Do You Host LAN Parties?

[TIGR]

....and if you do, what equipment (specific networking setup and power equipment and distribution) do you use, how do you set it up (venue, tables, chairs), and how do you manage them (schedule, staff, etc.)?

And let's see some PICS!

Feel free to post about good LAN parties you've been to and how it was all set up, if you don't host your own.

(General Hardware seemed the most fitting forum for this but if it needs to be moved, no prob and sorry!)

 

[coljarcker]

ive been debating between getting a big switch vs a copule smaller ones for this. wondering how much gigabit vs 100mbps matters

 

[TIGR]

100Mbps vs 1000Mbps for gaming isn't going to matter much, but for all the file sharing that goes on at LAN parties the gigabit may help and would be good for future-proofing. Gigabit switches are cheap enough anyway that you might as well get one (or more).

Depending on the details of the LAN party, a couple smaller switches would often be easier to manage, especially for a setup with different teams in different rooms. Less mess to deal with on the cords.

Questions like these are why I posted the thread, to see what others think and do.

 

[CDdude55]

Throughout the years i have always heard Quakecon being a great LAN party to go to. Though i have never had the chance to go.

Never hosted a LAN party either.

 

[Solaris17]

my bud hosts our lans 20 or so people i helped once but weve talked about the stuff numerous times. We have a netgear G router which connects to the net. for the wireless people. connected to that an 80 port 1000mbps switch. we run extension cables to diffirent parts of the house for the bigger drawing rigs. we have plastic fold out tables. for the rigs. and lawn chairs/desk chairs for us to sit in. most everyone has a headset. pics in a bit

 

[Snake05]

I've planned and hosted about half a dozen LAN's in the last year, ranging from 8 people to nearly 20. We also use a standard Linksys G Router for the interwebs. I picked up a cheap 16 port DLink switch off of ebay, but it is only 100mbps (gaming is still smooth as butter but transfers bog it down quickly). I try and have hard copies of games and at least one external for install files, to reduce the bandwidth traffic of the switch. When I first started them, I rented tables from a wedding planner, and chairs along with them. Recently a few friends have acquired some 8 foot folding tables, so we use those and kitchen chairs, camping chairs, computer chairs, and whatever else we can get over to the location. Since our LAN's aren't too large, we typically set them up in a single large living room area, but try to distribute power from other breakers to reduce load. Many games we play are through Steam, which allows us to share accounts and run in offline mode, which also allows the installation a few days in advance. Grab a few cubes of soda, find out what pizza joint has good deals on a dozen or more pizzas, and play till your eyes are bleeding.

 

[mlee49]

I've never been to a lan event I don't feel like I'm missing out on something, but I want to go to one just to experience one.


Who should I try to contact about joining one? My university? Local clubs? Craigslist?

 

[majestic12]

I was thrown into the world of LAN parties through playing Battlefield 1942 a while back. One of my friends had four rigs set up at his house all the time and they all could play at playable settings. I had four computers as well at the time and decided it was fun enough to buy and install on all of them. I showed the game to some of my non-computer friends by bringing all the computers and equipment to their houses to host a mini-LAN party (2 uATX computers with dedicated cards -Radeon 9600's and two mildly capable Pentium 4 laptops). Everybody who played really enjoyed it and wanted to play more. Another friend from a tech-savvy family offered to host LAN parties at his house. We got a 32 port 100mbps switch from his dad and were set. I brought all of my computers, the guy who introduced me brought all of his, and anybody else who had a computer capable enough brought theirs. With about 20some computers total, there wasn't enough room to have everybody together, so we hooked up routers to the switch and had remote locations for squads. Most were in the basement, some were in the office, some in a den, others in the family room -
Here are some pictures of one of the smaller LAN parties we did -maybe 12 to15 people in this one.

 

[assaulter_99]

Ah its been ages since I haven't gone to one. Used to have great ut99, quake 3, cs and cod fests. I miss those days, especially when you are owning everyone and hearing "who's ****", that was my special moments!

 

[Mussels]

hosted hundreds of lans over the years - been to too many to count.

you wanna know about good LAN's, check out respawn

 

[majestic12]

Now that's a LAN party!!!

 

[Mussels]

Now that's a LAN party!!!

thats only half of it

 

[majestic12]

I checked out the website and am a bit envious -did you get to see them destroy the Power Mac? The biggest LAN party I know if is dreamhack, but that's in Sweden I think.

 

[TIGR]

Destroying a Mac sounds like an excellent attraction at a LAN party.

 

[Mussels]

I checked out the website and am a bit envious -did you get to see them destroy the Power Mac? The biggest LAN party I know if is dreamhack, but that's in Sweden I think.

we left a few hours before that happened, we have a 2 hour drive home after the event - we're usually pretty screwed by the end of it (minimal sleep, no shower)

 

[STUdog]

Heya

Yea i host one

Roughly 100 people in a air con hall

Networking gear is:

5x 24port layer 2 gigabit switchs
1x 48port layer 3 gigabit switch (used for)

Website here guys: http://ggf.lansmash.com/event/ggf-lan-party-march-2010

Each switch is connected to the core via a 4cable team using link agg and lacp

all cabling is cat6

I have a DHCP server running, Local IIS website, Net for Steam, all other sites blocked, Dedicated games server, Vmware server with 4 vmware clients for the cod4 servers (for the comp)

 

[freaksavior]

last one i ran was about 12 people we used 1 x 24 port d-link and had some basic chairs. nothing fancy no pics.

 

[STUdog]

last one i ran was about 12 people we used 1 x 24 port d-link and had some basic chairs. nothing fancy no pics.

they are normally the best ones tho

 

[freaksavior]

they are normally the best ones tho

It was a fail lol, nobody showed up with the games pre-installed so we sat there for an hour installing games. We played cod4

 

[Boneface]

Im going to one this march on the 6th http://stclairitc.ca/nomans/ in windsor ontario CA, right across from Detroit. Maybe some michigan people will come lol

 

[Radical_Edward]

I've been to a few, although almost all over them kinda sucked because people can't make up their mind on what to play. (They'll show up- and need to install the game, then want to play a different game that they don't have after they play the 1st one for tens minutes.)


I haven't been to one in ages, thinking about hosting one when I move into my new house, as a "Warming Party" of sorts.

 

[TIGR]

Looks good STUdog—did you get the PM I sent you a while back?

 

[STUdog]

yea i think so

 

[TIGR]

yea i think so

I got no reply here.

 

[STUdog]

oh damn, thought I did.