What switches and network layout would work best for fast LAN-party transfers on a budget?

Two 24-port switches would give you some useful redundancy—if one fails, at least half the systems can keep working. However, if the access links are already gigabit, the switches may not be the main bottleneck. Check the file server or cache first, especially disk read latency, storage throughput, CPU load, and the server’s network link.

A consumer-friendly managed ecosystem can be attractive because setup and monitoring are straightforward, and some models offer 1Gb, 2.5Gb, and faster uplinks. For a business deployment, compare the available diagnostics, VLAN features, logs, support, and firewall capabilities rather than choosing purely on price. The switches may be perfectly suitable even if the vendor’s gateway and firewall features are more limited.

Move to managed switches and use a hub-and-spoke design if possible. Put the desk switches on a 10Gb backbone, and keep systems that frequently exchange data on the same switch when you can. If 10Gb hardware is too expensive, link aggregation can provide more capacity, but a ring topology is less desirable because one failed link can affect everything. Managed switches will also let you monitor errors, negotiated speeds, and congestion instead of guessing.

There are several reasonable used-enterprise options, including older Cisco 3650s with 10Gb uplinks and Juniper EX2300s. Used Arista 7050-series switches can also offer many 10Gb copper ports for surprisingly little money, though you should check noise, power consumption, licensing, firmware, and port compatibility before buying. MikroTik, TP-Link, and Omada also have affordable multi-gig switches if you want newer hardware and lower power use.

The biggest improvement may come from deploying a local LAN cache with at least a 10Gb connection. That prevents all 32 machines from downloading the same large updates across the venue’s internet connection at once. Ideally the backbone and cache connection would be 10Gb, with 2.5Gb connections to the gaming systems where supported; 1Gb is still workable if updates are staggered.