Lan Party Spyware Virus Nightmare

Spyware and Viruses can be a huge problem for Lan Parties. Nothing could be more of a nightmare when it comes to problems at a lan party. Can you imagine if your computer or one of those attending your lan party had a machine infected with a Trojan that spread adware, spyware or other type of harmful and annoying virus? I for one never take it for granted that those I'm joining in a fun day of gaming will have their machines fully protected and clean of this type of nasty software. I recommend before hooking up to the network at the lan party you attend to fully disable any sharing, make sure your machine permissions and accounts are fully secure and that you have an anti-virus software running.

I know that some anit-virus software can be resource hogs and you dont want real time scans causing latency issues with your gaming so make sure you have a computer with adequate CPU and memory to run both your games and the much needed anti-virus software. Always be courteous and do any spyware removal and full system scans prior to taking your PC to a Lan party. You definitely dont want to get known as the gamer spreading malicious software to other lan party goers.

Lan Party Gear | Setting Up A Lan Party

In my last post I discussed the LAN party power requirements. Today I'll cover a basic check list of all the requirements for hosting your own LAN party. While this checklist will be geared towards the home based LAN party it can be scaled up for larger events.

1. You need A Good Location. - You'll want plenty of room for tables chairs and all the equipment required. You should have a full understanding of the electrical circuits and their capacities. The location you host you LAN party must have Air Conditioning. Computers, monitors and human bodies generate a lot of heat. Besides power overheating is the second biggest concern at LAN parties.

2. Tables and Chairs. If you don't have your own tables and chairs usually you can find a local church , volunteer fire dept , or other organization that will let you borrow or rent them. Even if they don't charge you for them you should give a small donation, you may want use them again.

3. Network Equipment - You should have a quality switch. 10/100/1000 switches are getting pretty inexpensive these days if you shop wisely. Don't get in over your head here. If your not a network specialist stick with Netgear, Linksys or Dlink home consumer models. They will come with simple instructions on how to configure your network and won't require much if any configuration. Cisco switches and some of the other high end switches will require more configuration and are definitely more expensive. Make sure you get switch with enough ports for everyone and a few extra for expansion. Don't forget patch cables.

4. List of Games- You should know in advance what games you will be playing. When you schedule your LAN party, provide a list of the games required. I would highly suggest you make sure everyone has them pre-installed to save time getting started at your LAN party. It is also a good idea to have a basic schedule of when you will be playing which games. The more organized your LAN party more likely everyone will have fun.

5. List of computer requirements. Provide everyone that will be attending the LAN party a list of the pc requirements that are needed to play the games on your list. You dont want everyone showing up with computers that are not capable of running the games on your LAN party list. These requirements can be found on the game boxes or software companies website.

6. Internet access - This may not be a necessity but is highly suggested. Your LAN party guests may find they need to update drivers, download game patches or just check their email from time to time. If you don't plan on having Internet access make sure to let everyone know in advance.

7. Refreshments- When hosting a LAN party its a good idea to have plenty of snacks and drinks. I would avoid alcohol, this isn't a frat party its a LAN party. Usually we have everyone that is coming to the LAN party bring something with them. Brownies, bag of chips, dip, case of pop or whatever extra that your guests can provide is a bonus.

This is a basic list of LAN party gear and what is required in setting up a LAN party. After your first LAN party take notes of thing you didn't do right and create your own LAN party list for the future.

Lan Party Gear | Things To Think About

If your thinking about hosting a lan party there are several things you need to consider first. You need to know where your going to hold the lan party. If you plan on hosting it in your home you will need to consider space. How many people are going to attend ? Our lan parties usually consist of 10-14 people depending on what games we will be playing. Any more than 14 and space really becomes an issues, unless you have a really big house. Computers, tables, chairs, monitors all take up a lot of space.

Another major concern before hosting a lan party gear has to be power consumption. Computers and monitors especially gaming systems consume quite a bit of energy. When planning your party you want to stagger 3-4 users per circuit in your house. Extension cords will most definitely be required to bring the power from different areas in your house. The last thing you want to have happen is a power surge that blows circuits and kills computers. Your friends will quickly become enemies when you destroy their prized gaming computer.

Hosting a successful lan party requires not only the proper gear but proper planning. In my next few posts I'll discuss the details of specific lan party gear that is required.

Lan Party Gear | What Is A Lan Party

Have you ever heard of a Lan Party? If your not a hard core online gamer chances are you haven't. A lan party is a group of computer users or in some cases console game players that get together in real life to play video games. In some parts of the country this is highly common , in others its just starting to catch on. Now you might think this is just for a bunch of techincal computer geeks to gather and show off , but more and more it has become an activity for everyone. Lan parties are now popping up as birthday parties, bachelor parties and other social events. This blog will discuss the many different types of lan parties, the basic computer equipment needed, how to set up a basic computer network, how best to host you lan party and many other topics revolving around this form of computer gaming event. Feel free to ask any questions or post comments about anything you see posted here on Lan Party Gear.