10mbps network good enough?

[CMH]

I'm thinking of getting a huge switch, and recently found some used 10mbps switches cheap. Are these good enough for games? I'll be playing all kinds of games, anywhere from Broodwar to Battlefield2, with maybe up to 10 people (its a 24 port switch, but house can only have that many comps running at one time).

Probably no problems from games around broodwar times (a 56.6 can play relatively lag free, so there) but how about the newer games such as War3, CS, EE2, or BF2?

Also, is there issues regarding using switches this large? Maybe setting up issues? Cos my 4 port switch is just plug and play (and a little network settings adjustments), it'll be great news if its as simple, but if its not, I'd need to know how hard it'll be...

Thanks in advance.

 

[RealBlackStuff]

That switch is more than good enough, unless you have an internet connection that is faster than 10mb (unlikely).

 

[Rik]

As realblackstuff says a 10mb is fine for internet connection but switches do have internet connection sharing problems. If you wish to connect sevearal pc's up and have them all online then you will need a router rather than a switch. Obviously a router will cost you more than a switch but it could be worth the bit of extra cash in the long run as if you get a linksys one it has a built in firewall.
Alternatively, you could setup your switch system then add a router to it later to create a "back bone" system where your internet connection goes into the router then out to the switch which will allow pc's connected to either device to access the net.
Routers are definately available in you kneck of the woods as i have a friend living over there and he got himself a router 2 weeks ago.

 

[CMH]

Actually I'm thinking of keeping this switch in a nice place, and bringing it out only for LAN parties. So internet connection isn't an issue at all.

Its a little huge, which is not a little problem.

What I'm concerned is playing games on it, is it fast enough? I know that the wireless 802.11b isn't really great for gaming, and thats 11mbps.

Thanks for those replies tho, they answered some other questions I had (particularly about connecting the router with the switch).

 

[RealBlackStuff]

On a 802.11b you're lucky to get 2-3 mbps because of the encryption overhead.
On that switch you get 10 mbps.

 

[Rik]

No problem, when my friends and myself have lan parties (we do it often) we started with 10mbps and found it to be ok but a bit laggy and had some synchronization errors. We then upgraded to 100mbps and found it to be great with no sync errors. We are now in the process of upgrading to gigabit. So far, ive only done gigabit between 2 pc's via a crossover cable and its blindingly fast.


The main difference between cable and wireless networking is that with wireless you will get more lag. So 10bmps through cables will be a little more reliable and therefore a tiny bit better for gaming. But if u can afford it i'd highly recommend 100.

 

[CMH]

24 or 16 port gigabit switches are just out of the reach at the moment.... make that way out of reach.

Anyway, you said 10mbps is abit laggy.... thats exactly what I don't want. I think I'll just have to buy a 10/100 mbps switch...

I might even buy some gigabit cards and a small gigabit switch for my network....

 

[Rik]

Im glad my information was of some use to you.

Have many hours of happy lan play. Rik.

 

[CMH]

Yeah, thanks alot.

I was REALLY worried about lag, which is one reason why I hardly play online games. I just couldn't get used to playing with lag, or high latency ever since I started playing in cyber cafes....

As I said, I might upgrade to a gigabit network at home, mainly for file transfers. I don't see gigabit networks being necessary for games for a few more years.

Also, do you know of any 2port 10/100/1000 PCI cards? Or will buying 2 single port PCI cards will work the same?

 

[Rik]

Never see any 2 port ones however the 2 cards will work fine, i know this for a fact as i currently have a gigabit and a 10/100 in my pc right now.

 

[CMH]

Just to update people, I just bought a secondhand Netgear FS524. Cost me a little more than some brand new unheard-of brands, but I'd prefer something that'll be sure to perform.

Also, tehre are 2port PCI cards, just alot less common than the single port ones.

And if I'm going to use 2 PCI cards, I'll be using dual gigabit ones, if switches allow full duplex gigabit to be used