The fastest among them was the TP-Link Archer AX6000, which we measured an average speed of 1,523Mbps on the 5GHz band at a distance of 5 feet. Best Wi-Fi 6 Router: Asus RT-AX86U Best Mesh Wi-Fi System: Asus ZenWiFi AX XT8 Best Budget Wi-Fi Router: TP-Link Archer AX55 Best Premium Wi-Fi 6E Router: Netgear Nighthawk RAXE300. Here, in our point-to-point throughput test transferring data between two Wi-Fi 6 smartphones only the Archer AX11000 beat the RT-AX86U, and only on one of its 5GHz radios. The Best Gaming Routers 2023. For serious gamers a good router is a must-have and will deliver the low-latency performance they need. The Asus TUF-AX5400 looks the part of a gaming router with its bulky design, a tiny blip of RBG lighting, and six antennae for a better signal. With some of the best 802.11ac performance you'll see in any single home networking device, it offers best-in-class tri-band speeds, delivering 1Gbps over its 2.4GHz band and 2.167Gbps over each of its two 5GHz channels. Comments (6). That's certainly not inexpensive, but flashier gaming routers can cost $400 or more. We recommend routers with multiple bands for several users using the internet simultaneously. The game's official release date on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and Xbox One is March 17, 2023. The Asus RT-AX86U features a stylish design and lots of helpful features for gaming, including a Quality of Service engine and a mobile boost mode for gaming on your phone. It performed very well on our long-range tests for 5GHz, but it wasnt as fast as the finalists. Speeds and standards: The best gaming routers generally utilize the latest and greatest technologies and the biggest example of this is in Wi-Fi standards. That's an outstanding result. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam. If you don't have a good internet connection, are you even gaming? A built-in Geo-Filter lets you restrict connections to faraway servers and players, giving you a way to self-optimize by forcing connections to closer hosts and servers. Read our Asus RT-AX86U Wi-Fi 6 Router review. Best gaming router overall (Update: Out of stock), Best gaming router design (Update: Back-ordered), Read our Asus RT-AX86U Wi-Fi 6 Router review, Best Racing Wheels and Pedals for iRacing, Best Game Subscription Services: How to Choose, Asus was first to announce a Wi-Fi 6E router, Best High-Speed ISPs for Gigabit Internet, Best Controllers and Accessories for Xbox Cloud Gaming, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Well send you the fastest internet options, so you dont have to find them. Routers that keep the colored line closer to the center of the graph are better -- and the Asus RT-AX86U (purple) is the best I've ever tested. Read more:Best Game Subscription Services: How to Choose. A CNET editor since 2013, Ry's beats include smart home tech, lighting, appliances, broadband and home networking. Wi-Fi Technology: Dual-band 802.11ax | Frequency: 2.4GHz, 5GHz | Processor: 1.5GHz Tri-core | Memory: 512MB | Features: WPA3, Beamforming, OFDMA, 160MHz channel bandwidth, USB 3.0, MU-MIMO, QoS. You can even dedicate a band just to gaming, and there's a Game Accelerator that will detect and optimize your gaming streams. The importance of a high-quality gaming router can not be overstated. Speed up to 1.7 Gbps. Wi-Fi 5 is still fine, but Wi-Fi 6 has been around since 2019 and is faster and more secure. 2023 CNET, a Red Ventures company. Most routers do pretty well, save for the occasional spike. We tested five of the best-reviewed gaming routers against our pick for the best overall Wi-Fi router in a 2,000-square-foot, single-story home and a 1,100-square-foot, two-story townhouse. The GT-AX11000 is large, with a gargantuan base, eight swiveling antennas, and massive 10.8Gbps maximum throughput. I ran my speed tests on a Dell XPS 13 laptop that's a few years old and doesn't support Wi-Fi 6. And even though the performance is surpassed by other more expensive Wi-Fi 6 models, the RT-AC86U can deliver a safe and reasonably fast online experience for every family member. Linksys MX8503 Atlas Max 6E Tri-Band Mesh Wi-Fi 6E System (3 Pack) Mesh Supremacy. Average transfer rate of 245 Mbps. We ran each test with the gaming features off, then again with them enabled. Some gaming routers came with unique features like server ping utilities that are only useful for specific games; we cant imagine these getting a lot of use even from people who play those games. These are the best gaming routers weve reviewed along with a handful of less specialized devices which still provide the same throughput and low lag times for a great online gaming experience. But if your current router is struggling, upgrading to a newer, more powerful one can give all your devices a faster, more reliable connection, which will improve your game latency. Asus RT-AX86U. In those instances, you want a mesh router, which uses several nodes to create a single seamless network that can cover the largest of homes. It also has link aggregation, letting you combine the connections of two LAN ports or two WAN ports for redundancy, load balancing or extra throughput. Our last and hardest benchmark tested multi-device performance in a two-story, 1,100-square-foot townhouse in a neighborhood with lots of competing Wi-Fi signals. We tested on the 5GHz band because it supports faster speeds and is less prone to interference but has shorter range than 2.4GHz. That means the router can handle a huge throughput and eliminate almost all lag so you can stay immersed in your games. This tri-band router offers a pair of 5GHz networks and one 2.4GHz network offering speeds up to 10526 Mbps. We set up each router in the living room of a two-story, 1,100-square-foot townhouse in a crowded neighborhood, then simultaneously slammed them with two 4K video streams, a large file transfer, a point-to-point throughput test between two Wi-Fi 6 smartphones, an internet speed test and a game of World of Warcraft, all on the same 5GHz radio on the same router. If youve got a connection that offers gigabit service, youll need a router equipped with gigabit ethernet to actually take advantage of those speeds. And through the routers app, you can prioritize whatever youre doing by switching modes between streaming, gaming, web browsing, etc. At $450, it is expensive, but this is one of the best wireless routers for gamers wanting an edge online. The Asus GT-AXE11000 is a Wi-Fi 6e powerhouse that delivers great speeds and killer gaming features, as well as awesome customization options. We set up each router using its default settings, like most people will, with automatic channel selection and auto channel width enabled two features that should let the router avoid interference from neighboring Wi-Fi signals. Its beautifully designed, incredibly responsive, and is chock-full of useful information on its very first screena gigantic dashboard that shows your internet status, guest Wi-Fi network status, CPU usage, and current download and upload traffic. You dont need a gaming router; you need a good router. When it comes to mesh Wi-Fi 6 devices, the Netgear Orbi WiFi 6 (RBK852) is the one to beat. The Linksys Hydra Pro 6E is a tri-band router that takes advantage of this new capability. The most affordable of the first generation of Wi-Fi 6 devices, the Archer AX6000 sells for roughly $100 less than other Wi-Fi 6 models, but offers strong throughput and great connectivity thanks to a full eight LAN ports. We run this test several times on each router's 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, and at various distances. Single-Unit Routers Netgear Nighthawk AX8 AX6600 If you don't need (or want) a multi-router mesh setup, this single-unit WiFi 6 model from Netgear should be near the top of your list. In many cases, it could be as easy as moving your wireless router to a different spot or adjusting the angle of a standard router's antennas. Fancy features and beautiful user interfaces are great to have, but youre a lot more likely to notice performance issues when they pop up. Reduce lag, increase speed and make . Best Overall Gaming Router Jump To Details $208.00 at Amazon See It TP-Link Archer AX50 (AX3000) Dual Band Gigabit Wi-Fi 6 Router Best Budget Gaming Router Jump To Details $129.00 at. Connectivity: 1x Gigabit WAN, 4x Gigabit Ethernet . That's what I wanted to know, so I started testing the things out, on a personal quest to find the fastest router to boost my internet connection. That Netgear model was also the fastest Wi-Fi 5 router on the 5GHz band, which tells us that it's a pretty capable piece of hardware. When it comes to the best gaming router, performance takes the prize. Heres how it works. Other factors we use when evaluating routers include ease of setup and use, software features and available ports. For under $200, you can snag a new router thats ready to zoom along in games as much as you are. It still offers MU-MIMO, so youll be good for simultaneously streaming data on a bunch of devices, while QoS lets you prioritize devices on the network. TP-Link Archer AX90 ($199.99*): It's not built for gaming, but the AX90 packs three Wi-Fi bands and lots of speed to handle a busy home better. It's the Asus RT-AX86U, and it replaces our previous best router pick the Asus RT-AC86U. Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. If your household is full of connected devices where maintaining top speeds is essential, a Wi-Fi 6 router is a must. (Image credit: Asus) 1. Wireless network protocol: You'll come . This router is a few years old, but we dont see why that incredibly useful feature couldnt be added as part of a software update itself. Priced at a high premium on Amazon and back-ordered elsewhere, it's an expensive option for sure, but it's not outrageous among other high-end mesh networks that include two range-extenders (for comparison, the Nest Wifi mesh system normally costs $349 for a three-piece setup, though you can pick it up for much less on sale). Best Mesh Router For Gaming. I can't say the same for the Netgear Nighthawk AX12 or the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX11000, though. QoS features include more direct control of bandwidth management and let you prioritize specific devices (like your gaming PC) based on what activity or service is being used. Despite the complete lack of Wi-Fi 6 client devices in my home, the Wi-Fi 6-equipped TP-Link Archer AX6000 was another standout in my tests, with strong average speeds on both the 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands and excellent range from room to room. If you want a gaming-minded wireless router upgrade but you're worried about buying more than you need, look no further -- this gaming router hits the sweet spot. Check out our guide on how we test Wi-Fi routers and our more general how we test page for Tom's Guide. If you're looking for a router with gaming-minded key features and design, but you're also interested in multipoint mesh networking, then take a look at the Amplifi HD Gamer's Edition from Ubiquiti. The Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500 is a solid tri-band Wi-Fi router. If youre looking for a wired connection, you get one WAN port and four ethernet ports, though you dont get link aggregation or any Multi-Gig connections. Best Overall Gaming Router Jump To Details $208.00 at Amazon See It TP-Link Archer AX50 (AX3000) Dual Band Gigabit Wi-Fi 6 Router Best Budget Gaming Router Jump To Details $129.00 at. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). There's great connectivity with four Gigabit Ethernet LAN jacks, a 2.5 multi-gig LAN host, and port aggregation support. If you're plagued bypersistent lagwhile carrying out critical split-second decisions that make the difference between victory and defeat, a sluggishinternet connectioncould be to blame. Gaming routers go beyond just providing consistent speeds by minimizing network lag to keep you in game instead of being bogged down by delays and long load times. Update, 01/26/2023: We've reviewed our . Check out the new, action-packed trailer for John Wick: Chapter 4, the upcoming movie starring Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgrd, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Lance Reddick, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, and Ian McShane.John Wick (Keanu Reeves) uncovers a path to defeating the High Table. Bear in mind that we're running these speed tests on a laptop that supports Wi-Fi 6! Find out more about how we test. It saw the smallest dip in speeds in that back bathroom on the 2.4GHz band, and was a top-five finisher by that metric on the 5GHz band, too. After running multiple speed tests from each of those locations, I averaged everything together. Wi-Fi Technology: Tri-band 802.11ax | Frequency: 2.4GHz, 5GHz, 5GHz | Processor: 1.8 Quad-core | Features: MU-MIMO, OFDMA, 2.5Gbps WAN/LAN, USB, OneMesh. Paired with beamforming, which lets the router focus its signal in the direction of a specific device, and you have the potential but not a promise of good speeds and range for your connected devices. Gaming routers offer better-than-average processing power and also feature larger built-in memory to allow for faster performance, letting a router manage more connections while also keeping latency to a minimum. Latency spikes like those can be a killer when you're gaming online -- but fortunately, the RT-AX86U earned the lowest average ping time of any router I've ever tested, never spiking any higher than 25ms. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. A great router should support automatic firmware updates, guest networks, DFS channels, WPA3 encryption and an access point mode that lets you repurpose your router once you upgrade to a new one, thus extending its useful life span. Similarly, gaming routers are designed with specific settings that help improve your gaming experience by prioritizing certain devices. This gaming router gives you the typical things you expect with a 2.4GHz and 5GHz connection, along with some external antennas offering a strong signal throughout your home. Its gaming-specific features had no noticeable impact (a common thread in our testing), but the RT-AX86U is the best router you can get for general use or gaming at home. TP-Link Archer AX50 AX3000 Dual Band Gigabit Wi-Fi 6 Router. If you're only running older client devices with Wi-Fi 5 and earlier, it may not be for you since it'll basically be a dual-band router with 2x2 connections on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. 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