LanOC v.11 Official Tech Support Information

Hello,

Like the LAN back in the spring, I will be the "front-lines" on participant tech support assistance during the LAN. Obviously, everyone on staff wants you to have the best experience possible at the LAN, and will all be available at any time to help you out with issues, but please bring most tech support to me, and I will obtain additional assistance if necessary.

This will be my second LAN, and I learned a great deal from the first one. In order to provide the best gaming experience, please perform the following tasks BEFORE the LAN to ensure everything goes as smoothly for you as possible during the LAN.

1. Run all Windows Updates. We should be out far enough from the last Patch Tuesday cycle that many of your machines will have already automatically updated. However, it is important from a security standpoint to have your machine up-to-date.

2. Speaking of security, please DISABLE all firewalls, except for the one that is included with Windows. That includes ZoneAlarm, AVG (shudder), Avast and the like. Preferably, I'd like to see everyone completely uninstall their AV solutions for the weekend and just run Microsoft Security Essentials for protection, but that's merely a suggestion and not a request.

3. Test your network connection before leaving for the LAN. Boot your computer, plug in to your router with your CAT5 cable, and make sure everything is working okay.

4. DHCP. Please make sure your connection is setup to receive an IP address automatically from the DHCP server and not have a static IP address. Most of you will have a dynamic address and this will not be a problem, but if you are unsure, please see me BEFORE everyone is setup and start gaming.

5. Run this link: NiNite Installer for LAN This will install TeamViewer which can be used for remote support during the LAN, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, which is also helpful in diagnosing computer issues. 7-Zip, which will allow you to unzip shared files and make it easier to share during the LAN. Finally, it'll update Java, Flash, Silverlight and all the commonly used runtimes for a great deal of apps. You may not use those runtimes during the LAN, but having an up-to-date PC is a happy PC.

6. Follow me on Twitter @chadkirchner, add me on Facebook Facebook Profile , and be sure to get ahold of me on Mumble at the LAN. Send all your support request through those systems (or come up and see me).

7. Have fun! Seriously, have fun! Most of these steps are common sense maintenance for your machine that you should be doing regularly, and will ensure you have a great LAN experience!

Questions? Let me know!

Hey, if you ABSOLUTELY need to get ahold of me, Facebook, Twitter and Mumble all at the same time will certainly light up my computer like a Christmas tree!

I'm totally down for lending a hand with any network troubleshooting that might come up.

On another note, why the suggestion of disabling firewalls? Seems counter-intuitive from a security perspective. No need to disable firewalls as long as you make sure your applications (read: games) are allowed through.

For the technologically inclined, that is more than acceptable. This post though is written at a more "normal" user level, just in case.

And of course thank you for the opportunity for assistance. I will keep you in mind

Dreyvas wrote: I'm totally down for lending a hand with any network troubleshooting that might come up.

On another note, why the suggestion of disabling firewalls? Seems counter-intuitive from a security perspective. No need to disable firewalls as long as you make sure your applications (read: games) are allowed through.

I'm used to the pop-up asking me to allow the game to get through, I'm sure this doesn't happen all the time, but it's been pretty good for me...

chadkirchner wrote: 3. Test your network connection before leaving for the LAN. Boot your computer, plug in to your router with your CAT5 cable, and make sure everything is working okay.

On that note, attendees may want to consider bringing a CAT6 cable if they anticipate transferring Steam/other game backups over the network since the v11.0 info says that there's GigE to each seat. That said, a thoughtful LAN attendee will do his/her best to have their games installed and updated before the LAN to reduce any potential network congestion

CAT5 can handle up to a 1Gb connection, it's what I have at home and I have obtained full speed. But I digress

parall4x wrote:

chadkirchner wrote: 3. Test your network connection before leaving for the LAN. Boot your computer, plug in to your router with your CAT5 cable, and make sure everything is working okay.

On that note, attendees may want to consider bringing a CAT6 cable if they anticipate transferring Steam/other game backups over the network since the v11.0 info says that there's GigE to each seat. That said, a thoughtful LAN attendee will do his/her best to have their games installed and updated before the LAN to reduce any potential network congestion

I think you're thinking of cat5e.

cat5 = 100Mbps
cat5e = 1000Mbps