Need help choosing enterprise equipment for LAN Party

[Austin Powers]

I'll be moving to a new house soon. Somehow there's no ISP with fiber optic in that area. Even there's fiber optic, my current place has fiber optic but the max speed plan I can purchase is 30Mbit(official government ISP). Forget about this, 30Mbit is not available in the new area. I'm planning to host a private LAN party network in my new house without using the government ISP and my friends will move in maybe for a few days for rental. I'll be picking one of cisco equipment to host and budget around $2000. Currently I have 1 desktop and 3 laptops in my house. So there will be some guest coming in and renting my network service. We'll be doing some long hours live stream and some heavy movie downloads. Prefer 10~20 ports(prefer 1Gbit or 10Gbit[depends if it fits on my budget]) for other device to connect.

 

Thanks in advance.

[rufee]

What kind of speed do you expect in the new area ?

And second of all you will never need the features that a Cisco switch offers you, so save your money get a decent router (ea4500, rt-n66u, edge http://www.ubnt.com/edgemax#edge-router-lite

) and a non-smart 24 port switch, that will run you 200-300$ and will be all you need for a long time.

If you absolutely want a switch that you could play around with start with something like: http://www.dlink.com/us/en/business-solutions/switching/smart-switches/easysmart/dgs-1100-24-24-port-gigabit-easysmart-switch

Whatever you do don't get any enterprise stuff for home networks i can guarantee that you wont be able to configure it (unless you are a networking guru).

[tom564]

If it is only short term I would not splash out money for Cisco equipment.http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/ShopDetail.asp?ProductID=10863 are you experienced with using Cisco switches?

[Guest]

Whatever you do don't get any enterprise stuff for home networks i can guarantee that you wont be able to configure it (unless you are a networking guru).

Seconded.. 

[WALK3R]

What kind of speed do you expect in the new area ?

And second of all you will never need the features that a Cisco switch offers you, so save your money get a decent router (ea4500, rt-n66u, edge http://www.ubnt.com/edgemax#edge-router-lite

) and a non-smart 24 port switch, that will run you 200-300$ and will be all you need for a long time.

If you absolutely want a switch that you could play around with start with something like: http://www.dlink.com/us/en/business-solutions/switching/smart-switches/easysmart/dgs-1100-24-24-port-gigabit-easysmart-switch

Whatever you do don't get any enterprise stuff for home networks i can guarantee that you wont be able to configure it (unless you are a networking guru).

I Second this but i would suggest HP or Netgear for the switch sysadmins seem to love HP switches and Netgear have lifetime warranty.

[mrenusso]

Yeah, don't bother with enterprise grade switching equipment. I work with Junipers and Ciscos all day long and I can assure you, you won't even use 10% of their capabilities.

Just get one of these; they're inexpensive, unmanaged, have a lifetime warranty and have high throughput (meaning you won't be able to saturate it, unless all 24 ports are sending over 1Gb in full duplex).

 

[On a side note : A Cisco or a Juniper switch [or any managed switch afaik] will be fully functional out of the box. It will provide basic switching at full speed and high throughput. The "managed" only comes in play when setting up VLANs, enabling protection and so forth]

[Austin Powers]

What kind of speed do you expect in the new area ?

And second of all you will never need the features that a Cisco switch offers you, so save your money get a decent router (ea4500, rt-n66u, edge http://www.ubnt.com/edgemax#edge-router-lite

) and a non-smart 24 port switch, that will run you 200-300$ and will be all you need for a long time.

If you absolutely want a switch that you could play around with start with something like: http://www.dlink.com/us/en/business-solutions/switching/smart-switches/easysmart/dgs-1100-24-24-port-gigabit-easysmart-switch

Whatever you do don't get any enterprise stuff for home networks i can guarantee that you wont be able to configure it (unless you are a networking guru).

 

100Mbit around there.

I also did some research that there is no way I can get that speed in my country due to the government. I felt stupid bringing up this thread, and even I buy those equipment mentioned, I still can't get that speed. There's no fiber cable in this new area and I can't do anything with 1Mbit here.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, I guess I have to tell my friends not to come.

[rufee]

You can do a LAN party and 1meg is enough for gaming as long as you don't download something while gaming.

[LAwLz]

If you have to ask, then don't get Cisco (or any enterprise grade equipment) because like some other people said, you won't be able to configure it.

If it's just for a temporart LAN party, then just get some cheap FastEthernet (as in, 100Mbps) switch and make sure it is unmanaged (unless you can get a manged for cheaper), preferably passively cooled because those high end switches and routers makes hell of a lot of noise and it will drive you crazy. Don't get anything fancy because you will just end up wasting money.

[d33g33]

I run a HP Procurve at my house, managed gbit switch. Its so underutilized its not funny, the only thing I do with it is have trunked ports from my NAS, I don't really see any point in VLANs at home... 

[rufee]

If you don't mind me asking what was in your mind when you thought getting a managed switch for a home is a good idea ?

 

Why would you ever want a VLAN at home ?

The whole point of smart home devices is to be on the same network even home servers.

[LAwLz]

I run a HP Procurve at my house, managed gbit switch. Its so underutilized its not funny, the only thing I do with it is have trunked ports from my NAS, I don't really see any point in VLANs at home... 

Why do you use a trunked port to your NAS? If you only have 1 VLAN, then there is no reason to use a trunk.

[d33g33]

Why do you use a trunked port to your NAS? If you only have 1 VLAN, then there is no reason to use a trunk.

To get dual gigabit speeds from the NAS for pulling off data to multiple devices... because I need dual gigabit speeds... :S  (no i don't its stupid, but I did it because I can)

 

Oh/ I may be using slang... Trunked, aggregated... y'know...

[LAwLz]

To get dual gigabit speeds from the NAS for pulling off data to multiple devices... because I need dual gigabit speeds... :S  (no i don't its stupid, but I did it because I can)

 

Oh/ I may be using slang... Trunked, aggregated... y'know...

Oh right. You were talking about link aggregation (it is sometimes called a trunk as well, really confusing). Since you mentioned VLANs I thought you were talking about a VLAN trunk. Yeah I know what you mean.

[Sheldon]

Hi,

 

I have a 4 VLANs, For the IP phones in the house, The IP cameras ( so if someone got in that network, they cant jump into the main network) The network that is connect to my work via VPN, and the the normal VLAN for everything else. 

[Blade of Grass]

Hi,

 

I have a 4 VLANs, For the IP phones in the house, The IP cameras ( so if someone got in that network, they cant jump into the main network) The network that is connect to my work via VPN, and the the normal VLAN for everything else. 

Ok, and?

[tom564]

Ok, and?

He was justifying why someone might use VLANs at home. 

[Blade of Grass]

He was justifying why someone might use VLANs at home. 

Ah, I thought maybe he had a question or a problem (though if you have the ability to set up VLANs and properly use them, I'd hope you'd be able to troubleshoot).