Setting up a LAN party?

[Nerdrage]

Being the 'computer guy' of my group of friends, i was given the task handling the technical side of a 10-person LAN party.

having next to no experience in networking, i take to the internet, however, all help i get is not very conclusive.

from what i've found out, this is how i;m supposed to wire it all?

[IMG]http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/3857/networkp.png[/IMG]

Even if this IS the correct way to wire a small LAN network, i have no-idea how configure the software side of things, if i plug it in, would it automaticly detect the network everything and work?

Connected to the network will be several PC's and consoles, both wired and wireless (the router is already wireless)

for the switch, we can't really afford any expensive equipment, so i found a generic 8-port switch for $25, considering it won't be used everyday or be under very heavy usage.

[url]http://www.scorptec.com.au/computer/36656-502054[/url]

And we are not sure if the venue has an internet connection (my friends uncle has free access to a scout hall)

Any help here? tips both hardware or otherwise?

[melindagreen]

All you would basically need is a wireless router. If the other people have wifi cards and know how to connect to a wifi then you will be fine with just that
most wireless routers support up to 5 hard lines also

Windows will detect the wifi signal and the network name, etc if its set to automatic.
at least mine does anyways

As for software you shouldnt need any unless your setting up something like a WOW server or webserver then you will need MySQL and apache. but for steam games you dont need nothing but your OS and steam.

[Lerlth]

You have it right as far as I can see.

[liquid_phase]

If you're got a router with a built in switch (i.e. 4 ports or so), plug 3 computers into that, the 8 port switch into another router port and the remaining 7 computers into the switch (1 goes from the switch to the router).

Then the DCHP server on the router will hand out IPs to the computers as long as they're all set to automatically get one.

If you don't have a router there, you're going to have issues getting more than 8 pcs together unless you get another switch and daisy chain it off the other switch.

[editline]11:15AM[/editline]

[QUOTE=melindagreen;23376645]All you would basically need is a wireless router. If the other people have wifi cards and know how to connect to a wifi then you will be fine with just that
most wireless routes support up to 5 hard lines also

Windows will detect the wifi signal and the network name, etc if its set to automatic.
at least mine does anyways[/QUOTE]

If you get them all via wifi then you can kiss goodbye good pings and decent throughput between the machines, if it's 801.11g that's 54Mb divided between 10 machines, and that's 54 to split for both ways, i.e. 2.7Mb per machine.

[melindagreen]

He has a router listed, it should be fine with just that and not the extra switch unless people dont have wireless or they want to plug into it then whats the point of a wifi router, just get a regular router
also if the venu has internet the in most cases the modem has a DCHP server in it.

Windows can be set up as a DCHP server but its a pain in the ass and not worth it, easier to use a router

[quote]If you get them all via wifi then you can kiss goodbye good pings and decent throughput between the machines, if it's 801.11g that's 54Mb divided between 10 machines, and that's 54 to split for both ways, i.e. 2.7Mb per machine.[/quote]

True but damn its a LAN not across the country.. Otherwise he's going to be snaking cat5 all over the place.
Either way what he has should work.

Also depending on the ISP will depend if you need to set up shit like a cloned mac address or a username and password to get online. Alot of cable internet providers do this and you have to set up your router to clone your computers mac or it will not authenticate all the computers but yours.
What this does basically is tell the cable modem the router is your PC (kinda fools it). So instead of your PC be handshaked the router is handshaked, the other computers are irrelevant to the modem as the router hands out the required data to get on the net and communicate with other computers in the LAN.
this is basically what happens.

If the venue is feeding internet with a cat5 then you wont need a DCHP server as the venue will most likely have one already. All you need to do is plug it into your switch and go from there.

If the venue is feeding internet via wifi god I am so sorry. But you will need an AP unit like a linksys WAP54G to take the wifi into a cat5 line and then into your switch.
DOnt get the gaming version of an AP because they are crap for multiple computer networks and are designed for a one PC/console connection.