Setting up a small LAN

[Almercenary]

Recently me and a few friends have really been getting into the idea of a small LAN. It would be very small with only 6 of us, but the internet we are working with isn't...well great. So has anyone got tips for setting up a LAN for 6 people.

 

Things I'm not sure about:

How many things can we run off one (Australian, they have a ground) power point. We will have 12+ things to plug in, 6 PC's and 6 monitors, a switch and maybe a shit PC for the router and anything else you could recommend to smooth out the experience. Some have SLI/Crossfire rigs and I and one other dude are running pretty power thirsty monitors. We have to stress test the whole thing about 4hrs before so it would be helpful if the power didn't cut 

 

I'm guessing we'll need a switch so I was going to either buy one on ebay, or if any of you guys have one and live in Aus, or buy this. http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=200_331&products_id=26249 enlighten me on which one to get. It would be nice to get one with headroom for more people. Also, how do you set up a switch. My networking skills are..well questionable. 

 

Seeing as there is a steam sale on, what games do people recommend to buy for a lan. I have lined up: CS:GO (and maybe 1.6). Chivalry, Blacklight, Flat out, Arma 3?, Gmod, Just Cause 2 MP, Natural Selection 2, Orcs Must Die and Sanctum 1. Any of these won't work well and any suggestions would be great.

 

Any other things I need?

 

[Hans Christian | Teri]

Why do you "have to stress test the whole thing"? Seems way unnecessary. Run your stuff off of 2 or 3 separate plugs and you shouldn't be in trouble. As for the internet, if it's really an issue do what LANs are all about, play LAN games. Warcraft 3 have tons of ridiculously great maps with a huge variety, a Serious Sam (the two originals) play through is always quite entertaining, 6 people are enough for smaller CS maps and definitely enough for a lot of Quake 3 maps, the last being one of my absolute favorites at LAN parties. Flat Out is always a hit as well. Ricochet, even though simple, can be a ton of fun for a little while as well.

[neon]

For the power, spread it out as much as you can, if the room has 4 power outlets then use all of them or use an extension cable to bring in power from other rooms.

Don't bother with a PC for a router just use whatever router you have in the house (or one of you bring one), you only need it for the IPs all the traffic will be going through the switch anyway.

Also there's no need to stress test anything, the network either will work or it won't and the PCs, well, if they all ready work then why are you testing them again.

 

To set up a switch, take your Router (I would just use a plain old WiFi router) plug the switch into the router, plug all the PCs into the switch, done, there is no configuration.

[mr moose]

Because we run 240v you can load up each point a lot more.  One point can easily handle 2400W so thats like 6 pc's and a router, switch and printer.  Having said that I would run them over two points.

 

As far as the rest goes you only need an 8 port switch and modem/router (if its just a modem make sure it has a dhcp server in it) and plug everything in.

[Bloodyvalley]

Yeah, like mr moose said you can just plug a bunch of extensions together, it will be fine, although impossible because PCs take up a lot of space so my guess is that you'll spread them across a room.

 

 

Also, if you router has 6 ethernet ports, you do not need a switch. Just power the router and plug all the ethernet cables in it. Connect your router to the modem and you'll be fine.

[Almercenary]

Why do you "have to stress test the whole thing"? Seems way unnecessary. Run your stuff off of 2 or 3 separate plugs and you shouldn't be in trouble. As for the internet, if it's really an issue do what LANs are all about, play LAN games. Warcraft 3 have tons of ridiculously great maps with a huge variety, a Serious Sam (the two originals) play through is always quite entertaining, 6 people are enough for smaller CS maps and definitely enough for a lot of Quake 3 maps, the last being one of my absolute favorites at LAN parties. Flat Out is always a hit as well. Ricochet, even though simple, can be a ton of fun for a little while as well.

IDK tbh, guess it was just overreacting.  I'll check out those games though, thanks.

 

For the power, spread it out as much as you can, if the room has 4 power outlets then use all of them or use an extension cable to bring in power from other rooms.

Don't bother with a PC for a router just use whatever router you have in the house (or one of you bring one), you only need it for the IPs all the traffic will be going through the switch anyway.

Also there's no need to stress test anything, the network either will work or it won't and the PCs, well, if they all ready work then why are you testing them again.

 

To set up a switch, take your Router (I would just use a plain old WiFi router) plug the switch into the router, plug all the PCs into the switch, done, there is no configuration.

The router that is in use is pretty shit but still, I guess it'll be fine once through a switch. A lot easier than I thought to set a switch up.

 

Yeah, like mr moose said you can just plug a bunch of extensions together, it will be fine, although impossible because PCs take up a lot of space so my guess is that you'll spread them across a room.

 

 

Also, if you router has 6 ethernet ports, you do not need a switch. Just power the router and plug all the ethernet cables in it. Connect your router to the modem and you'll be fine.

Well, we have like 10 power boards and not that many power points, so we'll just have to use what we've got really I guess.

 

Because we run 240v you can load up each point a lot more.  One point can easily handle 2400W so thats like 6 pc's and a router, switch and printer.  Having said that I would run them over two points.

 

As far as the rest goes you only need an 8 port switch and modem/router (if its just a modem make sure it has a dhcp server in it) and plug everything in.

Yeah, well there is only one "power point" as such in the room, but it has two connectors so should be fine, also the router only has 4 ports which is why we were thinking of getting a switch. Also we know an electrician so if anything goes hay wire we should have backup. I don't have the best track record with electricity lol.

 

Thanks for the help.

[knight_40k]

I can speak from experience as I have a LAN of 4 desktop PC's all with 600W-800W PSU's and 4 monitors, a cable modem and a 8port switch.

 

Here in Canada, most home electrical outlets are on 15amp aside from the stove/oven, washer/dryer, etc which are either 20amp, 30amp or 40amp. It depends how your place was built and if all the outlets in your designated LAN room are all on one breaker or not.

 

For me, I wanted to be able to run my portable A/C along with all the PC's and as you can imagine it can get pretty hot with 4 PC's. I learned the hard way that 2 PC's with the A/C running will trip my breaker after a few minutes so I borrowed a 50ft heavy duty 10AWG extension cord from my dad to run my AC off my stove into my LAN room. I got tired of doing that after a while so with expansion (5-6 PC's) in mind, I had an electrician friend add a 20amp breaker to power 2 additional outlets to help take the load off the single breaker in my LAN room. While he was doing that I had him test the load of just the 4 PC's running off one 15amp breaker and on idle it was nearly maxed. The last thing you want to do is brown out your electronics.

 

I would recommend no more than 3 PC's per (15amp) outlet/breaker as that's what I've been doing for the last few years. But try to spread it out as much as possible.

 

As for a switch, I would recommend this one from Monoprice. I have never had any issues with lag or drops.

[mr moose]

I can speak from experience as I have a LAN of 4 desktop PC's all with 600W-800W PSU's and 4 monitors, a cable modem and a 8port switch.

 

Here in Canada, most home electrical outlets are on 15amp aside from the stove/oven, washer/dryer, etc which are either 20amp, 30amp or 40amp. It depends how your place was built and if all the outlets in your designated LAN room are all on one breaker or not.

 

For me, I wanted to be able to run my portable A/C along with all the PC's and as you can imagine it can get pretty hot with 4 PC's. I learned the hard way that 2 PC's with the A/C running will trip my breaker after a few minutes so I borrowed a 50ft heavy duty 10AWG extension cord from my dad to run my AC off my stove into my LAN room. I got tired of doing that after a while so with expansion (5-6 PC's) in mind, I had an electrician friend add a 20amp breaker to power 2 additional outlets to help take the load off the single breaker in my LAN room. While he was doing that I had him test the load of just the 4 PC's running off one 15amp breaker and on idle it was nearly maxed. The last thing you want to do is brown out your electronics.

 

I would recommend no more than 3 PC's per (15amp) outlet/breaker as that's what I've been doing for the last few years. But try to spread it out as much as possible.

 

As for a switch, I would recommend this one from Monoprice. I have never had any issues with lag or drops.

 

but you have a mains supply of 110v, we have 240v down here which means we draw half the current per watt than you guy's, this means that with a 10 amp outlet we can have a 2400watt load, where if you want to draw the same 2400watts you would require a 24amp outlet.   This is why we can power much more from a single socket.   So 5-6 pc from one socket is doable, however 3-4 from 10amps is fine.

[knight_40k]

but you have a mains supply of 110v, we have 240v down here which means we draw half the current per watt than you guy's, this means that with a 10 amp outlet we can have a 2400watt load, where if you want to draw the same 2400watts you would require a 24amp outlet.   This is why we can power much more from a single socket.   So 5-6 pc from one socket is doable, however 3-4 from 10amps is fine.

 

You guys are lucky that way.

[Almercenary]

You guys are lucky that way.

You get a bit more of a...zap if it short circuits though. And TBH, there is really no normal reason to have that much power coming out of a wall socket. It's good for lanning though 

[mr moose]

You guys are lucky that way.

 

So true, I have never understood why some countries chose 110v.  I am sure there is a logical reason or it, it just alludes me.

 

Also our system is setup so we can have wye system (400v) connected domestically if we want, this means we can run industrial machinery at home. 

[Almercenary]

So true, I have never understood why some countries chose 110v.  I am sure there is a logical reason or it, it just alludes me.

 

Also our system is setup so we can have wye system (400v) connected domestically if we want, this means we can run industrial machinery at home. 

lol, funny you mention that. I once was playing a gig in a club that ran 400v and nearly fried my amp. Smoke came pouring out of the top and it smelt like shit. 5 mins later turned it back on connected to a 250v and it worked perfectly. Only in straya. Also in Aus it's not that expensive to get 3 phase depending on where you are which is good as you can run industrial welders and shit on farms. Our internet maybe shit, but we have enough power to blast us into space.