Which Network Switch for LAN party?

[Zack_Hill]

Hello,

 

My name is Zack and in a few weeks, I'm hosting a LAN party at my place. I am thinking of setting everyone up in a garage, and getting some space heaters in there to keep everyone warm. The only issue with this, is I've got no internet in there, and I don't want to make everyone get wireless cards. I'm thinking of getting an Ethernet switch and a long ethernet cable, and getting everyone hooked up to that. Since there are nine of us, I was looking towards a 10 port gigabit switch (since one port is actually used to got to the router). From what I've looked at, they seem to be really expensive, and I don't really have the money to blow on one. I was scrolling through and found a whopping 24port 100mbps switch, which would be more than enough, and it's only $11 on newegg. Since my internet caps out at 50mbps, I don't think we will have an issue, but I wanted to make sure. Will there be a bandwidth issue?

 

Here's the specific switch I'm wanting to get: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704276&cm_re=100mbps_10_port_switch-_-33-704-276-_-Product

 

Thanks!

 

Zack

[jakkuh_t]

100mbit should be fine.

[NetworkPeet]

I recommend you get a switch where you can limit the clients(your friends) to 100 mbit explicit and the hoster (with the database / or a Server) should become a 1gig port, so the traffic keeps balanced for the downloading peaks - i know when 10 people are downloading in the same L2 Network , the whole network is flooded

I also do not recommend to use a DUMB-Switch wihtout MAC-Address Table

Dont use more than one switch

[NetworkPeet]

I really recommend you this switch -

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704023

it has 16 1gig ports

 

 

100mbit seems enough - but not for a lan party - when you downlad a game with 20 gigs from your friends computer - you have to wait 30 minutes!! - so if 10 people do that the same time - you have to wait 5 hours. While that download is going everything will lag like hell.

 

With a 1 gig port this goes 10 times faster - only thee minutes per download. So you can decide if the party goes top or flop^^

[Trikein]

What router would you be using for the LAN? A switch will only do 2nd layer, so you would still need a router for DHCP, DNS,UPnP, etc. 

Also, what type of games would you be playing? High traffic?

Check out Negtear 16port GS116 switch for 85. Or there is a 10/100 version for 55$. Then you would just need the ethernet to hook it all up. Any thoughts on getting CAT6 out to the garage?

[MeshFile]

One-off or occasional LAN parties don't need expensive stuff. Just get a dumb switch that supports the number of computers you want to connect. I'm also doubting anyone that goes there to just share files and not play games which only require few megabytes of bandwidth. It's up to the router to limit downloads anyway so it's out of scope for this topic.

 

A tip: make sure to ask everyone that will join to download their games a day week before. If it's a steam game, ask someone or volunteer to do a backup so it can be installed easily on someone that doesn't have it yet. Put it on a flash drive or via shared folder.

[Redportal]

8 hours ago, Trikein said:

What router would you be using for the LAN? A switch will only do 2nd layer, so you would still need a router for DHCP, DNS,UPnP, etc. 

Also, what type of games would you be playing? High traffic?

Check out Negtear 16port GS116 switch for 85. Or there is a 10/100 version for 55$. Then you would just need the ethernet to hook it all up. Any thoughts on getting CAT6 out to the garage?

Not technically correct, my server room is full of L3 (Layer 3) fully managed switches. They are a little more expensive and are most likely out of your price range for a simple LAN but they do exist non the less.

 

Here would be my recommendations (All are 1000MB/s Gigabit Ethernet)

 

Low Budget: TP-Link

Medium: NetGear

High End: HP

 

Note: I tried to keep the pricing repetitively low, also got each switch from different brand in case you have a preference. 

[Zack_Hill]

8 hours ago, NetworkPeet said:

I really recommend you this switch -

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704023

it has 16 1gig ports

 

 

100mbit seems enough - but not for a lan party - when you downlad a game with 20 gigs from your friends computer - you have to wait 30 minutes!! - so if 10 people do that the same time - you have to wait 5 hours. While that download is going everything will lag like hell.

 

With a 1 gig port this goes 10 times faster - only thee minutes per download. So you can decide if the party goes top or flop^^

Hello, thank you for the reply! Since my internet tops out at 50mbps, then wouldn't it be fine with a 100mbps cap? Or is the speed lost in something else? Also, I'm telling everyone to update and pre install everything, as I don't want to go over my 250gb data cap for the month. 

 

Thanks,

 

Zack

[Trikein]

1 hour ago, Redportal said:

Not technically correct, my server room is full of L3 (Layer 3) fully managed switches.

Yup.  I was talking within scope of OP. He was looking for a cheap switch for a LAN party, that would NOT be a managed switch. I was trying to explain to OP that performance of router is important too, not just switch. Didn't want to overwhelm them with managed/unmanaged/smart switch when I was trying to explain switch vs router. 

 

Also, what games do you plan to play? Many these days require fast access to the internet to even play. As in some don't even have full LAN only play. EA is known for this. May want to look into that.

[Zack_Hill]

19 minutes ago, Trikein said:

Yup.  I was talking within scope of OP. He was looking for a cheap switch for a LAN party, that would NOT be a managed switch. I was trying to explain to OP that performance of router is important too, not just switch. Didn't want to overwhelm them with managed/unmanaged/smart switch when I was trying to explain switch vs router. 

 

Also, what games do you plan to play? Many these days require fast access to the internet to even play. As in some don't even have full LAN only play. EA is known for this. May want to look into that.

Hello,

 

We plan on playing pretty demanding games like battlefield, star wars, and rainbow 6 siege. I know a lot of people will be playing League of Legends. We probably won't be playing a whole lot locally. 

 

Thanks!

 

Zack

[Zack_Hill]

2 hours ago, Redportal said:

Not technically correct, my server room is full of L3 (Layer 3) fully managed switches. They are a little more expensive and are most likely out of your price range for a simple LAN but they do exist non the less.

 

Here would be my recommendations (All are 1000MB/s Gigabit Ethernet)

 

Low Budget: TP-Link

Medium: NetGear

High End: HP

 

Note: I tried to keep the pricing repetitively low, also got each switch from different brand in case you have a preference. 

Hello,

 

On the TP-Link, I need to have at least 10 ports, as there will be 9 of us. Also, I am on an extremely tight budget, and I can't really afford to pay $50+. I know this makes it really difficult, and is the reason I'm opting to go with the 100mbps max. 

 

Thanks!

 

Zack

 

 

[8uhbbhu8]

11 hours ago, Zack_Hill said:

Hello,

 

My name is Zack and in a few weeks, I'm hosting a LAN party at my place. I am thinking of setting everyone up in a garage, and getting some space heaters in there to keep everyone warm. The only issue with this, is I've got no internet in there, and I don't want to make everyone get wireless cards. I'm thinking of getting an Ethernet switch and a long ethernet cable, and getting everyone hooked up to that. Since there are nine of us, I was looking towards a 10 port gigabit switch (since one port is actually used to got to the router). From what I've looked at, they seem to be really expensive, and I don't really have the money to blow on one. I was scrolling through and found a whopping 24port 100mbps switch, which would be more than enough, and it's only $11 on newegg. Since my internet caps out at 50mbps, I don't think we will have an issue, but I wanted to make sure. Will there be a bandwidth issue?

 

Here's the specific switch I'm wanting to get: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704276&cm_re=100mbps_10_port_switch-_-33-704-276-_-Product

 

Thanks!

 

Zack

If ALLyour friends have the games already installed then get a 100mb switch with 1GB to the internet.

 

If NOT you really should get a full GB switch, so when all your friends come over you can copy the games to them relatively quickly and not have to wait SEVERAL HOURS.

[KuJoe]

I have a handful of TP-LINK unmanaged switches and they work fine. You don't even need a 10 port switch since you can daisy chain multiple switches together or plug multiple switches into the same router.

[Zack_Hill]

1 hour ago, KuJoe said:

I have a handful of TP-LINK unmanaged switches and they work fine. You don't even need a 10 port switch since you can daisy chain multiple switches together or plug multiple switches into the same router.

Hello,

 

I'd much rather just go for one switch with more ports instead of more switches with lesser ports. This will look better and just overall easier to set up. 

 

Thanks,

 

Zack

[KuJoe]

4 minutes ago, Zack_Hill said:

Hello,

 

I'd much rather just go for one switch with more ports instead of more switches with lesser ports. This will look better and just overall easier to set up. 

 

Thanks,

 

Zack

I agree, I'm just letting you know what options you have without breaking the bank.

[Zack_Hill]

1 minute ago, KuJoe said:

I agree, I'm just letting you know what options you have without breaking the bank.

Oh okay, gotcha. But since my internet caps at 50mbps, then we shouldn't have a problem, right? Everyone is pre downloading the games, so nothing demanding like that. Just gaming. 

[KuJoe]

1 minute ago, Zack_Hill said:

Oh okay, gotcha. But since my internet caps at 50mbps, then we shouldn't have a problem, right? Everyone is pre downloading the games, so nothing demanding like that. Just gaming. 

It shouldn't be.

[Trikein]

2 hours ago, Zack_Hill said:

Oh okay, gotcha. But since my internet caps at 50mbps, then we shouldn't have a problem, right? Everyone is pre downloading the games, so nothing demanding like that. Just gaming. 

Problem downloading games? No. But if you are trying to have 9 people play a game at once, then it's not the switch you should be worried about, its your router. That will be doing the heavy lifting. That doesn't have anything to do with your ISP speed, but the RAM and CPU in your router for all those simultaneous processes. If you have a gateway or some value router, you are probably going to get some lag and match making issues. Was this something you wanted to address, or were you just looking to discuss switches? 

[NetworkPeet]

7 hours ago, Zack_Hill said:

Hello, thank you for the reply! Since my internet tops out at 50mbps, then wouldn't it be fine with a 100mbps cap? Or is the speed lost in something else? Also, I'm telling everyone to update and pre install everything, as I don't want to go over my 250gb data cap for the month. 

 

Thanks,

 

Zack

 

Ok then our 100 mbit port should work

 

For your information

the internal data flow doesnt count to your internet provider becoause you dont use the internet - because its a Local Area Network (LAN)

it would work without internet,too (unless the games need internet connection for login)

[NetworkPeet]

5 hours ago, KuJoe said:

I have a handful of TP-LINK unmanaged switches and they work fine. You don't even need a 10 port switch since you can daisy chain multiple switches together or plug multiple switches into the same router.

 

You know you will be bottlenecked by the 100mbit uplink to the other switch?

 

also be careful when you use more than one unmanaged switch - you never should set them set up in a loop - you will create a bridging loop causing flooding the cpu to 100% instantly

[NetworkPeet]

57 minutes ago, Trikein said:

Problem downloading games? No. But if you are trying to have 9 people play a game at once, then it's not the switch you should be worried about, its your router. That will be doing the heavy lifting. That doesn't have anything to do with your ISP speed, but the RAM and CPU in your router for all those simultaneous processes. If you have a gateway or some value router, you are probably going to get some lag and match making issues. Was this something you wanted to address, or were you just looking to discuss switches? 

 

 

unless they are in the same L2 network, the router wont have to work much, the cpu will be fine

 

The router is only used, when the clients want to talk to anoter L3 subnet.

 

He has only one subnet - so the router will only have to work for internet traffic

[KuJoe]

2 minutes ago, NetworkPeet said:

You know you will be bottlenecked by the 100mbit uplink to the other switch?

Considering his uplink to his ISP is only 50Mbps I don't see a problem with it. I personally don't bother with 100Mbps switches but for his needs 100Mbps would be fine especially with his budget.

[NetworkPeet]

6 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

Considering his uplink to his ISP is only 50Mbps I don't see a problem with it. I personally don't bother with 100Mbps switches but for his needs 100Mbps would be fine especially with his budget.

ok I agrre with you

[Trikein]

Has either of you set up a LAN before? I have, and routing can be a issue. But lets just wait and see. ::shrug::

[KuJoe]

16 minutes ago, Trikein said:

Has either of you set up a LAN before? I have, and routing can be a issue. But lets just wait and see. ::shrug::

Who are you asking? I don't see routing being an issue on a layer 2 (unmanaged) switch.