Newbie LAN-er...help!

[FATAL STR1K3]

hey i have to admit that i am a noob when it comes to this stuff..

i want to host a little pc game tourney in my garage with all of my friends in a few weeks or so...

BUT,
idk what i am doing.

can anyone help me out. it can be basic but i am just curious if there are any rules of thumb i should know. I would like to connect around 4 pc's together if that matters. also, they will not need to be connected to the internet.

any help will be much appreciated..thanks!

 

[sturm]

If you have broadband internet- cable or dsl, get you a 4 port router. connect all the pcs to that and your good to go. the router will handle DHCP for you instead of you having to set it up on another pc. When your done you can run the router in your house. Even if you don't have broadband I would get the router as it makes things so much more simpler to do. If more friends come over all you need to do is get an 5 or 8 port switch and plug that into the router and your good to go.

 

[FATAL STR1K3]

ah ok thanks man

this prob sounds uber noob but does it just go...

comp->ethernet cable->router<-ethernet cable<- computer #2

thanks for the help

 

[sturm]

Most routers will have 4 or 5 plugs for computers. There is one port that is marked WAN that is used to connect to a cable/dsl modem. You can't use this for a normal computer connection.

his prob sounds uber noob but does it just go...

comp->ethernet cable->router<-ethernet cable<- computer
#2

That's correct. Make sure you use a straight thru cable and not a crossover cable to keep things simple.

 

[FATAL STR1K3]

ok thanks so much for the help!

 

[lotussama]

You could also just plug into a small switch, without worrying about the routing/firewall functions.

If each computer is set up to receive a DHCP address, they won't find a server, but should be assigned APIPA addresses, and communicate just fine.