How to Watch Instant Netflix Movies On TV With The Xbox 360

In addition to an Xbox 360, the first thing you will need is a Netflix account. Currently, you will need a Netflix Unlimited Plan to watch movies instantly for no additional cost. This is the account just above the basic plan, which will cost you $8.99 a month, as of this writing.

You will also need an Xbox Gold Live Subscription. You can often get a 13 month subscription for around $40.00 if you shop around. Walmart, for example, has offered Xbox Gold Live Subscription cards through their website for this price in the past.

Now that you're signed up for these two services, it's time to connect the hardware!

You Can Use A Wireless Adapter To Connect Your Xbox 360

This step is referenced in the video attached to this article.
Connect your Xbox 360 to the Internet via an Ethernet cable or Wi-Fi connection. If your Xbox is fairly close to your internet router box, run an ethernet cable from the router to the ethernet connection on the back of the Xbox 360. This will give you the best connection speeds, allowing higher resolution playback of streamed Netflix movies.

If you have a wireless internet connection available, you can also buy a wireless adapter made for the Xbox that plugs into the back of the console. This eliminates the need for the physical ethernet cable connection. Make sure you have a strong wireless signal, or you may have to settle for a lower resolution playback due to slower connection speeds. Microsoft makes an excellent wireless adapter for the Xbox 360, but there are also several other third-party after market products available.

After your Xbox is connected to the internet, connect your Xbox to your TV, if it isn't already. The Xbox comes with all the required cables and instructions that you need for this.

Add Movies To Your

Now that everything is connected, you will want to add some movies or TV shows to watch instantly on your TV. There are two ways to do this.

1. Go to the Netflix website, log in to your account, and put some movies into your "Watch Instantly" queue. At the top of the main Netflix page, there is a tab that says, "Watch Instantly". Click on this, and you will be able to browse all the movies that are available to watch online through your TV using the Xbox. When you see a movie that interests you, you can select, "Add To Instant Queue". This makes that movie available for you to watch on your TV whenever you want to.

2. You can also browse movies and add them to your "Instant Queue" directly from your Xbox Live Dashboard. Once you are signed into your Xbox Live account, you can go to the Netflix application and look through the same selections and choose movies or TV shows to watch right from your TV! This actually saves time as opposed to selecting movies on your computer and then going to the Xbox to watch them.

Activate Your Xbox 360 On Netflix

After you've added movies to your online queue, turn on your TV and your Xbox 360, and sign into your Xbox Live account. You will be able to download a Netflix application to your Xbox 360 hard drive from the "Spotlight" section, and a Netflix Activation Code will be displayed.

On the Netflix website at http://www.netflix.com/Activate, enter the Activation Code that was displayed on your TV screen, and click on the "Activate" button. This will sync your Netflix Watch Instantly Queue with your Xbox Live account.

This step is referenced in the video attached to this article.
Now that your account is activated, go to the Xbox Live menu, and then use your Xbox controller to move up to the "Video Marketplace" tab. Go over to the Netflix page, select it, and the "Watch Instantly" movies that you selected on the Netflix website will be showing on the screen. Move over to the movie or TV show that you want to watch, select it, and the movie will begin playing on your TV!