Realtek RTL8153	2357:0601	TP-Link UE300	New in 1.1

A USB 3.0 or gigabit adapter works, but the Xbox's USB 2.0 port sets the speed limit. In practice, about 28 MiB/s is the most this path delivers.

Use it with FastFTP

FastFTP is an FTP server for the Xbox 360 made alongside this driver. It writes to the disk while the network transfer is still running, so it can keep up with what NetUsb360 delivers. Aurora's built-in FTP can't.

1. Load NetUsb360 as described in Quick start.
2. Start FastFTP from Aurora or your usual launcher (it's an app, not a plugin) and press A to start the server.
3. Connect from FileZilla or another FTP client to the IP address FastFTP shows, with user xboxftp and password xboxftp.

FastFTP's network test also shows whether the network, the disk or the FTP client is holding back your speed.

Speed

All results are from one console uploading from PC to Xbox; the adapter rows use a TP-Link UE306:

Setup	Speed
Normal FTP, Xbox's own 100 Mbit port (no adapter)	at most about 10.5 MiB/s
Aurora's built-in FTP, CUsbEnet 1.0	about 19.5 MiB/s
FastFTP network test, CUsbEnet 1.0	about 20.7 MiB/s
FastFTP network test, NetUsb360 1.1 acksmall, all data checked	27.66 MiB/s
FastFTP upload, NetUsb360 1.1 acksmall	about 28 MiB/s

The maintainer has also seen up to 29 MiB/s FTP uploads with this combination.

For comparison, the console's internal hard drive writes at about 57.5 MiB/s (measured on the same console), so it is not the limit. The 12x DVD drive reads at most about 15.9 MiB/s (rated speed at the outer edge of the disc, not measured), so FastFTP over NetUsb360 copies faster than the console can read a disc.

What changed in 1.1:

• Bigger receive transfers. The AX88179 now hands data over in 24 KiB USB transfers instead of 16 KiB, the same as Linux uses on USB 2.0.
• Batched delivery. Received packets go to the network stack in batches instead of one at a time.
• ACK batching (acksmall build only). While uploading, the Xbox sends a stream of small acknowledgements, and each one used to cost a full USB transfer.

More streams, bigger socket buffers and even larger receive transfers made no real difference. At this point the driver uses about 15% of one CPU thread while receiving, so the limit is the Xbox's USB 2.0 controller and not the driver.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to check
No network at all	Is NetUsb360.xex the first plugin? Is the adapter's chipset in the table? Try another USB port.
Nothing happens with a self-built XEX	A build made without DEVKIT_ONLY=0 is for devkits only. It unloads itself on a retail console. See Build from source.
Slow transfers	Use a wired PC connection, not Wi-Fi. Run FastFTP's network test to see whether the network or the disk is the slow part.
Freeze while sending from the Xbox	Go back to the standard NetUsb360.xex and report it with your adapter and build.

Driver log messages go to the debug output. You can read them with xbWatson when xbdm.xex is loaded.

Safety

• NetUsb360 runs inside the Xbox kernel and uses fixed memory addresses for dashboard 17559. Don't use it on any other kernel.
• A driver bug can freeze the console. Keep your previous working setup so you can switch back.
• Installing the driver doesn't touch the NAND. To remove it, take it out of launch.ini or rgloader.ini.
• Before trusting a new or self-built build with your files, check it with FastFTP's network test using the All data check.

Build from source

You need Visual Studio with the Xbox 360 SDK (XDK) integration and the xkelib submodule. The SDK isn't included.

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/marcusisdahl/NetUsb360.git

1. Open CUsbEnet.sln and select Release | Xbox 360.
2. For a retail console, add DEVKIT_ONLY=0 to the C/C++ preprocessor definitions. Without it, Main.h builds for devkits.
3. The Release configuration copies the XEX to a configured console after building. Turn deployment off if you copy files yourself (/p:DeploymentType=None with MSBuild).
4. Build. The output is Build\CUsbEnet\NetUsb360.xex.

Visual Studio 2022: the xkelib step that generates xamext.lib and kernelext.lib may not run (link error LNK1181). Generate them once from libraries\xkelib with the XDK's lib.exe:

lib /DEF:xamext21256.0.def /OUT:xamext.lib /MACHINE:PPCBE
lib /DEF:kernelext21256.0.def /OUT:kernelext.lib /MACHINE:PPCBE

Build switches

These are compile-time options in CUsbEnet/Main.h. Every experimental switch is off by default.

Switch	Default	What it does
DEVKIT_ONLY	1	1 builds for devkit kernels and 0 for retail. A build for the wrong kind unloads itself.
USBENET_AX88179_TX_AGGREGATION	0	Lets the original AX88179 send several packets per USB transfer. Don't use it alone: it froze the console in testing.
USBENET_COALESCE_TITLE_SMALL_FRAMES	0	Lets small packets join a transfer already in progress. Part of acksmall.
USBENET_TX_AGGREGATE_SMALL_ONLY	0	Only packets up to 256 bytes share a transfer, and full-size packets still go one per transfer. Part of acksmall.
USBENET_AX88179_RX_26K	0	26 KiB receive transfers on the AX88179. No measurable gain.
USBENET_AX88179_RX_32K_UNTESTED	0	32 KiB receive transfers. Untested. Can't be combined with the 26 KiB switch.
USBENET_PERF_LOGGING	0	Prints a speed, CPU and drop summary every five seconds.
USBENET_DEBUG	0	Detailed driver output. Slows the driver down.
USBENET_CONNECTION_LOGGING	0	Extra connection diagnostics.

The acksmall build is DEVKIT_ONLY=0, USBENET_AX88179_TX_AGGREGATION=1, USBENET_COALESCE_TITLE_SMALL_FRAMES=1 and USBENET_TX_AGGREGATE_SMALL_ONLY=1.

Branches and history

main holds the current driver, and Releases hold the builds. The 1.1 work came in through PR #1 and a follow-up branch, and both are now merged.

These experiment branches were removed on 13 October 2026. You can restore one with git push origin <commit>:refs/heads/<name>:

Former branch	Last commit	Why it was removed
claude/project-thread-hy4q3s	4ffcef551ad9701abdb010364c3b1e46ca759035	Fully merged into main
claude/project-thread-0n0gng (PR #1)	69f23478e6dd9a7aac63c9adf22edab5cf21119f	Fully merged into main
experiment/usb2-tx-scheduler	cc34dcdb9a455f92f501e1cab861b4f135586f65	Froze the console on Xbox → PC transfers. Replaced by the 1.1 send path.
experiment/conservative-build-performance	63ffb57f22395f071a2f4b0544c1ef4c34e3a0ed	Build settings only. Never tested on a console.

License and credits

NetUsb360 is licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 2 only (GPL-2.0-only), the same as CUsbEnet. See LICENSE.

NetUsb360 is a fork of proferabg/CUsbEnet by proferabg: a port of the USB Ethernet driver Microsoft shipped in early Xbox 360 development recoveries, with added chipset support. The driver's source files keep the CUsbEnet name. The xkelib submodule comes from proferabg's fork of xkelib. Hardware setup was developed with reference to the GPL-2.0 Linux USB Ethernet drivers, including r8152. Keep GPL notices, SPDX identifiers and attribution when you modify or redistribute the source.

This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft, TP-Link, ASIX Electronics or Realtek Semiconductor.