I don't intend to derail this thread, but what components would you need to set up a home network for LAN hacking?
Basically. Depending on what you want to play with will determine the specific components (see my Tutorials for one on Wargames). You may want to add a hub so that you can experiment with sniffers and DoS tools locally. Additionally, you can use the hub to further exploration of effective IDSes (switched networks tend to be problems for IDSes and in enterprise environments the use of mirrored ports works well but I don't think I've found too many SOHO switches with that ability).