Nothing is more frustrating than Xbox 360 controller problems in the middle of an intense online first person shooter war when suddenly your character stops dead in his tracks, “Please reconnect your controller” pops up on the screen, and you get shot directly in the face, effectively ending your kill streak through no fault of your own. This problem is actually quite prevalent with Xbox 360 wireless controllers, so much so that you should be able to unlock an achievement for the number of times you get the message. There are several reasons you could be having this problem. Let’s have a look at all of the problems and their supposed solutions.

XBox 360 Battery Problems

Yes, I’m sure you already thought of this yourself. You may be saying to yourself “I know it isn’t the batteries, I checked my Xbox Dashboard and it still has three bars of power.” Well, guess what my friend, your Xbox is a liar. You cannot trust what the Dashboard tells you in regards to remaining battery power.

“Well, I use rechargeable batteries, and I just took them off of the charger. It’s not my batteries.” Are you sure? How much usage have you had out of those rechargeable batteries? They have a predetermined life cycle and once you’ve reached their threshold, they will die rather quickly.

Your first course of action with this problem should always be to try a fresh set of batteries. If you are still getting the problem after trying a fresh set of batteries, move along to the next section.

One other problem that could be battery related would be a lose battery pack. These become loosened over time thanks to everyday wear and tear, and the constant vibration from the rumble feature. Additionally, it only takes dropping the controller a couple of times to end up with a permanent problem with a lose battery pack.

Controller Problems due to Signal Interference

Like so many other forms of wireless technology, Xbox 360 controllers operate on the 2.4 gHz frequency. This is the same frequency used by things such as wireless routers, cordless phones, Bluetooth devices, and your common microwave oven, to name a few things. It is quite possible that you are too close to one or more of these devices and it is causing your signal to be disrupted. Try moving either the suspected device or your Xbox 360 farther away. If this solves the problem, you know that the device was the offender.

Additionally, according to the official Xbox website you could be getting signal disruption from things such as chrome faceplates for your 360, metal objects between your controller and your console, or even the doors and shelves of your entertainment system. Make sure that nothing is between your controller and the console and see if that remedies the situation.

Alternate Controller Problems Solutions

If you find that it isn’t any sort of signal interference at the root of the problem, then it almost certainly the batteries or the battery pack that is giving you grief.  You may want to consider purchasing a Charge and Play kit. If you are going to have to replace the battery pack, it costs about the same and you will have a rechargeable option. Even if it isn’t your battery pack and it is simply a dead battery problem, this will save you money on buying batteries over and over again in the long run, not to mention that people rarely report that they are getting disconnected with the Charge and Play kit, unless they are having signal interference, of course.