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North Phoenix Internet Cafe Specializes in Gaming
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Netlans is available to host private LAN parties.
Netlans Internet Cafe in North Phoenix offers gamers 23 custom built computers, top of the line Internet connectivity and a friendly environment where they can enjoy the latest game titles for a reasonable price.
Owner Joe Clarke opened Netlans in 2004 after spending the majority of his adult life working on automobiles as a line technician.
"I was an auto technician for 30 years and it got old," Clarke said, "So I tried to turn my hobby into a business."
Clarke spent three months scouting a location where the existing Internet connection would be able to handle the amount of traffic generated by his cafe.
"That took some research," Clarke said. He acquired a map of the Qwest infrastructure and searched for a storefront as near to a central office as possible. "The closer you are, the better the connection."
All 25 computers at the Netlans Internet Cafe are on two separate Internet connections. One connection handles game traffic exclusively and all other Internet traffic is routed through the second connection.
According to Clarke, separating game data from other content such as YouTube increases game performance and nearly eliminates lag. "We never get lag complaints."
Clarke himself is an avid gamer and his products and services reflect his commitment to the hobby. "I was a teenager when video games were invented," Clarke said. "I've been playing since pong, really."
In addition to the services offered by the Internet cafe, Netlans also offers computer repairs, virus cleaning and custom building. "I can build anything from a basic computer up to a $5000 gaming machine," Clarke said. He added that it only took him two weeks to build and test all of the computers used in the cafe.
Netlands enjoys a diverse and loyal customer base. "We have a core group that's pretty dedicated," Clarke Said. "It's all ages. Later in the evening we get more adults." He added, "I have customers who've been coming here for 5 years. I've watched a few of them grow up and go off to college."
Although many customers are adults, Netlans is a family friendly environment. The computers are filtered and monitored so that parents can be confident in the content available to their children.
The computers are also maintained in a "frozen state" which means that a quick reboot will revert any changes made to the settings or programs. "If a virus makes its way onto one of the computers, it will be removed when the computer reboots," Clarke said.
Netlans offers gamers a variety of titles including the Call of Duty series, America's Army 3, the Warcraft Series and several popular MMO's.
Netlans is located on the SW corner of 32nd Street and Thunderbird in the Safeway plaza.
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