There’s nothing more annoying that hammering it away on your favorite game when all of a sudden it starts to buffer or lag. One of the best ways to stop this from happening is to invest in a decent gaming router. Here we’ll take you through some of the features to look out for when shopping for a gaming router. We’ll also point you in the right direction of some of the best routers for gaming in 2018.
NETGEAR R6700 Nighthawk AC1750 Dual Band Smart WiFi Router
What features to look for in a good gaming router
A router is an essential piece of kit when it comes to gaming. Having the right gaming router in place will enhance your gaming experience tenfold. There are lots of different gaming routers available on the market, all offering a range of different features. While not all of them are necessary, most will help make your gaming experience much more enjoyable. Here are some of them:
- QoS (Quality of Service): This may also be referred to as Traffic Control or Media Prioritization and it’s what allows the user to optimize their router’s performance by assigning different priorities to different devices. Being able to prioritize your games console over other devices controlled by your router will mean there’s less chance of any lagging happening.
- Wired or wireless? While wireless technology has improved loads over the past few years, it still can’t beat the reliability that a wired connection offers. Things like walls, floors, will affect how well a wireless router performs within the home. Even those with the most powerful capabilities suffer from signal issues when having to overcome too many objects. If you decide to go wireless, one way to maximize your coverage within the home is to use heatmap software to help you position your router in the most efficient area.
- High Bandwidth range: Any device that’s hooked up to your router is going to have to share that router’s bandwidth. This can be a big problem if you’re gaming as if there’s not enough bandwidth available your game will lag and playing will no longer be enjoyable. Thankfully, there are plenty of decent routers out there with a high enough bandwidth to be able to handle this. The best band to be on when gaming is 5GHz. But be aware that this band has a shorter range than 2.4GHz and, therefore, you will need to be reasonably close to the router.
- Good Security: If you’re someone who’s quite security conscious you may be better off opting for a router than offers WPA2 encryption. This requires the router’s password to be entered every time a new device is detected. Having a router that offers this feature is a particularly good idea if you live in an apartment block or an area where others can easily take advantage of your network.
- Dual or Tri-Band WiFi: At the moment, the most commonly found wireless routers are those that are dual-band. There are still single band routers around too, but they’re not very effective when used for gaming purposes. However, as time goes on, tri-band routers are becoming much more widely used, especially in gaming. While tri-band routers will no doubt offer you more power and speed than dual-band ones, you will pay quite a lot more for that privilege.
- Latest Wi-Fi standard (802.11 ac): This is the industry standard as laid out by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and all wireless routers should abide by it. It’s much faster than its predecessor, 80211.n, and is equipped with new and exciting performance boosting features including MU-MIMO and beamforming.
- Antennas: Detachable antennas can be very useful when it comes to securing a strong Wi-Fi signal. Many gaming routers will come with at least one antenna that transmits data and another that receives data. The more antennas there are the faster and more stable the connection.
- Gigabit Ports: The most efficient wired gaming routers will be equipped with integrated Gigabit ports. These allow for maximum wired speeds and are perfect for hardcore gaming. The number of gigabit ports offered on the device will vary across different models. But as a general rule of thumb, the more there are, the better their speed and performance will be.
- Processing power: Another important feature to consider when buying a gaming router is how much processing power it has. The more devices you have connected to the Internet, the more processing power you will need. In which case, you will need to look for a router that has both large RAM and a powerful CPU.
Best Gaming Routers for 2018
Hopefully, by now, you will have a much better idea as to some of the things to look for when getting ready to purchase your next gaming router. To make life even easier for you and to help you in your shopping quest, the following is a list of some of the best gaming routers for 2018:
TP-Link Archer AC1900 Dual Band Gigabit Router
Speed: Up to 1900Mbps. Ports: 4 x Ethernet, 1 x WAN, 1 x USB 2.0, 1 x USB 3.0. RAM: 128MB. CPU: 1.0GHz Dual Core. Price range: Mid. This is one of the most widely used gaming routers out there for many reasons. Using the latest beamforming technology this router directs and manages all your Wi-Fi and fixed Internet devices. It is top quality, not over-priced, and included as part of the package are six antennas to help you achieve maximum coverage. It’s also one of the funkiest looking routers around. However, with its good looks comes one downfall: the stand means you’re limited as to where you can place the router. Setup of the TP-Link Archer C9 router is pretty easy and can be done in less than 30 minutes. Overall rating: 9/10
Pros:
- Sophisticated styling
- 2-year manufacturer warranty
- Easy to set up
- High-speed wireless capabilities at a short range
Cons:
- Lack of USB ports
- Can’t be laid flat or wall-mounted
- Poor Wi-Fi at a distance
Linksys Max-Stream AC4000 MU-MIMO Router
Speed: 4.0 Gbps. Ports: 5 x Ethernet, 2 x USB 3.0. RAM: 512MB. CPU 1.8GHz Quad Core. Price range: Mid. This is a fantastic gaming router on offer from Linksys. Thanks to this router’s powerful capabilities you can easily connect a multitude of devices with this router and still play your games console without any lag or buffering. It’s extremely fast and the advanced MIMO technology means that multiple devices can run simultaneously and remain at the same speeds. There’s a total of six antennas to ensure maximum coverage for your router and it’s not a bad price either. Set up of the Linksys Max-Stream AC4000 router is simple enough and can be done in less than 30 minutes and it’s fully compatible with Amazon Alexa. Overall rating: 9.5/10
Pros:
- One of the most powerful on the market
- Connects multiple devices without affecting bandwidth
- Full parental control available
- 2 x ultra-fast USB 3.0 ports
Cons:
- Network map can sometimes be glitchy
- It’s a little bigger than some others out there
NETGEAR Nighthawk X4S - AC2600 Gaming Router
Speed: Up to 2.53 Gbps. Ports: 4 x Ethernet, 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x eSATA port. RAM: 512MB CPU: 1.7GHz Dual Core. Price range: High. It may be one of the more expensive gaming routers on the market, but the NETGEAR Nighthawk X4S is worth every penny. Its dynamic QoS allows for jitter-free gaming while its superfast twin USB 3.0 and eSATA are ready to provide easy and convenient access to storage. The four-stream Wi-Fi setup enables much smoother streaming while the integrated MIMO technology ensures all devices are treated equally in terms of bandwidth. Setting up this router couldn’t be simpler, thanks to the NETGEAR UP app and like many other gaming routers out there, it too is fully compatible with Amazon Echo/Alexa. Overall rating: 9/10
Pros:
- Extremely fast
- Great range and signal strength
- No sudden disruptions or interruptions
- Comprehensive parental controls
Cons:
- A little on the expensive side
- Only a quad-core processor
- It’s quite big in size (13.8 x 10.2 x 3.2 inches)
Linksys AC1900 Dual Band Wireless Router
Speed: Up to 1.9 Gbps. Ports: 4 x Gigabit Ethernet ports, 1 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0. RAM: 256MB CPU: 1.6GHz Dual Core. Price range: Mid. If you’re looking for an all-around good performer as far as routers go, then be sure to check out the Linksys AC1900 on your shopping mission. It’s packed with all the best gaming router features such as fast dual-band speeds and MINO technology. You can connect as many as 12 devices to this router and it will still perform outstandingly. There are three external antennas fitted to it to ensure you get maximum range throughout your home and it's very easy to set up. Once your system is in place you can even monitor and control your Wi-Fi remotely. Overall rating: 9/10.
Pros:
- Incredibly fast speeds achieved
- Setup is painless and can be done in less than 20 minutes
- Great range
Cons:
- The interface could be a little more user-friendly
- Only 1 x 3.0 USB port
- Unable to block ports or see traffic flow
ASUS RT-AC68R Wireless-AC1900 Dual-Band Router
Speed: Up to 1.9 Gbps. Ports: 1 x Gigabit WAN port, 4 x Gigabit LAN ports, 1 x USB 3.0 port, 1 x USB 2.0 port. RAM: 256MB. CPU: 800 MHz Dual Core. Price range: Low. If you’re looking for a super fast router that’s very reliable and won’t let you down when you need it most, the ASUS RT-AC68R Wireless router could be just what you need. Fitted with AiRadar and beamforming technology, this router ensures you get maximum Wi-Fi coverage when you need it most. Its dual-core processor helps to deliver fast speeds while the interface itself has been made super user-friendly to make setting up and adjusting the router fuss-free. Setting up the router should take no longer than around 20 minutes. Overall rating: 8.5/10
Pros:
- Great price
- Well built
- Excellent wireless capabilities
Cons:
- Only 1 x USB 3.0 port
- No remote access
- Not very aesthetically pleasing
- No support for MU-MIMO data streaming
Hopefully, by now, you’ll have a much better idea as to what kind of gaming routers are available out there on the market and some of the features to look out for. Although each of the five routers listed above is great in their own way, there’s only one true winner in our eyes, and that’s the Linksys Max-Stream AC4000 MU-MIMO Tri-Band Router for several reasons. Not only is it one of the only tri-band gaming routers out there at the moment, it’s also one of the fastest. It’s packed with enough antennas to ensure your coverage isn’t compromised and, surprisingly, it’s very well priced. With this Linksys router, you get everything you could possibly want from a decent gaming router and more. For all of those reasons and more, we made it our number one choice for the best router for gaming 2018.
