LAN Items Not to Forget! "Gamers"

[Sledgehammer70]

Every year at any LAN you get a few guys who just for get to bring the right things to the LAN... here is a easy check list to help you remember some of the key items to bring to the LAN.

The Basic’s

1.) Your PC or Notebook
2.) Monitor "notebooks don't apply"
3.) Keyboard "notebooks don't apply"
4.) Mouse "notebooks apply unless you have mad micro with the touch pad"
5.) Power strip
6.) Ethernet Cable "15ft-25' ft
7.) Headphones "please leave the 5.1 surround sound system at home"

Things you can bring for everyone to use:

1.) Hub or a switch!!!! "These are needed in the worst way all the time"
2.) Extension cords
3.) Extra Ethernet cables
4.) drinks :) and junk food "If you share, I share, and we all benefit :)"

[Thrax]

Bring a 50' ethernet cable.

[primesuspect]

Yep, 50' is ideal. Also bring some zip ties. We never seem to have enough.

[Lincoln]

"side note" => (side note)

[Buddy J]

What if we have a wireless card, can we connect without cables?

[primesuspect]

My wireless is not very robust.. I mean, it'll work but you'll probably get crap performance for internet. You definitely wouldn't be able to game on it.

In 05 we had serious lan issues, because my router was not made for that kind of traffic. In 06 I upgraded to a p4 1.8ghz + 512mb of ram custom-built smoothwall with enterprise NICs and that worked well.

[Lincoln]

Yeah, second that. Wireless is for "I feel like writing this post from my laptop on the porch", not a connection strategy for the weekend :)

Good thread, Sledge.

[Cyclonite]

My wireless is not very robust.. I mean, it'll work but you'll probably get crap performance for internet. You definitely wouldn't be able to game on it.

In 05 we had serious lan issues, because my router was not made for that kind of traffic. In 06 I upgraded to a p4 1.8ghz + 512mb of ram custom-built smoothwall with enterprise NICs and that worked well.

I love smoothwall. I keep buying cheap computers for it, so they keep dying. Which is frustrating, but I'll gladly replace it with another crap computer to get smoothwall running again. From the time the thing is powered on and setup to the time the computers end up dying, I never have to reboot the thing, and it never barfs on anything. Smoothwall is amazing.

[Sledgehammer70]

Maybe TT can bring one of those 24 port hub's / switches??? I have one, but might be hard to bring with me :( But I am bringing my 5 port hub :) so my table is covered :)

[fatcat]

considering I will be the first one there...."ALL TEH BANDWIDTHD BE MINETH!" damn i hope i got a 50ft cat5...maybe only 25ft... have to dig deep in the closet since i use wireless-N all the time here.

good thread/info sledge!

[the_technocrat]

Maybe TT can bring one of those 24 port hub's / switches??? I have one, but might be hard to bring with me :( But I am bringing my 5 port hub :) so my table is covered :)

How about a dozen of em, and a few hundo feet of cable? + a few ends and a crimp, of course...? I've been holding off throwing them away...

[checkmate]

What is you talkin' 'bout, boy? Good ol' Rusty gets all that there ban'wi'th! Suuuey!

[RyderOCZ]

How about a dozen of em, and a few hundo feet of cable? + a few ends and a crimp, of course...? I've been holding off throwing them away...I have more ends and a crimp tool or two....I can help make cables :)

[Sledgehammer70]

Hey TT , if we are setup like last year "which worked well" we can only fit 5 - 6 to a table we have only 10 rows of these tables but I guess overkill never hurts :)

[GHoosdum]

How about a dozen of em, and a few hundo feet of cable? + a few ends and a crimp, of course...? I've been holding off throwing them away...

If you bring extra cable, you will be my hero - I'm not going to have room in my luggage to bring a 50-ft LAN cable this year because I'm packing for two trips at once this year...

[Sledgehammer70]

50' is a bit excessive... 15ft to 25ft shou;ld be fine with the amount of hubs that will be there...

[Lincoln]

50' is a bit excessive... 15ft to 25ft shou;ld be fine with the amount of hubs that will be there...
And how will be hooking up said hubs without the 50' cables? ;) I dunno man, in '05 I had to run my ethernet clear across the tent because the hubs at and around my table were full.

[primesuspect]

50' is not excessive. This is based on experience with two LANs in this same tent.

[Cyclonite]

Agreed. My cable just barely made it last year.

[Sledgehammer70]

LOL.. If TT has over a 100' cable that will get us from the house to the tent... he can set up a hub in the house which equals open ports 25' range in the main room is pretty good... and if your portable or moving that much wireless should due you good :)

also having a hub per table will allow everyone and beyond to hook up... I had a 5' and 25' cable last year and I only used the 5' cable.

[Cyclonite]

That's the problem. We didn't have a hub per table.

[Sledgehammer70]

well... this year we will :) thanks to TT

[QCH]

hub... yuk. Switch, yum!!!

[Thrax]

BRING A 50' LAN CABLE.

Do not bring ANYTHING but a 50' (Or bigger) LAN cable.

[Sledgehammer70]

thats beyond retarded....

[Thrax]

thats beyond retarded....

No, it isn't. You haven't been to three LANs. It's been standard gear at the last three, and it's better to be prepared for anything than for a situation that may not work out alright.

Go troll someone else's thread with misinformation.

[primesuspect]

my philosophy: better to be safe than sorry. You can ziptie the slack, but you can't make a cable longer.

[RyderOCZ]

It sounds like T_T is bringing cable and I have probably 200 - 500 left on a spool that I will bring. Plenty of ends too, we should have all the cable we need.

[QCH]

I'm bringing two 5 footers....

And use them as whips!!!!

[Sledgehammer70]

Thrax your right I haven't been to 3 LAN in Michigan... But I have ran over 37 Professional LAN events over the last 5 years With having up to over 800 participants, I know how to inform people on what they need... If you call IC LAN or any of the previous 3 big LAN events you are sorely mistaken....

Now with the setup of the tent, you do not need a 50' cable. The tent isn't even 50ft long, and with Hub's and switches being brought to the events for each table that cuts down the need for a overly long cable...

Also TT already said he has 100's of feet of cable to drag out from the house to the tent, hence we don't need multiple runs from the house.

Now in all my years a 15' to 25' cable has been good enough, and with the planning Q and I are doing and have done we shall be fine with those lengths.

So if you want bring A 2000' cable as suit yourself, but for the others 15' should be just fine...

So how about you stop thread crapping MY Thread and go play with a Wii or something...

[checkmate]

I'm bringing two 5 footers....

And use them as whips!!!!

Excellent!:headbange Yeah, last year the cords were wrapped around my neck when I woke up in the mornings, in my turtle shell.

[Lincoln]

So how about you stop thread crapping MY Thread and go play with a Wii or something...
He has merely said the same as the two owners: if you have a longer Ethernet cable, bring it. Better safe than sorry. We've consistently been sorry we didn't have a few more. Zip tie the slack if everything goes perfectly.

[Sledgehammer70]

lol.... I'm just saying with what we have planned 50' is not needed even as a precaution.

But hey what do I know right?

[CB]

One more thing not to forget:

If you have a Nintendo DS, bring it with you.

[the_technocrat]

How many tables are there? If you want to make a general schematic (MS paint is OK) I can show you what I can bring...it'll help plan a little better too.

[Lincoln]

TT, you're now in the elite LAN planning forum. gogogogo.

[CB]

Wait... there's a secret, secret LAN forum for planning? If I'd known that I might not have made that giant post I just made in the Swag Thread... ;)

[GHoosdum]

There's been an elite, secret planning forum section in past years as well...

Based on the events, I still can't for the life of me figure out what planning actually went on there. ;)

[QCH]

I am the master of MS Visio... or so I claim. :D Between Techo, Sledge, and Checkmate, I think we can screw things up fairly well.... I mean plan things fairly well!!! ;D

[MAGIC]

if you want to pick your seat you better bring 35-50 feet of cable, or else your pretty restricted to near one of the hubs.

[Sledgehammer70]

we will have a hub per table :)

[QCH]

we will have a hub per table :)Actually... looks like a switch per table or two!!! SWEET!!!

[Gargoyle]

Actually... looks like a switch per table or two!!! SWEET!!!

No need for any more? I've got a spare Wireless G router (and a couple of older 10bt hubs), would that be of any help?

[primesuspect]

No, those wouldn't be useful garg.. Just bring your sexy self :p

[QCH]

Hubs... no. Switches sure. Wireless router... Only if you can disable the wireless. We don't need to have 5 or six routers all flooding us with 2.4GHz waves... cook my innards. :D

[sharkydart]

i've got a 5 port gigabit switch... should i bring it?

[Gargoyle]

Just bring your sexy self :p

I'm gonna!

[primesuspect]

i've got a 5 port gigabit switch... should i bring it?

Yes, that might help someone in a pinch.

[QCH]

If we can run a few cables from the master switch to other switches (say a switch for every two tables) then that would be great.

[drasnor]

I'm bringing my IBM 8275-416 (http://www.networking.ibm.com/nhd/webnav.nsf/pages/275:275prod.html) 16-port switch.

-drasnor :fold:

[checkmate]

I am the master of MS Visio... or so I claim. :D Between Techo, Sledge, and Checkmate, I think we can screw things up fairly well.... I mean plan things fairly well!!! ;D

Sounds like a plan! I will get right on that... As soon as,,, I get done... with this... uh... movie...

[the_technocrat]

I'll have:
half-mile of cat5e
lots of ends
crimp/testing tools

4x 24-port 10/100 switches
6x 24-port 10/100 hubs

and some other junk

[QCH]

I'll have:
....
and some other junkI am NOT junk!!!! :rarr:

[the_technocrat]

I am NOT junk!!!! :rarr:

I mean...'and some arm candy' :wink: