[Zimwy]

Hi,
I was recently elected president of my college's CS group (Computer Science). One of our activities is going to be a LAN party for LAN games and such. I need advice on what sort of networking equipment I'd need to buy. I get pretty confused between Hubs, Routers, Switches etc. There are probably going to be around 30 people at this event. I'm trying to keep cost down. I think 100 base t is a good choice of speed.

I've been told that all of these will work for a LAN party, but only routers and switches will provide internet access to all the connected computers. I don't know if that's a necessity. Is that true? Since I'll probably end up keeping this hardware, do you think I should just get one with internet sharing anyway? So, these ones that share internet I'm assuming are just doing DHCP or NAT or both?

Ebay is my friend on this one. Don't want anything new either. Okay, so there we go. Please help me!

thanks a bunch,
gabe

[Drakino]

A router will only be needed if your internet connection normally only supports one computer at a time on it. Most college networks should be fine with multiple computers off one wall port.

Best recommendiation would be to get smaller port switches, like 8 ports. This way you will have a few, and be able to put them closer to groups of computers to avoid long cable messes. General rule of thumb here though is to avoid chaining the swtiches more then 3 deep, and in practice, having one "master" hub that plugs into the wall, then has the other hubs chained off of it directly tends to work well. 100 BaseT is more then enough for network games.

Definitly go for switches over hubs. The cost difference of a few dollars is well worth it.

[Zimwy]

Cool,
Sounds good. Thing is that we're not going to be plugged into the school's network. At most, we would share one school IP amongst all the computers.

So you think we should have for instance: 1 4-port switch, with 4 8-port switches plugged into it?

If I do decide that we need internet access (which we probably will actually, for updating games and such...) would I just put a router before all of that? So it'd be router -> switch -> 4 switches ? that would work? Or would the router act as the master switch?

Oh, also, are there specific brands I should avoid? I'm just planning on hunting down anything on ebay. Will some brands only last a few years?

thanks again,
gabe

[superlarry]

for sharing your one IP, you could stick a 4-port router where your first switch was, and plug the 4 switches into that. it'd be "better" if you got one 32-port switch, but that's probably pretty pricey and probably not worth it.
any router should do the trick.. at least i haven't had any horrid experiences with any brand.

[Drakino]

Most routers have switches built into them, so a 4 port router would work perfectly for linking to the switches everyone will be connected to.

Brand wise, I haven't personally used enough to say. I'd look at ones available, then search around for reviews.

[ghporter]

For the LAN side, just about any SOHO router will do. Some of them have problems with passing data to the Internet with some games, so keep your eyes on the brands you're interested in. I have a Linksys, a Siemens, and a USRobotics router, but I don't play games outside my LAN, so all I can tell you is that all three work fine for LAN-side competition.

[tooki]

I'd recommend a Netgear. Rarely, I have seen Linksys switches be incompatible with Macs, where they will work, but at about 5% the speed it should be at.

So yeah, just get a router as the root switch, and as many 8 port switches as you need off of that.

tooki

[CIA]

How did you become president of this and not know this stuff?

[pwolfe1]

Originally posted by CIA:
How did you become president of this and not know this stuff?

really!

Try to get your school to buy this equipment for you. I know that here at my school, this idea would never work because we use static IP's. Grab a 32 port switch and use that. forget about netgear and linksys too. Go for something from cisco, baystack, or nortel.

[bluedog]

How well wireless works for something like this? I know fast ping times are essential for good lan/game performance, but do the 802.11g based wireless provide enough?

It would be great to support it for those who have the wireless capability, and easier to set up too (less wires/cables/etc).

Does anyone have experience with wireless for gaming?

[ghporter]

I have no LAN party experience with wireless, but consider this: the stated max throughput of 802.11b wireless is 11Mbps. With overhead, you usually max out at around 7.5-8Mbps. There are few broadband connections for the home or small office that even approach that (Optimum Online in the NY/NJ area can get really close, and sometimes saturate a wireless connection, but they are pretty close to unique in the U.S.). The vast majority of small/home office broadband connections fall between ~300kbps and 3Mbps, well under what 802.11b can easily handle.

This, then, comes down to a simple comparison-given the relative speeds of home broadband connections and 802.11b, which is faster? If you can play online games online you should be able to play head-to-head over a wireless LAN without any problem.

The only hitch I can envision is if your access point or wireless router can only support a limited number of connections. The original AirPort Base Station could only support ten concurrent wireless connections, though most today can support many more. I don't see too many LAN parties with more than ten contestants, though; it would get pretty crowded pretty fast!