router requirements for gaming

[Ojannen]

I am planning on hosting a small lan party and need to get a 24 port router. Right now I am looking at options on ebay and newegg. Before I make my purchase, I have a few questions:

Are there any specific features I should look for to ensure that gaming works?

I prefer plug and play rather than having several hours of set up time. What features should I be specifically looking for? I know basics but have never done a lan party for more than 6-8 people (on 1 8 port linksys router). I am not exactly sure what a larger router and 6 more people entails. I have some problems with older 4 port routers especially when daisy chaining them. I am trying to avoid that frustration for now.

Is there a big difference between a router, switch, and hub? From what I understand, they are about the same except that a router handles the information more efficiently. If there is a 24 port router, switch, and hub, which would you choose for performance and which for ease of use?

Is buying a router off of ebay safe? Is there anything I should look out for? IThe cheapest 24 port switch I could find on newegg was about $50 + shiping. Is it worth it to pay about $30 more for a new product?

Comments and other suggestions are welcome.

 

[blemoine]

The best thing you can do is get a small router and a 24 port switch. of course you will connect it as so
isp-->router-->switch-->workstations.

Router= connects two separate networks.
Switch= connects pc's on the same network. each connection has dedicated bandwidth.
Hud= connects pc's on the same network. each connection shares bandwidth.

The more money you spend the better it should work. now thats not saying if you buy a switch for 50 dollars it will work dramatically better than buying one for 40 dollars. good luck

 

[Nnyan]

I think you are confusing a router and a switch. Most home/soho Routers come with small basic 3-8 port switch built in. There is are big differences between Hubs, Switches and Routers.

A hub is the most basic connection method and normally the slowest b/c when a hub gets a packet it repeats this data on all of its ports. This can lead to data collisions which means another cycle trying to "fix" this (see CSMA/CD protocol). Because a switch segments the traffic/network it does not do this so its faster. It "knows" what packet go to which port by maintaing a table and you'll have fewer problems with games (IMHO).

As for a router you only need one, just gonnect it to the backplane switch. This will make setup easier since everyone can get a DHCP address from the router (set your servers to static). I always recommend a backplane switch which you connect your servers and switches to (also your router) preferably using giga. If you're small enough that everything will fit into one 24 port switch then go for it.

Once you get bigger you'll want to compare the switch performance (yep they differ greatly) and look into getting a managed switch(s) and even run some LP management software like http://www.nerdclub.net/alp/

Anyway you might want to check out Tom's Networking guide to lan parties at http://www.tomsnetworking.com/Sections-article114.php

 

[Rookie]

Originally posted by: blemoine
The best thing you can do is get a small router and a 24 port switch. of course you will connect it as so
isp-->router-->switch-->workstations.

:thumbsup: