"Best" switch for LAN Party???

B

BodySnatcher

Gawd
Joined
Nov 22, 2000
Messages
681
Need ideas for a new switch for the LAN party We have outgrown our 8 ports, and the hassle of that old POS.

So I promised to sport a new 16 port for the next party in three weeks.

Any ideas? Brand, etc.
 
Linksys sells a 24-port Layer 2 switch for $130 at most technology retail outlets.

It'll most likely hold 20+ people before gasping for relief.

Here's the link to it.

-MacG467
 
Are you looking to stick with 100Mbit or go gigabit?

I got a 16 port Dell powerconnect gigabit switch and it's kicked ass at LANs so far. For more ports you can just branch cheap 8 port gig switches off of it, being that with only 8 ports, even if everyone was transferring at the same time, it would still be faster than 100mbit (1000 uplink / 7ports).

Also, with gig, every port is auto-crossover, so it keeps things nice and simple :)
 
To be honest, if you're only looking at an unmanaged device, get the most ports for the best price you can afford. There is negligable difference between Linksys, D-Link, Netgear, etc.

The only factor you really need to look for is if its got Gig-E uplinks (which would be refelcted in teh price), and whether or not its capable of autodetecting a crossover connection. Other than that their more or less identicle.
 
Love my Netgear fs526t...

Get them at zipzoomfly.com for $177.00 and they have 2 gigabit uplinks as well as 24 100mbps ports... great price/performance IMO

QwertyJuan
 
All good ideas.

Thanks for the heads up on the 24-ports. Many are priced near the 16-port price.

10/100 is the speed I am looking for.

Would you recommend interal PSU or external?

Looks like some are very small and others a bit larger? Any thoughts?

Metal or plastic?

Again thanks for the help so far.

The guys at the LAN will owe me big for pimpin 24" of goodness... er... 24-ports... :D
 
Don't worry about internal/external PS. Go with what you think looks better.

Same goes with metal/plastic.

The Linksys I linked you to is metal with an internal PS and can autodetect crossover. I use one at work hosting 15 PCs to an Ethernet line on an AS/400.


-MacG467
 
Unless you are lookin at gigabit, get the best price per port that you can find.

100mbit switching any more is a comodity and you wont find jack or shit for difference
between unmanaged switches.

If you need more functionality other than plug a cable in and let er rip, then you need to start lookin at specific brands for good quality, other than that, just look for ports.
 
Thanks to all, this should help out the LAN party.

The D-Link DSS-16+ from the Egg for $67 was the winnar.

Now to round up some decent CAT5... some of the attendees forget the simple stuff... oh and a case of BAWLS!!!
 
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