We've all been there, the pulse-pounding moment when we're about to make a genius play in our favorite online game when a half-second lag spike sees us fail miserably. Or perhaps it's when we queue up for a competitive match only to have a sudden dip in our internet connection drop us from the game three seconds after the match starts. Worse still when the whole time gaming is cursed by intermittent lag spikes that make the game a jerky mess. While some of these issues will be out of our hands (and likely in the hands of our internet service providers), some of these problems can stem from our routers. So, it's imperative to make sure you've got a rock-solid router for gaming if you want to get competitive online.
Don't rely on your old router as you might be working with an outdated Wi-Fi standard (like Wi-Fi 4 aka 802.11n). Older routers may also lack advanced features to prioritize your gaming traffic, which can leave you susceptible to lag spikes when other devices are on the network. A good gaming router should provide plenty of Ethernet ports for fast and stable speed and also support fast Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) or even Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) connections. Some even offer three wireless bands, letting you dedicate an entire band to gaming, so your console or gaming PC won't compete with every smartphone and smart home device trying to communicate with the router.
We'll help you find the right gaming router with our picks below, which offer solid connectivity and top-notch gaming features – and click here to find them in the UK.
TL;DR – These are the Best Router for Gaming:
- Netgear Nighthawk X6S (R8000P)
- Asus TUF-AX5400
- Linksys Hydra Pro
- Nighthawk Pro Gaming Router (XR1000)
- TP-Link Archer AX10000
- Netgear Orbi RBK752
- Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX11000
- Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000
1. Netgear Nighthawk X6S
Best Gaming Router
When you’re gaming, you need speed and you can certainly benefit from having nothing else standing in your way. You can get that with the Netgear Nighthawk X6S. This gaming router gives you the typical things you should expect with a 2.4GHz and 5GHz connection and some external antennas for a strong signal. It beefs up your connectivity options with an additional 5GHz band though. This means that if you want to game on Wi-Fi instead of an Ethernet connection, you can dedicate a whole 5GHz band just for your gaming while still providing a 5GHz connection to the rest of your household.
Now, this router isn’t offering all the latest features like Wi-Fi 6E or 2.5Gbps WAN, but it also comes at a more affordable price than the routers that do. And, unless you’ve got some serious networking needs in your home or an almost unheard of connection from your ISP, you might not need those features to get a great gaming experience from your router right now.
2. Asus TUF-AX5400
Best Budget Gaming Router
For under $200, you can snag a new router that’s ready to zoom along in games as much as you are. The Asus TUF-AX5400 is geared for gaming with dual-band Wi-Fi 6 that offers a stable connection with lower-latency communication between your gaming system and the router. You get a speedy 2.4GHz band and an even faster 5GHz band. We’re talking 5400Mbps speeds on an efficient 4x network. And if you’re worried about a limited connection in certain areas of your home, you can even build out a mesh network with this router for seamless extended coverage thanks to ASUS AiMesh support.
The Asus TUF-AX5400 is the perfect gaming partner. You can connect a PC or gaming device to the dedicated gaming port, ensuring it gets the lion's share of the connection. And through the router’s app, you can prioritize whatever you’re doing by switching modes between streaming, gaming, web browsing, etc. The sheer number of ways to manage your network’s traffic is pretty astounding.
3. Linksys Hydra Pro
Best Tri-Band Gaming Router
Wi-Fi has taken some serious leaps in the past couple of years, with Wi-Fi 6 stepping things up big time, and then Wi-Fi 6E adding some icing to the cake. The Linksys Hydra Pro is a tri-band router that takes advantage of this new capability. 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. But, if you've got the latest devices or networking cards with Wi-Fi 6E, the Linksys Hydra Pro can dial things up big time.
This router offers up a third band at 6GHz with 4x4 streams for a potential throughput up to 4,804Mbps. You're going to need some seriously fast internet speeds or local networking demands to take advantage of that bandwidth, and the Linksys Hydra Pro is ready with a 5GbE WAN port on the back. Just be prepared for a high price – the latest technology doesn't come cheap.
4. Nighthawk Pro Gaming Router (XR1000)
Best Dual-Band Gaming Router
What can a dual-band router do? Well, if it's running Wi-Fi 6 and powerful hardware inside, quite a lot. The Nighthawk Pro Gaming Router XR1000 from Netgear is solid evidence of this. This router gives its two bands plenty of room to run with 2x2 MU-MIMO on the 2.4GHz band for 574Mbps speeds. The 5GHz channel is where you're going to want to turn for the ultimate throughput though, as it's capable of 4x4 MU-MIMO and can clock in at 4,804Mbps.
That's a good start for the hardware, but Netgear takes this router even further into the depths of gaming with special firmware. The Nighthawk Pro Gaming Router can help you ensure your gaming systems are getting the best connection possible with QoS that'll let you give more priority to your games than other web uses, like live streams, VoIP, or web browsing.
5. TP-Link Archer AX10000
Best Wi-Fi 6 Gaming Router
If your household is full of connected devices where maintaining top speeds is essential, a Wi-Fi 6 router is a must. The TP-Link Archer AX10000 is one of the best, especially if you’re focused on online gaming. This tri-band router offers a pair of 5GHz networks and one 2.4GHz network. That means there should be plenty of unimpeded speed and connectivity to go around. You can even dedicate a band just to gaming and there's a Game Accelerator that will detect and optimize your gaming streams.
The TP-Link Archer AX10000’s power is almost as impressive as its speed, thanks to the 1.8 GHz Quad-Core CPU and 1GB RAM. This means the router can handle a huge throughput and eliminate almost all lag so you can stay immersed in your games. Plus, with the use of OFDMA and MU-MIMO, even if more devices join the network, there shouldn’t be any noticeable difference in speeds. Finally, this router offers tons of connectivity for devices that may benefit from a wired connection.
6. Netgear Orbi RBK752
Best Wi-Fi Mesh System for Gaming
If you're trying to ensure multiple devices all around your home are connected with fast internet for gaming, a mesh system may be your best bet. The Netgear Orbi RBK752 is a strong system that offers a main router and a high-speed node. The two units both feature tri-band Wi-Fi, letting them effectively create two dual-band networks in your house (though they operate as a single network), while relying on their extra 5GHz connection to ensure the link between the routers is also blazing fast.
These devices support Wi-Fi 6 for the latest and greatest in connectivity on supported devices, and they have multiple Ethernet ports on both the router and node, letting you go for a wired connection on devices that can benefit from the more consistent connection, like gaming PCs and consoles. Between the router and node, you can create an expansive wireless network to ensure no device suffers from a slow, weak signal in your home.
7. Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX11000
Fastest Gaming Router
Wi-Fi 6-ready devices aren't quite here yet, but it never hurts to be prepared. While the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 was built for the next-gen wireless protocol, it's fully equipped to tackle anything and everything online gaming can throw at it today.
It offers maximum data transfer speeds of 11Gbps over a tri-band frequency. For gaming specifically, users can dedicate one band to gaming to avoid interference from other connected devices in their home.
8. Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000
Best Wi-Fi 6E Gaming zRouter
If you want a serious router for gaming, you can't get much more serious than the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000. Just look close – it has "AXE" in the name! Fun aside, this isn't just a Wi-Fi 6 router. Rather, it's a Wi-Fi 6E router, which brings access to even more potential thanks to the 6GHz spectrum it adds on top of 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. Tri-band connectivity offers up an easy way to split up your network so you can ensure your gaming devices have the fastest connection in the house. That 6GHz connection is also not so common yet, so you won't run into the same kind of interference from all of your neighbors' routers that you will on 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks.
This router has eight antennas to deliver a powerful signal, and its use of beamforming can go even further in ensuring a strong connection between your wireless devices and the router. You also get some blistering speeds from wired connections, as the router supports 2.5Gb WAN or LAN as well as link aggregation, so you're not stuck with the 1Gbps Ethernet speeds many other routers will limit you to.
What to Look for in a Gaming Router
While you're shopping for a gaming router, you should be on the lookout for which version of Wi-Fi it supports. The main two you'll want to look out for are Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) and Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) as they deliver the fastest wireless speeds currently available. During your search for a gaming router, you'll undoubtedly come across units designed for Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) that look very attractive thanks to their low prices, but you should avoid this siren's call. Wi-Fi 4 is an outdated standard that provides fairly slow speeds compared to its two more modern renditions.
You'll also want to find a gaming router that is at least dual-band. Single-band routers only support the 2.4GHz band, which is fine enough for web browsing and downloading most files, but dual-band routers add a second 5GHz channel that provides much faster wireless speeds. You'll also find Tri-Band routers—and we've featured a number of them above as well—that feature an additional 5GHz band you can completely dedicate to gaming.
Where to Get the Best Gaming Router in the UK
Getting the Most Out of Your Gaming Router
Be aware, just having a gaming router doesn't mean you're going to automatically get the best home network instantly. You still should follow a number of best practices for optimizing your home network. Don't try tucking your router out of the way in a closet at the bottom of a shelf, as that's the quickest way to ensure you won't get the full performance out of it.
Your router should be placed somewhere central in your living space, ideally high up, and it shouldn't have many obstacles in the way (i.e., don't put it behind your TV). Everything in the path from your router to your connected devices will impact the signal and thus the quality of your connection.
You can also help out your wireless devices by using a wired Ethernet connection wherever possible. Limiting the number of devices connected to your Wi-Fi at a time can help ensure each device gets better performance.
Securing your wireless router is also important not just for security but also for your performance. Sure you don't want potentially malicious users accessing your home network, but you also don't want your neighbors piggybacking onto your network, as they'll eat into your bandwidth and potentially drag down your network performance. Use a strong password and consider disabling any guest networks. You might even consider not broadcasting your network ID, which makes it far less likely someone will access your network with the tradeoff that setting up new devices can be a little more time-consuming.
Kevin Lee is IGN's Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam
Mark Knapp is a regular contributor to IGN and an irregular Tweeter on Twitter @Techn0Mark
