how to set up a lan party?

[dgr]

hello

i figured this was the best place for this thread as it is about hardware...

i'm having a lan party with about 8 people, would 10mbit ethernet be enough? additonally, i would like a split into 2 teams of 4, each in different rooms. becuase of the distance between the rooms i would prefer to use 2 hubs, one in each room, and use patch to connect the hubs (both 5 port).

is this possible? does it require much configuration or will the hubs just root as necessary?

do you think 10meg is enough?

cheers

dgr

[TiG]

Dgr,

I'm sure 10mbits would do but it would be better with a 100mbit hub. Gaming on a lan wouldn't take up to much bandwidth. Yes it is possible to do via two hubs, obviously it would be nice if you could have a server doing DHCP config, which would make your setup easy, only other choice is to just do peer to peer networking.

Set 1 machine as the Default Gateway e.g 192.168.0.1

and the other machines are set to 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.10. all with 192.168.0.1 in there default gateway setting.

Hope this helps and have fun...

TiG

[BlackSheep]

Originally posted by TiG
Dgr,

I'm sure 10mbits would do but it would be better with a 100mbit hub. Gaming on a lan wouldn't take up to much bandwidth. Yes it is possible to do via two hubs, obviously it would be nice if you could have a server doing DHCP config, which would make your setup easy, only other choice is to just do peer to peer networking.

Set 1 machine as the Default Gateway e.g 192.168.0.1

and the other machines are set to 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.10. all with 192.168.0.1 in there default gateway setting.

Hope this helps and have fun...

TiG

you should deny them a gateway - otherwise they might start playing online thus defeating the point of having a LAN in the first place

borrow somebody's nice 8-port 10/100mbit switch if you can - switches are much better with that many peeps and it will ensure better usage of available bandwidth for those 4 v 4's

[TiG]

Only if the gateway is the machine that has the Inet connection. IF you do make a machine the default gateway, make this the server machine for all games etc.

This will make as efficent use of the resources as possible

TiG

[dgr]

we won't be using the net

i was thinking of settin up a dedicated server, obviously i would somehow have to get a bigger hub/switch. All computers are running windows xp so setting up a dhcp shouldn't be a problem.

the question still remains - if i still have to use 2 4 port hubs (becaue i only have lots of short patch cables and one longer one), will there be anvy config. requirements?

cheers


dgr

[BlackSheep]

Originally posted by dgr
we won't be using the net

i was thinking of settin up a dedicated server, obviously i would somehow have to get a bigger hub/switch. All computers are running windows xp so setting up a dhcp shouldn't be a problem.

the question still remains - if i still have to use 2 4 port hubs (becaue i only have lots of short patch cables and one longer one), will there be anvy config. requirements?

cheers


dgr

Dedicated Server for games (I assume you mean) is definitely the way to go.

for simplicity - without needing a DHCP server on the LAN I would set up the systems as follows:

Dedicated Server (preferably one with a good deal of RAM and a nice'ish processor - graphics card irrelevant) - IP 192.168.0.1 (subnet left as auto - 255.255.255.0)

Client 1: 192.168.0.2 - 255.255.255.0
Client 2: 192.168.0.3 - 255.255.255.0

... and so on

*note if you left the TCP/IP settings blank (i.e. to use DHCP) then without a DHCP server all clients would use APIPA addressing 169.x.x.x - this is not preferable.

There is no need to use a Default Gateway Address at this is for routing outside of the LAN (unless TiG had some other reason for using it?).

As far as connecting the Hubs goes - so long as one hub has an uplink port, or the capability of uplinking from any port (most new hubs allow this) then you can use a cross-over lead (cat5/cat5-e) to uplink to the other hub and it will be seen on the network as one virtual hub for the purposes of the LAN - therefore you don't need to worry about splitting IP address ranges etc... Some more expensive and newer hubs/switches have the capability to auto-uplink which negates the need for a cross-over lead, however, this would be unlikely in your case.

Hope this helps.

[BlackSheep]

One thing I forgot to mention is that if you have only got 2 * 4 port hubs then you are only going to be able to have 5 clients at any one time because by linking the hubs you lose one port from each => 6 clients and you also lose another client by running a dedicated server.

So by far the best way would be to get hold of an 8-port (or greater) switch.

Cables are very cheap so buy a few longer ones if need be ... or better still, get some of the LAN attendees to bring them along!

[dgr]

cables are cheap to buy (ebuyer!) but they are not if you need them by saturday (esp. if you work 6 days a week).

i have a load of patch on a roll, i just to find some ends. should be able to make some longer cables.

one of the hubs def. have an uplink, you say i need a crossover? if so, thats o problem.

though tbh i should be able to get hold of an 8 port

what cpu speed should i be looking at for the server? i have a p3 733 and a p4 1.6, hoping to use the 733 so i lend the 1.6 to a friend.

dgr

[BlackSheep]

Originally posted by dgr
cables are cheap to buy (ebuyer!) but they are not if you need them by saturday (esp. if you work 6 days a week).

i have a load of patch on a roll, i just to find some ends. should be able to make some longer cables.

one of the hubs def. have an uplink, you say i need a crossover? if so, thats o problem.

though tbh i should be able to get hold of an 8 port

what cpu speed should i be looking at for the server? i have a p3 733 and a p4 1.6, hoping to use the 733 so i lend the 1.6 to a friend.

dgr

733 should be ok - but it depends on what you are using it for - from experience UT2003 definitely benefits from a faster processor as there is a lot in game physics to keep track of.

Also how much RAM has it got?

The 733 shoud be fine as a server for most games - not sure about Massive Multi's though as I haven't tried (eg Planetside etc... don't even know if you can play these on LAN ...)

[dgr]

640mb

[acidrainy]

Originally posted by BlackSheep
One thing I forgot to mention is that if you have only got 2 * 4 port hubs then you are only going to be able to have 5 clients at any one time because by linking the hubs you lose one port from each => 6 clients and you also lose another client by running a dedicated server.

He said they were 5 port hubs, this would let him get his clients on without a server...

Unless the server had 2 nics that bridged the connections between the hubs.... So the server would be kinda sitting on the patch cable

Some people would then just use diff ips to reach the server

[dgr]

i do have a spare nic, so yes, i could just put the pc in the middle i guess....

hmm, decisions

dgr

[RoGuE|SaBeR]

I was always intended to make a LAN party guide and I actually got so far as to PMing Moby about it but then exams kicked in and I forgot

If you cant get a dedicated server just make sure the person with the best system is hosting. It seems obvious I know but there is always someone who moans and wants to host and bitches about it but they really are just compensating

Might get started on a rough guide because im bored atm with nothing to do...

PM if you are interested.

[BlackSheep]

Originally posted by RoGuE|SaBeR
If you cant get a dedicated server just make sure the person with the best system is hosting. It seems obvious I know but there is always someone who moans and wants to host and bitches about it but they really are just compensating

Might get started on a rough guide because im bored atm with nothing to do...

PM if you are interested.

LOL

If you do it that way then it's not really "dedicated" in the strictest sense of the word - yes, they are running a dedicated server for the game, but by playing on the same machine at the same time the client games have the habit of stealing all (or as much as possible) of the processor power - so be sure to give the dedicated server process highest priority in Task Mgr or ideally use a system that isn't going to have anybody on it at all other than remote clients.

[dgr]

as black5heep said - i don't think its worth thinking about trying to get 8+ people polaying ut2k3 without a dedicated server...

dgr

[RoGuE|SaBeR]

Originally posted by dgr
as black5heep said - i don't think its worth thinking about trying to get 8+ people polaying ut2k3 without a dedicated server...

dgr

Been there and done it.

Was jerky at points but was bearable and he only had a 1.4ghz thunderbird with 512mb Ram. Well ok it was with 6 but it is possible.