Net Cafes / Lan Cafes Do You Use Them?

NoUserName · 26 Sep 2012 at 17:02

Hey all

Thinking about started a internet cafe as my local area dose not have one and just though i wounder how many people use them pointless having them if no one know uses them?

so how many people still use them out the ocuk forums? and if you do how often?

arknor · 26 Sep 2012 at 17:05

theres no demand for them which is why most areas dont have one yet they used to at some point.

the internet is everywhere these and most people own atleast a mobile phone capable of searching the internet.

most libraries also have free computers with free internet

Haggisman · 26 Sep 2012 at 17:05

To be honest, with the low prices of laptops/netbooks and broadband internet, the majority of people will have their own kit at home. The only market you'd likely appeal to is tourists, and even then, with the high availability of smartphones, I can't imagine you getting much business unless you were in a very busy tourist area.

NoUserName · 26 Sep 2012 at 17:07

Haggisman said:
To be honest, with the low prices of laptops/netbooks and broadband internet, the majority of people will have their own kit at home. The only market you'd likely appeal to is tourists, and even then, with the high availability of smartphones, I can't imagine you getting much business unless you were in a very busy tourist area.

this was my thouhgts tbf its seams like it could be appealing to the kids as it would be more off a place to come game with your friends like i used to when i was a kid but with the cheapness off equipment games and what not its really hard to tell if it would work...

Haggisman · 26 Sep 2012 at 17:15

NoUserName said:
this was my thouhgts tbf its seams like it could be appealing to the kids as it would be more off a place to come game with your friends like i used to when i was a kid but with the cheapness off equipment games and what not its really hard to tell if it would work...

I can't see it working really. When I was 14-15 me and my school mates would go to a LAN arena in Bath called Virtual Realms. It was great because none of us had particularly powerful PCs at home, and online gaming wasn't that big (almost everyone was still on 56k, so pings were an issue).

Fast forward to today, (well, about 4 years ago) and my brothers had their own gaming PCs at 15 (partly my fault! XD) and we had 512mb ADSL - sounds slow by today's standards, but still adequate for the games at the time. Needless to say we/they didn't really end up going to the LAN arena and just played online with their friends.

Networking equipment and laptops are cheap enough these days that people are more likely to go round a mates house, hook their laptop up to a 8/16 port switch and just play there (and I'm talking about 15 year olds here).

NoUserName · 26 Sep 2012 at 17:24

Haggisman said:
I can't see it working really. When I was 14-15 me and my school mates would go to a LAN arena in Bath called Virtual Realms. It was great because none of us had particularly powerful PCs at home, and online gaming wasn't that big (almost everyone was still on 56k, so pings were an issue).

Fast forward to today, (well, about 4 years ago) and my brothers had their own gaming PCs at 15 (partly my fault! XD) and we had 512mb ADSL - sounds slow by today's standards, but still adequate for the games at the time. Needless to say we/they didn't really end up going to the LAN arena and just played online with their friends.

Networking equipment and laptops are cheap enough these days that people are more likely to go round a mates house, hook their laptop up to a 8/16 port switch and just play there (and I'm talking about 15 year olds here).

yes but the question for me is that is there a market in the people who cant afford equipment or people that don't really know how to work pc's (training courses and stuff) its quite a difficult one i think i should just open a corner shop and get this idea out off my head!

antijoke · 26 Sep 2012 at 17:28

The reason is that they all closed down due to no-one using them!

I can sit in Costa/Starbucks with my lovely coffee and shortbread and browse on my phone/laptop on the free Wi-Fi.

Glaucus · 26 Sep 2012 at 17:31

No, why would you. Home broadband is cheap and phones have Internet.
Only time I've used them is on Holliday (if I haven't picked up a local SIM card)

Also as said, loads of places have free wifi anyway.

Glaucus · 26 Sep 2012 at 17:33

NoUserName said:
yes but the question for me is that is there a market in the people who cant afford equipment or people that don't really know how to work pc's (training courses and stuff) its quite a difficult one i think i should just open a corner shop and get this idea out off my head!

Can't afford a sub £100 phone and devices are simple these days. I feel you are deluding yourself. There just isn't a market.

Raymond Lin · 26 Sep 2012 at 17:38

NoUserName said:
Hey all

Thinking about started a internet cafe as my local area dose not have one and just though i wounder how many people use them pointless having them if no one know uses them?

so how many people still use them out the ocuk forums? and if you do how often?

Why would I? I can access it on my phone and my iPad can download at silly speed (moving train right now, 4mb/s down, 2mb/s up, ping 40ms).

NoUserName · 26 Sep 2012 at 17:40

Glaucus said:
Can't afford a sub £100 phone and devices are simple these days. I feel you are deluding yourself. There just isn't a market.

you odv are not a bread line earner... and simple for you maybe but other could feel different

Raymond Lin said:
Why would I? I can access it on my phone and my iPad can download at silly speed (moving train right now, 4mb/s down, 2mb/s up, ping 40ms).

good going all the trains i go on i lose signal lol!

Glaucus · 26 Sep 2012 at 17:42

NoUserName said:
good going all the trains i go on i lose signal lol!

That depends on the train, the trains with wifi are fine. If you rely on your 3G then yes you are likely to lose signal in remote areas.

Raymond Lin · 26 Sep 2012 at 17:42

NoUserName said:
good going all the trains i go on i lose signal lol!

One time I tested it and it was going at 10mb/s down!

That's faster than my home Internet.

Haggisman · 26 Sep 2012 at 17:46

NoUserName said:
yes but the question for me is that is there a market in the people who cant afford equipment or people that don't really know how to work pc's (training courses and stuff) its quite a difficult one i think i should just open a corner shop and get this idea out off my head!

Without meaning to sound harsh, it's probably best getting the idea out of your head before wasting a lot of money/time investing in it!

Me and a couple of friends did some research into setting up something similar, including a workshop for doing custom PC builds/support, and rental of network kit/servers if people wanted to set up their own LAN. We came to the conclusion that:

Most people interested in LAN gaming would have their own kit, and would far rather get their mates to come over and chill at home with a few beers/pizzas and play all night (these kind of events are often all-nighters - would you be prepared to have the cafe open 24hrs?)

Most people interested in customised PCs would rather build their own, so why would they come to you?

That left us with the support and rental sides, and we decided that A) it would be boring, and B) the rental side would probably not work, so we'd basically end up as an IT support company, of which there are hundreds.

NoUserName · 26 Sep 2012 at 17:50

Haggisman said:
Without meaning to sound harsh, it's probably best getting the idea out of your head before wasting a lot of money/time investing in it!

Me and a couple of friends did some research into setting up something similar, including a workshop for doing custom PC builds/support, and rental of network kit/servers if people wanted to set up their own LAN. We came to the conclusion that:

Most people interested in LAN gaming would have their own kit, and would far rather get their mates to come over and chill at home with a few beers/pizzas and play all night (these kind of events are often all-nighters - would you be prepared to have the cafe open 24hrs?)

Most people interested in customised PCs would rather build their own, so why would they come to you?

That left us with the support and rental sides, and we decided that A) it would be boring, and B) the rental side would probably not work, so we'd basically end up as an IT support company, of which there are hundreds.

ahhhh im with you and you didn't sound harsh at all thanks for that it dose seam a really good idear but i can see more cons then pros tbf thanks guys =]

Zefan · 26 Sep 2012 at 17:54

NoUserName said:
it dose seam a really good idear but i can see more cons then pros tbf thanks guys =]

It's not a good idea at all! Why do you think it is :confused:

It'd be like me opening up a stables for people to park their horse + cart in while they do their shopping in town. It's not a good idea because no one would use it

To quote Cat from Red Dwarf, they're "deader than A-line flares with pockets in the knees".

Hades · 26 Sep 2012 at 17:56

Smartphones killed off general net cafes and high speed home internet killed off gaming cafes. There isn't the market for them now. Bad idea. I'm out...

sbi5ar · 26 Sep 2012 at 17:56

You might be better off with a coffee shop that has free wifi and maybe a few computers that people can use (for a small fee). Much better than a net cafe despite being a cafe with net

lokiss · 26 Sep 2012 at 17:57

Different world, but back seven or eight years ago there was one in loughborough.

Used it quite a bit, it was either stand and wait 40 minutes for the next bus, or doss in the warm on the internet.

It was run by the uni i believe, used a fair bit by people doing adult education too, perhaps an avenue..

Guess thats one suggestion, next to a busy bus station... but the guys above have a point about phones, wifi and all that. While i might be a phone adverse kinda guy, im one of the few, generation next, count zero.

Kamwah · 26 Sep 2012 at 18:01

There's only one I know of and that's Gamerbase near Piccadilly Circus underground.

PC Bangs are extremely popular in Korea though.