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WansumBeats
December 24th, 2015, 16:15
Haven't tried this out, was wondering if it's possible to take multiple laptops and plug them into a hub or switch and all connect to the host without Internet?

Moon Wizard
December 24th, 2015, 20:59
You can do that if they all have Standard or Ultimate licenses. Demo licenses require an Internet connection.

Make sure to use the internal IP address for the GM machine.

Regards,
JPG

damned
December 24th, 2015, 21:36
if you do have Demo licenses on the network they will need internt access on attempting to connect to the ultimate and then you can disconnect the internet.

WansumBeats
December 25th, 2015, 23:40
nice ty :)

dulux-oz
December 25th, 2015, 23:47
Don't use a hub (too many packet collisions) - use a proper switch :)

damned
December 26th, 2015, 06:26
Don't use a hub (too many packet collisions) - use a proper switch :)

I dont think anyone actually means a hub when they use that word... its very hard to buy a hub these days.

dulux-oz
December 26th, 2015, 08:52
I dont think anyone actually means a hub when they use that word... its very hard to buy a hub these days.

Yeah, but the word "hub" was actually used, as in "hub or switch", and one think I've learned over the years is "don't assume" :)

damned
December 26th, 2015, 10:14
Yeah, but the word "hub" was actually used, as in "hub or switch", and one think I've learned over the years is "don't assume" :)

Well... in reality with an estimated 6 computers performing FG amounts of data transfer the only time that you would likely experience any noticeable performance hit is when players first connected to a campaign. Organisations used to run many, many computers on collision based networks...


https://www.fg-con.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/fgdaze-4-04.jpg (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?27423-FGDaze!-4-Saturday-January-9th-2016-Game-announcement-thread)
FGDaze! 4 – Saturday January 9th 2016 - https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?27423-FGDaze!-4-Saturday-January-9th-2016-Game-announcement-thread

dulux-oz
December 26th, 2015, 11:27
Well... in reality with an estimated 6 computers performing FG amounts of data transfer the only time that you would likely experience any noticeable performance hit is when players first connected to a campaign. Organisations used to run many, many computers on collision based networks...

Only in many, small, router-separated networks within the larger whole - if you check the Ethernet specs (802.3 - and the Token Ring specs (802.5), and the Token Bus specs (802.4)) the recommendation is never run them more than about 75%-80% "saturation" which translates to about 25-30 PCs. While you might - might - get away with running 6-8 FG PCs on a hub the data-transfer hit is more than you'd expect (I know, I've measured it - I have no life) - because its not just FG, its all the other things that'll run at the same time (hello packets, etc). :)

damned
December 26th, 2015, 12:22
Only in many, small, router-separated networks within the larger whole - if you check the Ethernet specs (802.3 - and the Token Ring specs (802.5), and the Token Bus specs (802.4)) the recommendation is never run them more than about 75%-80% "saturation" which translates to about 25-30 PCs. While you might - might - get away with running 6-8 FG PCs on a hub the data-transfer hit is more than you'd expect (I know, I've measured it - I have no life) - because its not just FG, its all the other things that'll run at the same time (hello packets, etc). :)

Generally with a collision based domain you reach saturation at closer to 35% utilisation which on a 100mb hub is still 15x faster than the upload speed on my internet...
Token Ring can be utilised at 100% as there is no collisions and Im fairly sure that Token Bus was also not collision based....

dulux-oz
December 26th, 2015, 13:00
I wasn't saying Token Bus or Ring were collision based - they're not - but on re-reading what I wrote I can see how it could be interpreted that way -and you still don't want to run either of them at or near 100%!

I'm not going to argue with you damned - I know what I've learned and what my experience tells me, and I'll stack that up against anyone with similar qualifications and experience. :)

Have a good one.

Cheers

WansumBeats
February 11th, 2016, 22:07
To many packet collisions in this conversation ;) I just scrolled back here today cause I'm going to attempt running SW through FG at my local family gaming store.

1) I'll make sure its a switch
2) I have the ultimate license.
3) everyone else will be using demo licenses. So ill make sure they can connect to the internet before connecting to my machine.
4) internal ip. I have a limited understanding of networks. Im assuming i connect to the switch then i can just run COMMAND and do IPCONFIG to get my INTERNAL IP?
5) is it possible they could use the alias to connect through the switch?
6) I just realized the FG shows me internal and external IP so now im assuming that i connect to the switch and then just enter the internal ip address stated in FG on the other connecting computers?
7) thanks ;)

Nylanfs
February 11th, 2016, 22:41
6) Yes

I'll also note that I believe you can turn off your internet connection once everyone is connected to your network.

Phystus
February 12th, 2016, 11:34
5) (using an alias) I don't think would work. The alias resolves to your external IP address, not your internal.

dulux-oz
February 12th, 2016, 12:02
5) (using an alias) I don't think would work. The alias resolves to your external IP address, not your internal.

Yeah, that's correct

i3ullseye
February 12th, 2016, 14:05
Google a portable router. They are cheap. Plug into your USB port, and your internet source... then you all connect to the hotspot. Easy. With prices what they are nowadays, there is very little reason in a home environment to not get routers over any switches or hubs..... and they are much friendlier if you aren't into being your own network admin.