# XboxDownload: Redirecting Xbox and Store Downloads to the .cn CDN > Xbox Download Assistant is a .NET 10 and Avalonia desktop app that intercepts download URLs, answers DNS and serves HTTP(S) on your LAN, and rewrites Microsoft's .com download hosts to their .cn equivalents. It is for players in mainland China whose Xbox, PC Store or console downloads stall on international CDN routes. **skydevil88/XboxDownload** — Xbox Download Assistant (Xbox下载助手) — Supports download acceleration for Xbox, Microsoft Store, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, EA App, Battle.net, Epic Games, Ubisoft Connect, Riot Games, and Rockstar Games, and fixes access issues for Steam Store & Community and GitHub. - Repository: https://github.com/skydevil88/XboxDownload - Stars: 3,840 · Forks: 210 - Language: C# - License: not declared - Published: 2026-09-23 · Updated: 2026-09-23 · Language: en - Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/skydevil88-xboxdownload ## The .com versus .cn split that XboxDownload exploits Microsoft assigns an Xbox download host based on the requesting IP. The README states that a mainland China IP is given assets1.xboxlive.cn, which has domestic CDN servers and therefore downloads quickly, while an overseas IP is given assets1.xboxlive.com, which has no domestic CDN cache and must be fetched from abroad. The failure case is specific: a user running an accelerator or proxy is judged to be an overseas user and is handed the .com host, so the very tool meant to speed up the connection produces slow downloads. The same split applies to the Microsoft Store on PC, and the project extends the same interception idea to PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, EA App, Battle.net, Epic Games, Ubisoft Connect, Riot Games and Rockstar Games. The audience is narrow and real: players in mainland China who can run a Windows PC on the same LAN as the console. ## How the redirect works: DNS answers plus a local HTTP(S) listener XboxDownload does not modify the console. It inserts a PC into the path. You tick two services in the interface, DNS service and HTTP(S) service, and press start listening. The console is then pointed at the PC's LAN address as its primary DNS server, with the secondary left empty, so name resolution for the download hosts is answered locally. The README describes the core trick plainly: the app redirects the Xbox download link from assets1.xboxlive.com to assets1.xboxlive.cn, pinning the transfer to domestic servers. Two constraints come with this. The redirect is only enabled when the interface language is Simplified Chinese, so an English UI silently gives you no acceleration. And the PC must stay reachable for the whole download; the README warns that once the assistant is closed, a console still pointed at that DNS address cannot get online, so you must set DNS back to automatic afterwards. ## Install and first run: from release binary to a listening console There is no package manager step. The README lists two distribution channels: the GitHub releases page and a Baidu Pan share with the extraction code q3cp. The project targets .NET 10.0 with Avalonia 12, and the repository root holds XboxDownload.sln plus the XboxDownload/ project folder for anyone building from source. The first real use is a speed test, not a download. Pause the download on the console first, then pick an IP near you and assign it. ```bash # Releases (binary download) https://github.com/skydevil88/XboxDownload/releases # Baidu Pan mirror, extraction code q3cp https://pan.baidu.com/s/1ZqBvWjpGYZXBL8WaitMLCQ?pwd=q3cp ``` In the UI, the README's sequence is: open the speed test panel, use the location search to find a nearby IP, right-click it and choose to use that IP. Then set the local IP to the same subnet as the console, typically 192.168.x.x, tick DNS service and HTTP(S) service, and click start listening. On the console, go to Settings, General, Network settings, Advanced settings, DNS settings, Manual, and set the primary DNS to the PC address shown at the bottom left of the assistant. Secondary stays empty. PC Xbox App users skip the console step. The README notes that if the Xbox is on IPv6, IPv6 must be disabled on the router. ## The cases where XboxDownload is the wrong tool Three failure modes are documented rather than hypothetical. First, no logs: if the log stays empty, the README says either the local IP was chosen incorrectly or the PC firewall, or a utility such as a computer manager, is blocking the listener. Second, port conflicts. The README's remedy is to force-kill on the prompt, or run netstat -an to find the occupying program. Third, the hotspot case, which inverts the normal configuration: when the console connects through the PC's WiFi hotspot, you must select any IP as the listen address, disable the DNS service, and disable setting the local DNS. The IPv6 requirement is the sharpest limitation, since it means changing router settings rather than the app. And the redirect depends on interface language, which is an odd coupling: a functional behaviour gated on a UI locale is easy to trip over and hard to diagnose. ## OpenWrt, Lighttpd and Nginx instead of a PC in the path The README points to README_OpenWrt.md for running Lighttpd or Nginx on OpenWrt and rewriting URLs to the domestic CDN. That is the real alternative and the difference is architectural: instead of a desktop process answering DNS and proxying HTTP(S), the router does the rewriting, so no PC has to stay on and no console DNS setting changes. The README also offers a middle path for routers that support custom hosts entries. You speed-test the com and cn download domains, then write the fastest IPs into hosts, so the console is accelerated whichever domain it is assigned. The README splits the entries into cn domains, which may use a cn IP or an Akamai IP, and com domains, which must use an Akamai IP. It notes that Akamai IPs can work better for older or less popular games that the CDN has not cached. The host list is grouped: main download domains shared by PC and console, a second group used only by some older Xbox One titles, and a third group for apps and some PC games, including the delivery hosts used when the Xbox App reports that a game cannot be installed to a specific folder. ## PC download and local upload, and the maintenance picture The second workflow is download on PC and transfer back. With show download links enabled, the assistant logs the game URL; you pause the download, copy the address, and fetch it with a PC download tool. For PC Xbox Game Pass titles, the README says to install the finished files through Tools, Install Microsoft Store games and apps. Transfer back to the console has two routes. Local upload points a folder at your download directory, and with local upload ticked, the console's retry pulls from the PC. The disk route converts an external drive to PC mode, copies files renamed to the Content ID, converts back, deletes the paused download, reconnects the drive to the console, and moves the game to internal storage. The README is explicit that you must not launch the game from the external drive, or it re-downloads, and that apps cannot be imported this way. On maintenance: the last push was on 2026-09-23 and the newest release listed is v3.0.0.65 from 2026-08-10, so the project is current, but the README does not document an upgrade procedure, and the licence is not stated in the repository metadata, which matters if you plan to redistribute or bundle it. Treat the missing licence as something to resolve with the maintainer before commercial use. ## Conclusion Adopt it if you are in mainland China, your router cannot rewrite hosts, and you accept changing your console's DNS to a PC that must stay on while you download. Do not adopt it if you cannot keep the PC awake, if your Xbox is on IPv6, or if you want a firewall-level fix: the OpenWrt Lighttpd or Nginx path in README_OpenWrt.md does that without a host machine in the loop. Before you start, confirm the interface language is Simplified Chinese, because the README states the redirect only activates then, and confirm the app's listen ports are free; the README's own advice for a conflict is to force-kill the process or check with netstat -an. ## FAQ ### How can I download stuff on my Xbox faster with XboxDownload? Run the assistant on a PC on the same LAN, pick and assign a nearby IP from the speed test panel, tick the DNS service and HTTP(S) service, and start listening. Then set the console's primary DNS to the PC address shown in the assistant. The README states the redirect from assets1.xboxlive.com to assets1.xboxlive.cn only activates when the interface language is Simplified Chinese. ### Can I download Xbox games on my PC and move them to the console? Yes. With show download links enabled, the assistant logs the game URL; you pause the download, copy the address and fetch it with a PC download tool. The README gives two transfer routes: local upload from a folder, or copying files to an external drive renamed to the Content ID and moving them to internal storage from the console. ### Why won't my Xbox download start or show any log in XboxDownload? The README lists two causes for an empty log: the local IP was not selected correctly, or the PC firewall or a utility such as a computer manager is blocking the listener. A separate prompt about a port being in use can usually be resolved by force-killing; otherwise the README suggests checking with netstat -an. ## Sources - [Issues](https://github.com/skydevil88/XboxDownload/issues) - [README](https://github.com/skydevil88/XboxDownload/blob/master/README.md) - [Releases](https://github.com/skydevil88/XboxDownload/releases) - [skydevil88/XboxDownload on GitHub](https://github.com/skydevil88/XboxDownload) --- Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/skydevil88-xboxdownload