Most gamers don’t pay much attention to the router they use. However, a good router can greatly improve the gaming experience. If you want to ensure the money you pay for fast internet is well spent, it is important to set up a good network for gaming.
If you are looking for a lag-free, smooth online gaming experience and faster downloads then it’s crucial to choose one of the best gaming routers. This way your best gaming PC or laptop will get the extra help needed to ensure top gaming performance.
The main reason you have to choose a good gaming router over a normal router is that the former can prioritize traffic to your consoles or your gaming PC. Even if other devices in your home network are downloading or streaming during your online game sessions, the top routers for gaming can also reduce lag and ensure a smooth playing experience.
The best routers recommended for gaming have wireless capability as well as multiple LAN ports. Nowadays, the current standard for WiFi is WiFi 6 (802.11ax). This standard provides more efficient and higher speed data transfer over the wireless connection.
If you haven't change your router in years and you want to get the best online gaming experience, you may consider an upgrade. Here is our list with the best routers for gamers.
NOTE: If you buy something through this post, Player.One may get a share of the sale.
Asus RT-AX88U
Asus RT-AX88U is one of the top gaming routers on the market today. The device features a 1.8 GHz quad-core processor, great adaptive QoS, four antennas and eight LAN ports. It can reach 5 GHz speeds and an average of 2.4GHz speeds.
The RTAX88U is a high end router that supports link aggregation and features next generation 802.11ax (WiFi 6) technology. The AsusWRT interface allows custom settings and granular control. Lifetime subscriptions to WTFast GPN and Trend Micro antivirus are also included with the router.
When streaming videos simultaneously, the RT-AX88U surpasses its competition with very low dropped frame rate and the highest FPS.
The XR700 is latest gaming router from Nighthawk. The device comes with great features, including gaming traffic prioritization, port aggregation, 10 Gigabit LAN SFP, tri-band wireless speed, Beamforming over four antennas, and seven LAN ports. It is powered by a 1.7 GHz quad-core CPU and it works on the WiFi 5 standard (802.11 ac). Geo-Filter and other unique features are enabled by the router’s gaming-centric Duma OS. Overall, the Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR700 provides very strong gaming performance.
The GT-AX11000 from Asus is another top router recommended for gamers. The device works on a tri-band of frequencies for wireless connection, providing very fast throughput.
The AX11000 is powered by a quad-core processor working at 1.8 GHz. It supports the new WiFi 6 technology. The Asus gaming router features eight antennas, four LAN ports, AiMesh, WTFast, VPN Fusion, and class leading QoS. Overall, this this is a really good choice for gaming routers.
The RT-AC68U from Asus uses custom firmware that caters to power gamers on a budget. The device provides wide firmware compatibility (OpenWrt, DD-WRT, Tomato, Merlin) and features AC1900 speeds. It comes equipped with 128 MB of flash memory, 256 MB of RAM, and a dual core processor working at 1 GHz. This gaming router includes three antennas and four LAN ports.
Netgear Nighthawk AX4 4-Stream Wi-Fi 6 Router
The AX4 4-Stream from Netgear provides the next generation WiFi 6 standard on a budget gaming router. It comes with four Gigabit LAN ports, two external antennas, a single USB port, dual band of frequencies, and a Nighthawk interface app. The router is equipped with 256 MB of flash memory, 512 MB of RAM, and a dual core processor. If you want WiFi 6 throughput at a budget price, the Nighthawk AX4 is a worthy choice.
