Recommendations for Gaming DSL Router?

[mbigna]

I'm starting a new post with this question. This question appears in another thread, but nobody was answering it...

OK--I'm looking forward to getting my new DSL in about a month. I'm planning on getting SDSL 768/768 service. I will have several computers hooked up. Right now, they are all networked together with a basic 10/100 hub (all the rigs have 10/100 cards in 'em). I'm planning on purchasing a DSL router. I won't need many ports on the router because the hub handles all the rigs, though the extra ports will allow me to string some extra ethernet ports to other rooms in the house.

My main concern (heh, more important than work IMO), is that I plan to have a friend (or two...) come over on occasion to play a little UT ONLINE. I have been reading about assorted problems with more than one PC connected to the internet on the same IP trying to play on the same server. Would I be better served with a particular router? Or, do I need to ask for separate IP's? Has anyone had any success with this sort of thing?

[trey_w]

i would suggest going with a linksys router, although there are other good ones out their

i would go with the 4 port or 8 port and not use your hub if all possible

hub = dummy Hub

switch = smart hub

the router will have a biult in 10\100 switch

as far as game playing, i have no problems

don't waste money purchasing more ip's from the ISP

behind the router you can create as many static ip's as want for how many ports you have

[Warlord2]

linksys has been good for me with 20+ people on cable all playing games

[mbigna]

trey_w: You are correct about the difference between a hub and a router, however, compared to the bandwidth of DSL, even a dumb hub is more than adequate.

Warlord2: "20+ people on cable all playing games"? What kind of games? FPS's? Would they all be playing on the same server? Did you assign all the machines static IP's or use DHCP?

[Kingslayer]

There is one thing that everyone here is forgetting. And that is to get a router with a DMZ. Yes it stands for DeMilitarized Zone. What this means is that this effectively places the computer specified to the DMZ on the outside of the router. This is needed for games that use multiple ports. If you plan on running a dedicated server for gaming, or a DNS server, its better to have it on the DMZ that way you dont have to program a ton of ports and protocols per game.

[trey_w]

i stiil think its dangerous to run DMZ if you don't know what your doing

for example, its probably safe to assume that there will be more than your server comp hooked up to the router.


that means that the computers can access each other

and you are going to want to do that if you want to play on your own server, because you want to make a LAN connection to it

if not, then you will go out to the internet and back in and waste bandwidth that others could have

anyways, if NetBIOS is open and anything is being shared, file sharing printer sharing, then anyone can come in on any port they choose. DMZ can be very dangerous, especially with a cable modem

and so any comp is up for hacking

and, if you can, change the type of packets

[Fightingpiper]

Originally posted by Kingslayer
There is one thing that everyone here is forgetting. And that is to get a router with a DMZ. Yes it stands for DeMilitarized Zone. What this means is that this effectively places the computer specified to the DMZ on the outside of the router. This is needed for games that use multiple ports. If you plan on running a dedicated server for gaming, or a DNS server, its better to have it on the DMZ that way you dont have to program a ton of ports and protocols per game.

I disagree on using the DMZ feature on the router and as trey said it is dangerous. It is fairly easy to port forward any ports that are needed and much safer if you are building a server but I believe that this gent is not going to be creating a server but just having a few friends over and all of them connecting to the same online server. I honestly dont know how well playing games with multiple computers from the same IP works. But I think it all depends on the bandwidth you have from your cable company much moreso than the router. The router should handle all the computers on the network just fine but you could have issues if you have low bandwidth/speed.

BTW ive got the linksys and not a problem yet.

[mbigna]

Originally posted by Fightingpiper
I disagree on using the DMZ feature on the router and as trey said it is dangerous. It is fairly easy to port forward any ports that are needed and much safer if you are building a server but I believe that this gent is not going to be creating a server but just having a few friends over and all of them connecting to the same online server. I honestly dont know how well playing games with multiple computers from the same IP works. But I think it all depends on the bandwidth you have from your cable company much moreso than the router. The router should handle all the computers on the network just fine but you could have issues if you have low bandwidth/speed.

BTW ive got the linksys and not a problem yet. You are quite right, Fightingpiper. I do not (yet) have any aspirations on hosting a game server. The DSL service I plan on getting doesn't even have a fixed I/P (although, I don't expect it would change often as long as I keep the router turned on and connected). The service is SDSL 768/768. I expect that should be enough for about 6 players concurrently--though I doubt I'll get many chances to have that many people over.

[Fightingpiper]

The nice thing about the router is that it will automatically adjust to your dynamic IP-This is done in the configuration. You dont have to worry about your IP changing the router does that for you. BTW if you ever do decied to host a server and have a Dynamic IP you can use this service (http://www.no-ip.com/services/page/free/dynamicdns) and you wont have to worry about your IP changing. Ive been using it now for a few weeks and it works great.

Cheers!

[trey_w]

or try www.dns2go.com

[Kingslayer]

Originally posted by Fightingpiper


I disagree on using the DMZ feature on the router and as trey said it is dangerous. It is fairly easy to port forward any ports that are needed and much safer if you are building a server but I believe that this gent is not going to be creating a server but just having a few friends over and all of them connecting to the same online server. I honestly dont know how well playing games with multiple computers from the same IP works. But I think it all depends on the bandwidth you have from your cable company much moreso than the router. The router should handle all the computers on the network just fine but you could have issues if you have low bandwidth/speed.

BTW ive got the linksys and not a problem yet.

It's not as dangerous as you think as most good routers will allow you to put that computer in the DMZ with the click of a button, and return it to the LAN side just as easy. You only put it out there to host the game, when you are done hosting, you put it back on the LAN side.

But you can safely and easily leave it on the DMZ if you wish. Yes, you need to brush up on your security. But most people are running cable and DSL without any type of firewall anyways.

[trey_w]

that was my point, it can be done, but you need to have some knowledge in security

it would be better and safer to learn how to forward the ports
in case he ever wants to run any other type of servers
not every comp can be DMZ

the way some people here are recommending using the DMZ sounds like to me just a easy way to do things

Kingslayer mentioned parts about security and other forms of firewalls and having knowledge about it

i believe he is on the right track and recommending DMZ for the right purposes

but i feel we are dealing with someone who is new to this and i think it is better not to use the DMZ until he is more familiar with networking and security