You'll also want to provide Ethernet cable. For small LANs, you can get by with a few 5 foot cables, but if you plan to make this a recurring event, and want to have 10+ people, and give them room to move, you'll want some 5 foot cable, some 10 foot and some 25 foot, just to give people some room to work.
Generally you should require people to bring their own monitors, keyboards and mice, unless you plan on doing a recurring thing, or charging for the event, in which case you should buy some used 17” CRT monitors, generally running 40-75 dollars, and a couple of 15-dollar keyboards and mice. Though most avid gamers will still provide their own high end gear, it's still good to have.
It's
also
good
to
set
a
few
ground
rules
with
the
gamers.
Some
generally
good
policies
are
make
sure
each
person's
property
(computer,
accessories,
any
additional
gear)
is
respected.
Also
make
sure
that
you
aren't
allowing
systems
onto
your
network
that
could
be
compromised,
as
having
one
infected
machine
could
soon
lead
to
multiple.
It's
a
wise
policy
if
you
plan
to
run
LANs
with
10+
people,
to
run
a
virus
scan
prior
to
plugging
in
the
network
cable.
As
for
charging
for
the
LAN,
a
good
price
is
$10
for
a
small
LAN,
where
you're
NOT
providing
monitor,
keyboard,
mice
or
any
accessories.
All
that
you
should
furnish
for
the
gamers
is
the
Internet,
the
network
and
the
cables.
For
$25,
you
should
be
able
to
accommodate
so
that
each
gamer
need
only
bring
his/her
own
PC.
For
anything
more
than
$30,
you
should
provide
food
and
drink.
The
next
question
to
ask
yourself
is
“How
long
will
my
party
last?”
The
general
casual
LAN
goes
for
6-8
hours,
although
some
sponsored,
large
LANs
can
last
anywhere
from
2
days
to a
week.
If
you
do
plan
on
running
the
LAN
for
multiple
days,
you
should
make
painstakingly
clear
that
sleep
is
mandatory,
as
not
only
does
lack
of
it
hinder
your
performance
in
game,
it
can
also
be
mixed
with
the
dark
lit
room
and
flashing
monitors
to
induce
seizure.
Another
important
factor
in
LAN
parties
is
location.
While
you
can
run
a
small
3-4
person
LAN
from
your
home,
you
should
probably
rent
a
large
hotel
room
or
small
conference
room
for
anything
larger
than
that,
as
it
sometimes
gets
crowded.
It
all
depends
on
the
size
of
your
home.
The basic idea of LANs is: The more people you want to have, the more games you want to play, the more money you want to spend. Some parties even get corporate sponsors from hardware or software makers, and give away free products as tournament prizes. But for the basic home LAN, a 4-port router, and 8 port switch, a $100 dollar investment, is plenty. Anything more, all you have to do is upgrade the switch, buy more cable and get a bigger room