2020 hasn’t got off to the best of starts with the Coronavirus. but, one positive thing to come out of it’s miles yet every other rise in popularity of on-line gaming. And that’s meant gaming has come to be greater competitive than ever before.
Where victory changed into as soon as memorialized with the aid of list your initials on an arcade machine, the state-of-the-art competitive video games are earning some gamers a serious living, and rewards are frequently predicated entirely on how nicely you may compete with others online. But if your Best Gaming Router isn’t up to snuff, you may must deal with the irritating realization that a game of talent has degraded to a game of competing download speeds.
Selecting the right Best Gaming Router can assist with that. They can provide you with the maximum reliable connection possible and even offer you with a few extensive tools to better song your on line enjoy. Each product on our listing is a contender for the Best Gaming Router in 2020, however we’ll help you understand why with our in-dept guide below.
10 Best Gaming Routers for Summer 2020
1. Zyxel Armor Z2 AC2600 MU-MIMO Wireless Router
If you want an AC2600 Wi-Fi router, the Zyxel Armor Z2 is one of the cheapest options you’ll find for gaming. The reach for the wireless range makes it a good choice for medium sized houses, although it can’t meet the top speeds of some of the best gaming routers on our list. And the Easy 123 setup system means you can get your Wi-Fi Best gaming router up and going in a matter of minutes even if you don’t have any experience with Best gaming router configuration.
And while there isn’t any hardware specifically catered to the needs of gamers, there’s quite a few customization option that can help with gaming. That includes stream boosting optimization and beam forming antenna designs for maximizing both the distance and the speed of your Wi-Fi internet. And the customization menu itself is neat and orderly, so you shouldn’t have trouble finding the settings you want to configure.
Key Features
- Affordable for an AC2600
- Greatly organized configuration menu
- Quick setup with Easy 123
- Thermal design for efficient ventilation
- 5 GHz speeds are a little weak in practice
2. ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX11000
The ROG Rapture sports a design that looks like it belongs in a sci-fi movie, but it’s underlined by some pretty serious performance. You can dedicate an entire 5GHz band on the ROG Rapture to gaming alone so you can play your favorite online games without the risk of interruption.
And the gaming specific features on the ROG Rapture are on point too. The Gaming Center interface here is truly impressive – providing you with access to a staggering number of metrics and quality of service options and providing you with the means to track everyone on your ROG Rapture network. It even lets you run a VPN and normal Wi-Fi network simultaneously.
Key Features
- Lifetime security protection
- Whole home coverage via AiMesh
- Three step port forwarding
- Dedicated 5 GHz gaming port
- No USB 3.0 ports
3. NETGEAR Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR700
If you thought the TP-Link AC5400 was expensive, get a load of the Netgear Nighthawk XR700 . This pro Best gaming router is a powerhouse with a slick and low profile design and an eminently easy installation process. But you’ll really need a great modem to make the most of what this router has to offer. It promises speeds of up to 7.2 Gbps over its quad-band signals.
But where the Netgear Nighthawk really shines is through the inclusion of some of the best gaming features around. It’s designed to easily filter you through a gaming VPN to protect your privacy and can provide real time ping rates so you can see exactly which devices are eating up the most traffic from your modem. The Nighthawk will even automatically provide you with geo location services so you can find the closest server to you and ensure the best speeds possible.
Key Features
- Incredibly fast transfer speeds
- Automatically finds the closest servers
- Easy setup and friendly UI
- Optimized for the most popular competitive games
- MU-MIMO features are a little weak
4. NETGEAR Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR500 Wi-Fi Router
When looking at gaming routers, “best” is sometimes a subjective term. While the Netgear Nighthawk Pro XR700 is one of the best in terms of raw performance, the Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR500 offers many of the same features at a discounted price, and it’s arguably the best Wi-Fi Best gaming router for console gamers thanks to the decent speeds and the wealth of gaming functions featured here.
While many Wi-Fi routers offer the option to customize a PC gaming experience, there are less options available for console gamers. But the Netgear Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR500 gives you the option to maximize your ping stability, tighten up local connections, and minimize the amount of lag you experience. And since pop-up menus on the Netgear Nighthawk make all of the options clear and understandable, even novices should have little difficulty learning how they can get the best gaming experience.
Key Features
- Device by device QoS
- Menu uses simple pop-up tutorials
- Great customization options for consoles
- Above average performance on 2.4GHz
- Geo filtering is limited in some games
5. Linksys (WRT32XB) WRT Gaming Wi-Fi Router
Few routers are designed specifically with the needs of console gamers in mind, but that’s one thing that makes the Linksys (WRT32XB) such a special router. It’s optimized for use with Xbox One, and if you’d rather not spend too much time messing around with the configuration settings, you can count it to work pretty well with your Microsoft console without even digging into the advanced settings.
That’s because of the inclusion of the Killer Prioritization Engine. It can recognize Xbox One data going either way over the network and will automatically prioritize it to prevent slowdown when you’re playing online. And if you want to dig deeper, you’ll find one of the broadest and most extensive range of features available for a console gaming router.
Key Features
- User interface built for Xbox One
- USB 3.0 port for connecting devices
- Delivers lag free console gaming
- Uses Killer Prioritization Engine
- Not as ideal for PC or PS4 gaming
6. TP-Link AC5400 Tri Band Best Gaming Router
If you’re looking for one of the best gaming routers but you’re a little nervous about more advanced configuration, the AC5400 by TP-Link is a great option. This Best gaming router can be easily configured in just a matter of minutes, but the smartly design user interface makes all the configuration features clearly labeled and easy to understand.
This Best gaming router performs well, especially when working on a 5 GHz band. Four streams each are dedicated to the 2.4GHz and 5 GHz bands, so homes with less devices can feel confident that they’re getting the best speed possible. And it comes with a ton of cool smart features as well. Whether your home is connected for Alexa or you use the more in depth IFTTT interface to coordinate your home automation, it’s equipped to handle them both natively.
Key Features
- RangeBoost for devices further from the router
- Supports MU MIMO and AirTime Fairness protocol
- Link aggregation for doubled download speeds
- Comes with some sophisticated antivirus
- One of the most expensive featured models
7. Portal Mesh Gaming Ready Wi-Fi Router
Not every Best gaming router costs a few hundred dollars. The Portal is proof that you can get a capable router for gaming and spend less than $75. And despite the fact that it only runs on a double band, this best gaming router can achieve fast speeds and reach the farthest corners or even a larger house. That said, the relatively small number of direct ports means that you should probably reserve it for households without a whole lot of devices in play at once.
But the actual interface for controlling your game performance is one of the best around. You don’t even need to create an account or log in to get access to your internet settings, and the best gaming router portal can be accessed via either a mobile app or through your internet browser. And the secure administrative controls are further bolstered by the inclusion of some solid security features.
Key Features
- Great front end security
- Offers a mobile and web interface
- Impressive coverage of 3,000 sq/ft
- Mesh technology for multi-router linking
- No native compatibility for 5 GHz devices
8. ASUS ROG GT-AC2900 Wi-Fi Best Gaming Router
When you see the ASUS ROG (Republic of Gamers) name, you can rest easy knowing that you’re going to get a product that’s meticulously designed with the needs of gamers in mind. The GT-AC2900 sports a triple level game accelerator for optimal gaming performance, and it can connect with other ASUS AiMesh supported Wi-Fi routers.
And as the future of gaming moves towards streaming services like Playstation Now and Microsoft Game Pass, this Wi-Fi router is tapped into the needs. It’s one of the recommended routers for WiFi when using the NVIDIA GeForce Now service. It even comes with lifetime network security so that you don’t have to worry about your information being compromised.
Key Features
- ASUS Aura lighting customization
- Very strong VPN compatibility
- Impressive lifetime network security
- Can be used for whole home mesh Wi-Fi
- Mobile app can be a little clumsy to use
9. ASUS RT-AC86U WiFi Dual-band Gigabit Ethernet Wireless Router
The RT-AC86U from ASUS won the reader’s choice award from PCMag.com in 2017, but it’s still one of the best gaming routers on the market three years later. Big houses will really benefit here, because speeds actually get better the further away you go (although connecting directly by ethernet will still be ideal for gaming PCs and consoles). It employs the latest MU-MIMO technology for houses that use a lot of devices and provides adaptive quality of service to ensure that each device gets the bandwidth they deserve.
Setting up the Wi-Fi best gaming router can be handled through either your browser or the compatible app, but once you get it up and running, you’ll realize that you have a ton of customization options at your disposal. These include both services specifically tailored to gaming and some more general purpose functions that can assist with business or streaming movies or TV.
Key Features
- Compatible setup and configuration app
- Some of the best long distance performance
- Built-in stand for better stability
- Very robust security features
- One of the more expensive models around
10. D-Link DIR-882-US Gaming Wi-Fi Router
The EXO DIR-882 from D-Link does a great job of bridging the gap between the best gaming routers in terms of performance and the best in terms of speed. While it only slightly beats the speeds and can’t quite match the maximum range of the Portal Wi-Fi best gaming router, it does offer native compatibility with any connected 5 GHz device and a decent selection of features that will especially appeal to gamers.
Some of the best features here are automated. This Wi-Fi best gaming router will automatically shift your devices over to the right band depending on their prioritization and needs – a great choice for mixed households where multiple people might be streaming movies or gaming at the same time. And it can support a generous number of devices at the same time. This best gaming router also offers AC Smart Beam connection to help bring dead spots in your house back to life.
Key Features
- Automated gaming device prioritization
- Supports multiple devices simultaneously
- Lets you create a limited guest network
- Requires no advanced configuration
- Optimization can require a bit of work
