can i hook my computers together with a lan cable without a router?

[ethan]

can i hook my computers together with a lan cable without a router?

i want to play against my friends as i have two computers, and i have two different network cards, but i want to know if i need a router to transfer files and play head to head...

[number6]

No, you don't need a router if all you want to do is play on a lan. What you want to get is a hub and they are usually $20 or a little less. Here is a brief description of what a hub is:

http://compnetworking.about.com/library/weekly/aa012801a.htm

Another way of connecting 2 computers directly would be through serial cable, but I have never tried that so I don't know what the performance hit might be (if any) when playing games. I also think the game you want to play has to support the direct connection setup as well. Your best bet is probably the hub.

[ethan]

actually, i only need a cross-over (gaming) cable, which is about the same price as a normal cable that goes into a hub.

[Nyarlathotep]

actually, i only need a cross-over (gaming) cable, which is about the same price as a normal cable that goes into a hub.

If your desire is to hook up just two computers you're correct. If you want to hook up more to play LAN games, you'd need to have a hub.

[babyface]

I played dune2k with cross-over wire ;D

[number6]

actually, i only need a cross-over (gaming) cable, which is about the same price as a normal cable that goes into a hub.

So if you already knew the answer, why did you ask? ???

[ethan]

actually, i only need a cross-over (gaming) cable, which is about the same price as a normal cable that goes into a hub.

So if you already knew the answer, why did you ask? ???

i went to askjeeves :D .

[emprworm]

a crossover cable does you no good if you want to access anything more than those 2 computers (such as the internet)

otherwise, it will work.

[aox0m0xoa]

not true in fact if you have dial-up, a cross-over is the only ethernet way to do it.

[Terror]

you forget one option.. not the best option, but it is a cheap option.

COAX. With coax you can line up multiple computer and you do not need a hub or whatsoever.

Disadvantage is that you need quite a bit of cable, can only go up to 10 megabit (i think) and is a bit unstable. It is however a cheap option if you wanna hook up like 4 to 8 comps or something. Ethernet is faster and more effective, especially if you want a permanent connection. It's just an option.

The problem however, is that if you hook up too many pc's the network will slow down terribly, cuz of the 10 megabit and there will be a lot of colissions (dunno how to spell that)

[ethan]

im using internet right now with a crossover

[aox0m0xoa]

if you use a hub there would be collisions. dont go with coax, its not that common, and would just complicate things.