Switches/Hubs

[GibsonSGKing]

I'm going to have a LAN party (around 8 people) in a week and a half, and would like to get a switch so I can run 1 ethernet cable to where we will be at, and then split it to 8 other cables. What exactly do I need to get? I noticed that some are more expensive then others, and I've read somewhere about active/passive switches, what should I be looking for? I have one already, but I'm really not sure what it is, all I know is my dad got it for me when his company shut down and they were just liquidating everything, and it was one of the switches that was hooked up to the server (so I assume it's decent).

thanks for the help

 

[Celegorm]

Active switches are more for larger companies who need to percisly control where things go (such as ip subnets).

Thankfully for you, you can get cheap stuff. You need something to assign ip addresses through DHCP (if your server doesn't do this you'll need a router or someone who knows how to manually assign every computer an IP). Then all you need is a switch or two that will give you enough ports to connect all the computers you need.

 

[GibsonSGKing]

Active switches are more for larger companies who need to percisly control where things go (such as ip subnets).

Thankfully for you, you can get cheap stuff. You need something to assign ip addresses through DHCP (if your server doesn't do this you'll need a router or someone who knows how to manually assign every computer an IP). Then all you need is a switch or two that will give you enough ports to connect all the computers you need.

OK. I have a router, which I can get one ethernet cable from into my basement (where we will be at). I then have this Netgear FS116 Fast Ethernet Switch, how exactly do I set this bad boy up?

I would basically like to have all of the computers on the LAN and internet, and I will have another game server hooked up to the LAN. I can hook the server up either over the switch or directly to my router. I will most likely use wireless, but my friends will all be using the switch.


Thanks for the help so far by the way

 

[jmacavali]

Just plug an ethernet cable from the router into the switch (any port but I usually use #1 or #8). Then plug in the computers. Should be all there is to it. Also if they are going to be using LAN (100 Mbs) and you are using wireless (54 Mbs - at best) then you might end up with some problems. I'd recommended you use the LAN as well.

 

[GibsonSGKing]

Just plug an ethernet cable from the router into the switch (any port but I usually use #1 or #8). Then plug in the computers. Should be all there is to it. Also if they are going to be using LAN (100 Mbs) and you are using wireless (54 Mbs - at best) then you might end up with some problems. I'd recommended you use the LAN as well.

Sounds simple enough. Thanks for the help