The best gaming router 2019

If you’re going to be playing the best PC games online, finding one of the best gaming routers can make a world of difference. In this always online world we live in these days, the best gaming routers are more important than ever before. But, if you’re not intimately familiar with wireless routers, it can be hard to navigate the market. This is because there are a number of factors you need to consider before picking up one up. First, you’ll want to keep an eye out for both QoS (Quality of Service) and MU-MIMO (Multiple User, Multi Input, Multi Output). Both of these technologies will make sure that your gaming session isn’t interrupted by your roommate on a late night Game of Thrones binge.

And, because online gaming is best over a wired connection, you’ll want to make sure plenty of LAN ports are available—preferably all Gigabit. But, you probably won’t be able to have every device in your home connected via ethernet, which is why it’s important to make sure the wireless capabilities are just as robust. You should keep an eye out for any router that has a rated speed of at least AC1900.

This might sound like a lot, but making sure you have the best router for gaming is definitely worth it. Luckily, we went ahead and gathered up the best gaming routers you can buy today, whether you’re looking for a cheap gaming router deal, or the cream of the crop.

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1. Asus RT-AX88U

The best gaming router of 2019

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The Asus RT-AX88U is the best choice for a higher end router. It features next generation 802.11ax technology, and an impressive 8 Gigabit Ethernet ports, which even supports link aggregation. Backing this up is the usual excellent AsusWRT interface, which allows granular control of every imaginable setting. There is also class leading Adaptive QoS, along with Trend Micro antivirus and the WTFast GPN—all with subscriptions included for the lifetime of the router—which are standouts among competing routers.

While the 2.4 GHz speeds are adequate, the 5 GHz speeds are where the RT-AX88U shines. Furthermore, for gaming in a congested environment, this router out distances the competition with the highest FPS seen to date, and a very low dropped frame rate when simultaneously streaming videos. Sure, next generation ‘Super router’ performance comes at a price of $346, but given these benchmarks, it can be easily justified.

2. Netgear Nighthawk XR500

Last year’s top model, at falling prices

Gaming focused NetdumaOS

Spectacular throughput

Poor 5 GHz range

Only four LAN ports

The Netgear Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR500 is a great gaming router for most users. It features AC2600 speeds (N800/AC1733), a dual core 1.7 GHz processor, dual USB 3.0 ports, Beamforming and MU-MIMO. It also uses Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS), which adds fifteen additional unlicensed channels on the 5 GHz frequency to minimize interference. The only real deficiency hardware-wise is the router has only four Gigabit LAN ports while some competing products have eight.

The Netduma OS in the XR500 offers a number of innovations which help make this router our top pick, including Geo-filtering—which allows a radius to be set (typically <3000 km), after which the router will preferentially connect to the closest gaming server—as well as Bandwidth Allocation that allows for granular control of prioritization of gaming devices. Finally, there is robust QoS for prioritization of gaming traffic.

The performance increase of the Netduma OS really shines through in our 2.4 GHz tests which put the XR500 well above the competition. Although the 5 GHz speeds weren’t nearly as impressive, the XR500 is still our top pick because it performs so well right out of the box and is truly optimized for gaming.

3. ASUS RT-AC68U

Custom firmware for power users on a budget

Wide firmware compatibility

FPS tests matched higher end routers

Poor 5.0 GHz speeds

The Asus RT-AC68U features AC1900 speeds (N600/AC1300) that are fairly standard in this segment. It takes a fairly business approach to the router design, with matte black plastic in a vertical design, with three antennas that can be positioned. The router features a 3 x 3 antenna design and a dual core 1GHz processor inside, with 256 MB of RAM with 128 MB of flash memory. With wide support for custom firmware such as Merlin, Tomato, DD-WRT and OpenWrt, functionality on the RT-AC68U can be exponentially upgraded with a simple firmware flash.

While several others have struggled on the 2.4 GHz frequency, the RT-AC68U hardly breaks a sweat. The only real problem for this otherwise capable router is that it got bested on the streaming video tests and falls short in 5 GHz performance. However, priced at $160 with support for just about every custom firmware the RT-AC68U is great for power users on a budget.

4. ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300

Luxury upgrade for the ultimate lag-free experience

Fast 5GHz speeds

Low video packet loss while streaming

It’s huge

The Asus ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 Gaming Router builds on the success of the company’s AC5300 model that won this category in our previous version of this guide. It features beefed-up hardware, including a move from a dual core to a quad core processor, and doubles the RAM to 1GB. Other shortcomings are also addressed, with both USB ports now the faster USB 3.0, and a total of eight Gigabit Ethernet ports for wired devotees.

In addition, the GT-AC5300 features a gaming centric interface with features such as tracking Network Ping, and Ping Deviation over time. This model also integrates with WTFast for faster connections to gaming servers, and includes a one-device subscription to the service.

Specs, logos and flashy interfaces aside, we were eager to see how this model performed, and it did not disappoint. In testing the Asus ROG had excellent 5 GHz speeds on both distances tested. This model really showed its stuff on our network gaming congestion test, as it generated both the highest FPS of 33.617, while also streaming with the lowest video packet loss of 7.76 percent.

5. TP-Link Archer C5400X

The easiest gaming router to set up and manage

Very easy to operate

Powerful, but not overpriced

Great 5GHz speeds

2.4GHz speeds are middling

TP-Link’s latest entry into the high-end gaming router space is a significant improvement over previous models, and now ranks among the best gaming routers of 2019 – especially when it comes to the 5GHz range, at which it excels. Our recent review of the TP-Link Archer C5400X awarded it near-top marks. What we love about it is how easy the C5400X is to set-up and use, while still offering the features you’d expect like the ability to easily manage QoS, the inclusion of network security (via Trend Micro), and option to not only blacklist but also whitelist certain devices.

In terms of the throughput speeds, our tests clocked the following for the Archer C5400X: at 2.4GHz it delivers 117Mbps near / 112Mbps far, which is kinda middling, while at 5GHz the TP-Link performs extremely well, clocking 344Mbps near and 347Mbps far. From this perspective, it’s market-leading. What disappoints, if anything, is the lack of specific tech to decrease latency, which you see in competing models of the same price, like the Netgear XR500. In terms of ports and antennae it’s near identical to the superb Asus ROG Rapture GT-AC5300, but doesn’t quite offer the same performance. It is, however, a cheaper alternative and a highly-recommended gaming router that’s pleasingly easy to set-up and manage.

6. Linksys WRT32X

A great mid-range gaming router

Built in Killer Networking optimization

Great 5GHz range

Requires Killer NIC to really shine

Take the already capable Linksys WRT3200M router, let Killer Networking redo the software including the KPE (Killer Prioritization Engine), and we get the Linksys WRT32X. This router takes prioritization of gaming to the next level, but the catch is that it really shines when the client is a Killer NIC, which are only integrated into motherboards or notebooks. With a Killer client, we can stream four simultaneous 4K videos, and still game at over 26 FPS- an impressive feat.

While the 2.4 GHz performance lagged behind some of our other mid-range choices, the WRT32X performed exceptionally well in our 5 GHz testing. At close range the 5 GHz speeds rivaled those of our top picks and even beat several in the far tests. Even without a Killer Networking adapter, the WRT32X performs very well. But if you’re rocking a gaming laptop or motherboard with a Killer NIC, purchasing this router should be a no brainer.

7. D-Link DIR-879

Ultra-budget for cheap networking thrills

source: gamezpot.com