Is gaming possible over a shared 56k LAN?

[TJN23]

just was wondering if you could get a "real" game of say Medal of Honor working (with no choppiness or time delays) on 2 networked computers using a 56k modem and NIC in the main pc and a crossover CAT5 going to the NIC in the 2nd pc..

i know what you guys are thinking, it's not worth it but hey i'm a cheapo

thanks in advance

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: TJN23
just was wondering if you could get a "real" game of say Medal of Honor working (with no choppiness or time delays) on 2 networked computers using a 56k modem and NIC in the main pc and a crossover CAT5 going to the NIC in the 2nd pc..

i know what you guys are thinking, it's not worth it but hey i'm a cheapo

thanks in advance

Don't really understand why the Modems would be involved here. If you have two machines connected by a crossover cable via NICS then you'll be playing at 10Mbits a second minimum, which is 10x128k or 100Mbits if the NIC's are fast ethernet. Your modems won't be needed.

Game on!

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

Most recent multiplayer games lag hugely already for people with 56k modems. If you're going to share it you'll basically have a 28k modem. I'd say forget it, the only chance you might have is on tiny servers with up to 6 players or something, and even then it will lag hard.

Look for example at the recent attempts at an ATOT Battlefield 1942 server. In one hour time someone had 1.5GB down and 1.2GB upload if I remember correctly.

(1.5+1.2)*1024^3/3600=786kB/s traffic.
Let's say there were 32 clients (maximum) and he wasn't playing himself (no local client), that would come down to 786/32=almost 25kB/s traffic per client.

56kb/s=7kB/s

7/2=3.5kB/s is not quite enough I'd say

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: TJN23
just was wondering if you could get a "real" game of say Medal of Honor working (with no choppiness or time delays) on 2 networked computers using a 56k modem and NIC in the main pc and a crossover CAT5 going to the NIC in the 2nd pc..

i know what you guys are thinking, it's not worth it but hey i'm a cheapo

thanks in advance

Don't really understand why the Modems would be involved here. If you have two machines connected by a crossover cable via NICS then you'll be playing at 10Mbits a second minimum, which is 10x128k or 100Mbits if the NIC's are fast ethernet. Your modems won't be needed.

Game on!

I presume he wants to be able to play over Internet with both machines at the same time.

 

[TJN23]

Originally posted by: Skyclad1uhm1

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: TJN23
just was wondering if you could get a "real" game of say Medal of Honor working (with no choppiness or time delays) on 2 networked computers using a 56k modem and NIC in the main pc and a crossover CAT5 going to the NIC in the 2nd pc..

i know what you guys are thinking, it's not worth it but hey i'm a cheapo

thanks in advance

Don't really understand why the Modems would be involved here. If you have two machines connected by a crossover cable via NICS then you'll be playing at 10Mbits a second minimum, which is 10x128k or 100Mbits if the NIC's are fast ethernet. Your modems won't be needed.

Game on!

actually i'd just want to play directly against the other player, in the same room, so i'd just need 2 NICs and a crossover cable?

thx
I presume he wants to be able to play over Internet with both machines at the same time.

 

[Ipno]

The problem with modems isn't as much the bandwidth as it is the latency. You'll have to add 200ms to any reaction time you might have had if you use a modem with 1 computer, more with 2. In other words, you'll suck.

You can play games like Dark Age of Camelot, Asheron's Call, Everquest, Ultima Online, Anarchy Online, and the like with that setup just fine, mainly because latency isn't as big a factor in those.

 

[TJN23]

ok, so if i do want to have minimal latency time and maximum bandwith, can i just not use the modem and connect the 2 NICs in each PC directly via a crossover cable? would this work?

 

[Hoober]

Yes, that would work fine as long as you have the network set up prior to gaming. Otherwise you might run into problems with one computer finding the other. As far as lag/latency, that set up should work fine.

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: TJN23
ok, so if i do want to have minimal latency time and maximum bandwith, can i just not use the modem and connect the 2 NICs in each PC directly via a crossover cable? would this work?

Yes, you can connect them directly via a crossover.

Works quite well, & you'll get 100 mb/full duplex presuming your NICs are 10/100.

Gaming at 20 ms is a good thing.



Viper GTS

 

[CKDragon]

Originally posted by: TJN23
ok, so if i do want to have minimal latency time and maximum bandwith, can i just not use the modem and connect the 2 NICs in each PC directly via a crossover cable? would this work?

Yes, it would work fine. The modems wouldn't come into play and there would be no lag. The problems would begin if you tried to hook your computers up to the internet, also. But you've said you don't want to do that, so you'll be fine there will be virtually no lag.

CK

 

[TJN23]

alright thanks guys...

anyone have any quick advice (or a link) to set up the network configurations if both computers were running windows 2000 pro. i presume it should be pretty easy as I know a lot of win2k and network stuff is almost plug and play

thx again!!

 

[hoihtah]

easiest way would be to just set them in a same network group.

 

[TJN23]

gotcha thx