Compared to regular routers, gaming routers have several advantages. They generate significantly faster and more stable connections and can handle higher network loads at the same time. This reduces the ping times and latency, which can make a big difference for gamers.
Gaming routers have state-of-the-art technologies to handle high loads and many connections. There are usually many devices connected to the network, one or two PCs, smartphones, tablets, and maybe a smart TV. All of this requires bandwidth that let a conventional router quickly reach its limits.
The Best Gaming Router
The Asus GT-AX11000 is one of the most advanced gaming routers out there, but the device doesn’t exactly come cheap. Powerful with its eight antennas, the Asus GT-AX11000 has enough power to cover an area of over 2000 square feet with a strong WiFi signal. A 1.8 gigahertz quad-core processor is installed in the futuristic housing of the router for ultimate performance.
The device definitely has enough power to let a whole crew of gamers play or stream at the same time.
Do you really need that much power from a router? Well you have to know that yourself but you could share a fast internet connection with several people in your house.
The Best Wireless Gaming Router
Many gamers prefer wired gaming, it offers stability and speed, but a wireless connection can be just as good.
A wireless connection offers convenience and is the way to go if there are many devices that need to connect to the same network. Good rooters provide stable connections and ensure smooth gameplay. There are a few basic things to look for when you choose a wireless router.
Up-to-date Hardware
A fast processor ensures that the router processes everything quickly and that the performance is right. Multicore processors are the way to go, slow single-core processors in cheap routers can affect performance.
Wi-Fi compatibility
Check what the Wi-Fi compatibility of your router is. The latest is 802.11 ac and the next generation will be 802.11 ad. If your router is backward compatible is will also be able to handle the older Wi-Fi standard of 802.11 a/b/g/n.
Range
When you choose a wireless router, you need to think about the size of your home, the area you want to be covered by your network, and how strong you need the signal to be, so you are able to connect from anywhere.
If you have a small apartment the range will not have to be massive, but you might get issues from interfering networks. Your neighbor’s router might be interfering with yours, so check that you get a router that can handle that.
If you have a larger house, with a basement office for example, range and signal will be very important. Here you will need to check that the router has multiple antennas or you may need to boost the signal.
Bands
Single-band, dual-band or tri-band? The way you use your network and the type of devices you connect will determine whether you need to consider a dual or even tri-band router.
If you game with a single device and don’t really share your network with anyone it won’t make much of a difference to you. If you share a house with a multitude of people with new and old devices, get at least a dual-band router or better tri-band route so that you are ready for the future.
How to choose a router
There are a few things to keep in mind when you decide to buy a new router. In addition to what you are willing to pay, you have to consider hardware features, type of network load, range, cable or wireless, and a few other factors.
What to look for in a router
First, take into consideration that gaming routers will offer many settings and features, but look for Quality of Service (QoS). This means that your gaming connection will get priority over other types of content.
This is much like a traffic cop giving you priority over other traffic on the road. This will help if there are other people using bandwidth for streaming videos and so on.
Most of the time, a gaming router disappears in a corner near the phone box. But many manufacturers also design great futuristic-looking models that not only perform well but also are futuristic eye-catchers that look like a stealth bombers or flying saucers.
Then you need to consider some of the technicalities. Take a look at what Wi-Fi standard the router will use. Check that the router is a newer type that uses the 802.11n standard of Wi-Fi. IF you see MIMO in the description it means multiple in, multiple out. This means the data stream is divided between multiple antennas.
The next thing to consider is the Wi-Fi speed. There will be many options, so think about your needs before you choose. You can also think about range if you have a large house and you want several rooms to have connectivity that will have a major impact.
Dual-Band is another element to think about, where you can connect devices either to a 2.5 GHz or 5 GHz band simultaneously (usually newer devices will connect to 5 GHz).
Check the number and type of Ethernet ports the router has. If you need to connect quite a few things with wired connections and need good speeds, a router that offers multiple gigabit Ethernet ports will work for you.
Speed
A good router should work well with your internet speed and should handle what you pay for. Especially when you play first-person shooters online, high internet speed and high Mbps data transfer and low latency make a big difference. If you are more of a strategist it will not be as important, but will still make for better gameplay.
Range of a Gaming Router
The range is another factor that can have an impact depending on your needs. Some of you will only need the router to work in one or two rooms of your apartment where you have your gaming setup. But some of you might need larger coverage and their range will be something you need to keep in mind.
Reliability
You will also want to have a router that you can rely on not to drop the connection during the game. Lag and latency can drive one crazy. So you will need to take a look at the type of load it can handle, especially if you are more than one serious gamer in your home.
Router lingo explained
QoS (Quality of Service)
The Quality of Service setting on your router lets you manipulate bandwidth and data traffic in a targeted manner and allocate them to certain applications that are used frequently or that should have priority at certain times. If you often want to watch movies in HD smoothly, you can prioritize HD streaming, for example. For gaming and esports enthusiasts, the ping counts, so you can set the router QoS settings so that it should allocate more bandwidth to our games for gaming.
MU-MIMO
MU-MIMO stands for Multiple User Multiple Input, Multiple Output. This technology increases efficiency because several transmitting and receiving antennas can send different data sets to different devices at the same time. Routers that support this standard can communicate with several end devices at the same time and reduce lag and latency and thus improve the performance of the entire network. This is particularly useful where there are often 4-5 devices that all need a lot of data transmission at the same time.
DFS (Dynamic Frequency Selection)
The latest WLAN routers have a so-called “Dynamic Frequency Selection”. With DFS, a WLAN can automatically change channels if another device is detected on the channel used. This is intended in particular to prevent the channels from “clogging” and thus result in a loss of bandwidth.
Network-attached storage
The router serves as a storage medium in the local network to enable data backup. NAS (Network Attached Storage) systems have one or more hard drives that can be accessed by all computers in the network. Data can be automatically saved on the NAS via WLAN and easily accessed. The faster the WLAN and the higher the bandwidth, the better the network storage will work.
Why getting a dedicated gaming router
Well, there are a lot of routers out there, some of which are more or less suitable for gaming. Wireless has the advantage that you have less tangled cables and can be a little further away from your router, which is also good when you play portable with a laptop.
But no doubt, high-quality special routers for gaming really make a difference in gaming performance. A good router is just as important as the graphics card, CPU, and motherboard and the other hardware components that make up the perfect gaming rig. if we are talking about what is needed for a good gaming setup then we should not forget the chair. Too many users sit on cheap bad chairs and if you are busy gaming all day, then a good, comfortable, ergonomically designed gaming chair should simply be part of it.
