Thread 2043254

Why does every game out there seems to need different prerequisites ?

I swear to god, there's little to no documentation about it online

I thought it was as simple as connecting two computers with a cable but even that doesn't work for like, half the games i tested ...

Jesus christ
You get a network switch, like this: https://www.amazon.fr/TP-Link-TL-SG105S-Gigabit-Ethernet-Garantie/dp/B07HP5TN4S
Then you connect each PC to it with an RJ45 cable.
Then, that's it, you got your LAN.

>>2043447

Then why doesn't it work for like half of the games i'm playing ?

>>2043933
Probably modern windows has bugs and errors and no support. Could also be firewall shennanigans stopping you. Do you know how many times we tried to do port forwarding only for that shit to never work?

>>2043254 (OP)
Connecting two computers directly to one another only possibly establishes a link-local connection, if both are setup to automatically assign themselves an IP address within the link-local designated range; if they have done this, and it still doesn't work, then I'd suspect whichever games you are trying to play just haven't been programmed to work over link-local.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link-local_address

>>2043447
>>2043933
Using only a switch with computers attached to it won't work, as you need a router, or more specifically a designated computer that can forward packets, not just receive them, and every computer needs that router to be set as its main route.

Here's the simplest setup that I can think of for hooking a bunch of computers up together in a LAN to play together:
1. A router enabled with DHCP
2. Optionally, an unmanaged switch to connect to the router if the computer acting as the router itself lacks the necessary amount of ports to connect all of the computers to
3. Functioning DHCP clients setup on all of the computers
4. Make sure all of the computers are connected to the LAN-facing ports of the router and/or the switch

After that's all set, you need to make sure that the computers connected to this LAN have private IP addresses that are within the same subnet as the router. Firewall issues probably only reside with the client computers, if any at all; port-forwarding is unnecessary in a LAN setup like this given how most routers are configured by default

If possible, use tools like ping and netcat to help diagnose issues

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_network#Private_IPv4_addresses
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ping_(networking_utility)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netcat
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_network
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Protocol

>>2047258
You only need a router if you require outside connectivity though (you generally do). If it's "just" a LAN you only need to make sure all the IP addresses are in the same subnet.
That, or you set up a small DHCP server on one of the machines (such as https://pjo2.github.io/tftpd64/).

Most dedicated routers have a DHCP server built in.

This is probably superfluous information these days, but make sure you get a Switch, not a Hub.

>>2048099
Hubs have a "Collision" lamp, and are retro antiques nowadays, and should be kept.

The power bricks are the common weak link, but match the voltage specs and put the tiny barrel or proprietary connector on to a working power supply, check volts/amps with a multimeter.

If you get an old (immortal but for the power shitbricks) WRT54G router, put DD-WRT on it and rock on forever.

Data throughput limitations by the old CPU will not matter for any LAN game.