LAN Party
A LAN party is a gathering of people with their computers, where they connect to each other through a local area network, primarly for computer gaming. A lan party is more than just multiplayer gaming; it is a social gathering, and as such, it often includes food, drinks, and geeky socialization. A lan party can be a very fun part of the college experience.
Contents
LAN Party How-to[edit]
First, you need some participants with their own computers, and a suitable space with tables and power outlets. Bring power strips, ethernet hubs, and at least one LAN cable per person. Consider ordering pizza. Second, decide on some games to be played -- common choices include Counter-strike and Warcraft III, and make sure everyone who want to play has the game installed on their computer, and they have the correct game updates. No-CD cracks can help here.
Hardware setup[edit]
Third, you must set up the network. There are several different configurations for creating the local area network:
No Hub[edit]
This is just for two people. You will need a crossover cable. Just plug one end into each computer and set the IP address. On some newer network cards crossover cables are no longer needed and a regular network cable will work as well.
With a Router[edit]
Routers are nice, because they serve as DHCP servers. You just plug yourselves into the router (or hub connected to the router), and request an IP. This is typically one of the fastest ways to get started, unless you have a computer that just so happens to have been serving IP addresses up before, and is thus configured nicely. That would be rare, as computers get confused when there are multiple DHCP servers.
Wireless[edit]
Wireless routers are pretty much the best you can hope for in connecting ease. They serve as dhcp servers for wired and wireless computers, allowing for more people, as radio waves are better suited to long distances than 10' LAN cables.
IP Address Setup[edit]
With DHCP[edit]
If you have access to a DHCP server this is the prefered method. If you have a router, this is probably the case. If you don't, see the section below.
In Windows, set your IP to update automatically under the TCP/IP setting of your ethernet card.
Without DHCP[edit]
To set IP addresses manually, a large whiteboard is one of the handyest utilities you can find. First, you must decide on an IP range. Because you'll probably have fewer than 254 people, using the same first 3 numbers is convenient. Often people will use 10.0.0.x, as that is quite easy to type in. You'll also need to determine a netmask. In a netmask, you use a 255 in areas that you assume everybody you'll connect to has the same, and a 0 where they won't. The two most common netmasks, then are 255.255.255.0 and 255.0.0.0. The latter is common not so much because of security or usefulness as it is for its ease of typing.
If you're running Windows, edit the TCP/IP settings of your ethernet card, to match the netmask, as well as a unique IP.
If you're running Linux, /sbin/ifconfig eth0 up 10.0.0.13 netmask 255.255.255.0 would be a valid example of the command you use.
Helpful Links[edit]
- Gamecopyworld - Source of No-CD patches
- Cracks.am - Cracked executables, patches, and keygens (educational purposes only)
- ASTALAVISTA - Search engine, particularly effective when your needs fall under the gaming category
