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| Thread ID: 35559 | 2003-07-15 23:03:00 | Advice please - Internet / Cyber Caf | CYaBro (73) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 160146 | 2003-07-15 23:03:00 | Hey there, Got someone who is wanting to start an Internet Cafe. I have never really delt with these before and I don't think I've even been into one! What hardware and software is recommended for them. They are thinking of having about 20 workstations. Is there anything else you need to know before you can give any ideas? Cheers Chris |
CYaBro (73) | ||
| 160147 | 2003-07-16 00:10:00 | Well, Here's a wee spiel from me: Firstly, are they going to be having games? I know that in Auckland they've passed a law about games in CyberCafe's that's really quite ridiculous for the owners, but basically here's a sum up of it: R18 games - Need a seperate area of the shop which isnt even Viewable by those under 18 in the other area's of the shop. This section of the shop can have All games on the PC's. R16 section, for those who are over 16, but cannot play R18 games, this also must not be viewable by parts of the shop where patrons under the age of 16 are allowed. AFAIK, Counter-Strike etc. are all R16. R13 section, for those who are old enough to play these games, but who arent 16.. again, this section must not be viewable by the patrons using the "open" part of the shop where there is no age restriction! And lastly, in Auck's you've now gotta have a part where if they dont have ID or arent of age, they can use the PC's, unless you're planning on turning down all customers without ID or those who are under 16 for example. You've gotta have a Disabled Toilet with easy access, and they cannot pass the R-Rated sections of the shop.. And yeah.. That's the sorta rediculous-ness that's going on with CyberCafe's. I work casual at the one in Te Atatu, and we only had Counter-Strike/Day of Defeat on 5 PC's... we were just starting to get into Games as opposed to being a sole Business-Center based shop for Web-Broswing, Scanning, and the likes. We removed the games immediately rather than apply for a gaming liscence! Now, PC stats: You're going to want to be able to play the likes of Battlefield 1942 I assume, and also have some room to spare.. not be straining the PC to its max, so when newer games come out, you're not having to rush to upgrade everything, so something like this: AMD Duron 1.3Ghz should do for most things ;-) 256MB RAM, maybe 512 if you're looking at the DDR coz its cheap as chips and it goes a long way! Geforce 4 Ti 4200 or something similar will do nicely for most games, unless you're wanting to fo a lil more "all out", then I'd suggest going with the Raedon 9700Pro's. Depends on how much you're willing to spend, but a Ti based card should suffice. A 404Gig + HDD, seeing as Games are getting larger and Larger.. Plus some need the CD in the Drive, so you'd be looking at Imaging the CD's to the HDD in some cases. Ya dont REALLY need a floppy/CD-ROM on most, but a NIC is a must, and a soundcard too.. OnBoard AC '97 that's on a lot of Mobo's does fine for games thru headphones. Anyways, hope you took all that in, if you'd like, I could help ya out more, but rather than post it all on here, I can do it via email when I know I have more than 5 mins to spare (So much for me coming online to check emails... come 30 minutes later Ive read one email... Oh boy :-(): Psycho*_*Sabertooth*@*hotmail.... or ICQ: 141557013 Cheers Chill. |
Chilling_Silently (228) | ||
| 160148 | 2003-07-16 00:11:00 | hey... i found a few sites that might help...its kinda international (since the website ends with com)...so maybe it mite give u a few ideas... www.google.com http://www.internetcafeguide.com orrrrrrr...u could go into a local one and have a surf on their computer and check out the details of it...and see whats what.. and if ur going adsl..check that the area is definatley adsl capable :-) |
csinclair83 (200) | ||
| 160149 | 2003-07-16 00:14:00 | Cheers for that Chill, will send you an email for the rest! :) | CYaBro (73) | ||
| 160150 | 2003-07-16 03:09:00 | >A 404Gig + HDD, seeing as Games are getting larger and Larger.. Damn,Thats a large game. |
metla (154) | ||
| 160151 | 2003-07-16 04:27:00 | No, that's the disk for Big Missing Pages. :D A fast connection to the Internet might be useful, connected through a standalone firewall. A proxy server. Some filtering. Probably a minimum of OS on each user machine. Have them download a clean OS from a server when they are booted. |
Graham L (2) | ||
| 160152 | 2003-07-16 05:14:00 | I know it's not an answer to your question & none of my business, but I hope your freind has really done his homework on this one. Cybercafes seem to come & go about as fast as angora goat & lama farmers did a few years back. Seems to be a really popular business to start up but very hard to make a profit from. The successful ones I've seen are attached to something else like a computer repair shop, Movie theatre or gaming arcade they don't rely soley on the cafe for their income. |
Stumped Badly (348) | ||
| 160153 | 2003-07-16 15:27:00 | > A fast connection to the Internet might be useful, connected through a > standalone firewall. A proxy server. Some filtering. Most of the cybercafe's I go to either have a connection of 128kbps (Jetstream Starter), 2mbps or 8mbps... While 128kbps is ok for webbrowsing and email based services by itself, when it comes to online gaming you will really notice the problem - especially when it comes to having several computers all gaming against public servers. The proxy would therefore help in the sense that it would cache commonly access websites, speeding up loading for them and reducing internet traffic... > Probably a minimum of OS on each user machine. Have them download > a clean OS from a server when they are booted. Although this would not seem like much, make sure you get the PC's to do this, and that they are properly locked down. The last thing you need is to troubleshoot PC's all day because kids have been getting into C: drive and everything downloading and copying to their hearts content... By downloading a clean OS from the server what this does is removes any programs which may have been downloaded and installed - eg: KaZaA and other P2P based programs. You are also doing the customers a favor in the sense that all cookies and history on IM programs would be removed. Also, it makes the managers job easier in the sense that if you want to update a file, you only have to update the servers version of the file and then wait until all the machines are reset instead of roaming to all the PC's one by one. CyberChuck |
cyberchuck (173) | ||
| 160154 | 2003-07-17 04:40:00 | I just did a little more research, apparently its ONLY west-auckland that is having to abide by those rules for games etc... and a few other parts of NZ, but I dont know which. Why only West Auckland? What've we done to deserve this?? |
Chilling_Silently (228) | ||
| 160155 | 2003-07-17 06:42:00 | They know you live there. :D The financial side does need careful consideration. The capital outlay is going to be high (furniture is expensive, too) , the rental of a sutiable place is not cheap, and the hourly charge you can make isn't all that big (competition). |
Graham L (2) | ||
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