Hackable Switch?

[Argon Darkwood]

I've been to a couple LAN parties and some are big and have big expensive 24+ port routers and other where have a 8 port switch and have to manually changing IP's.

Now I'm wondering, cause a couple friends for a little LAN party, if there is a cheap switch with at least 6 ports and be able to hack it to at least add a DHCP so I don't have to make everyone change their IP's.

Thanks guys.

[cooper]

Install a DHCP deamon on the server. It's not a very demanding service by a long shot.

As for cheap switches, get one of those 8-port Asus GigaX 1108 switches. Should cost less than 85 bucks for 8 ports of gigabit goodness. They have a 16- and 24-port version of these aswell, but they're still a bit expensive.

[DLSS]

Install a DHCP deamon on the server. It's not a very demanding service by a long shot.

As for cheap switches, get one of those 8-port Asus GigaX 1108 switches. Should cost less than 85 bucks for 8 ports of gigabit goodness. They have a 16- and 24-port version of these aswell, but they're still a bit expensive.

get a large (24) one for cheap , second hand on computer gathering. (thats how i got mine pretty cheap (only € 18 -> £12,43 -> $21,604) )

[Faith +1]

if you guys have a spare router (broadband one) sitting around, just throw it on the network as your dhcp server. Or do the free dhcp server that was suggested to set up IP's then turn it off since you can change the lease to however long you plan on having the party.

[samhnky]

Faith +1 mentioned this first, I just wanted to expand a little bit. Faith +1 said to use a broad band router as the dhcp server on your network, and of coarse you realize hes refering to a cable/dsl router found in all walmart / tech stores, but if you don't have one lying aroudn I would recomend buying on off the net.

While I'm not a big fan of this newegg.com , manny people have been very happy with them, and after looking at their site tonight they have several routers under $25, and they have 8 port switches under $20, I think they had one for $13 or $14. So if you bought the router and switch you could have up to 11 people conected and the router would handle all the IPs for you, if you bought the 5 port switch you could have up to 8 people conected... The thing to keep in mind, and I think you already had a general idea of this, is to not use a hub. Hubs create a lot of un-needed network traffic, and they could cause major havic to your games by not giving you the needed performance.

Hope this helps,

[fitzy]

If you want a hackable switch, your gonna have to go for something like a Linksys WRT54GL router.

[Sparda]

If you want a hackable switch, your gonna have to go for something like a Linksys WRT54GL router.

Please clarifie what you mean, I fail to see how these are any more modifiyable then a switch (or a normal switch for that matter).

[VaKo]

If you want a hackable switch, your gonna have to go for something like a Linksys WRT54GL router.

Please clarifie what you mean, I fail to see how these are any more modifiyable then a switch (or a normal switch for that matter).

I'm guessing he ment just the hacking part. Some linksys routers can take custom firmware that open up more features. I've done this on mine but i doubt it would help here as all it really offers is more detailed QOS settings, better UPnP support (it has a nice little GUI that lets you track the buggers down), more port forwarding settings and stuff like that. Plus it also helps because some linksys routers track every connection you make for 5 days, killing your performance. The custom firmware lowers that to around 2 hours (or lower) and speeds up apps like BT that use a lot of connections. That won't help for gaming but it makes managing your router a damn site easier.

[Argon Darkwood]

If you want a hackable switch, your gonna have to go for something like a Linksys WRT54GL router.

Please clarifie what you mean, I fail to see how these are any more modifiyable then a switch (or a normal switch for that matter).

I'm guessing he ment just the hacking part. Some linksys routers can take custom firmware that open up more features. I've done this on mine but i doubt it would help here as all it really offers is more detailed QOS settings, better UPnP support (it has a nice little GUI that lets you track the buggers down), more port forwarding settings and stuff like that. Plus it also helps because some linksys routers track every connection you make for 5 days, killing your performance. The custom firmware lowers that to around 2 hours (or lower) and speeds up apps like BT that use a lot of connections. That won't help for gaming but it makes managing your router a damn site easier.

Yes I was thinking like the Linksys routers but for switches.

Its cheaper to buy a 6+ port switch then a 6+ port router.

And in a LAN party you don't need the firewall from the router just the DHCP to assign IP's.

And which hacked firmware do you use for your Linksys VaKo?

[VaKo]

http://www.polarcloud.com/tofu

I'm using HyperWRT +tofu 13b, works like a treat. Although do your homework before you install it!

For your situation, i'd get something along the lines of a 16port switch (about £50 or local) and a seperate broadband router. Then just hook all the gamers into the switch with cables and uplink that to the router, then everyone has internet as well as high speed gaming locally. The router will have no problem assigning the IP's, i think my linksys can handle something like 1000 computers.

[charon79m]

1: I've never seen a 24-port swith be a DHCP server. They just don't exist. I don't think eve the big Cisco 4000 6000 or 8000 seriese switches do DHCP.

2: You DO NOT need a Gigabit switch for a LAN party. These are games that are designed to play over the internet!

3: The boradband devices are routers with a built in switch. The funtionality of DHCP is a service running on the router, not a function of the switch.

I agree with what has been suggested by others. A boradband router or even a Linux box would be great to hand out DHCP. Heck, just have your game server do it. Even a XP or 2000 box can hand out DHCP if you enable ICS.

[Faith +1]

1: I've never seen a 24-port swith be a DHCP server. They just don't exist. I don't think eve the big Cisco 4000 6000 or 8000 seriese switches do DHCP.

There are some with L3 & DHCP its not exactly "cheap" (500 bucks or so).

If this is just for LAN gaming - go with the cheapest solution. 24port switch with one computer running a dhcp server free program.

If it is for a business - get a 2948 switch with layer 3, run DHCP off of the switch if cost is a factor.