Could there really be such a tool in existence? Truth is the best WiFi router for gaming will depend on your setup. In most cases a five hundred dollar router will not be required at all despite being advertised as the best WiFi router for gaming.
A router will have an affect in the speed of your overall connection but hardly will ever impact what matters most and that is latency. Latency is the time it takes for information to be decoded from a sender to a receiver.
Though a router can help to boost the time it takes for the information to travel it is inperceivable to a majority of players since the change happens in milliseconds. Even for the most experienced the change is hard to detect with the naked eye.
The software and hardware limitations of a modem will hardly improve the situation either.
In this guide I will walk through how it is possible to optimize your network setup by troubleshooting a couple of items without having to spend a fortune overhauling your network.
The first step to take is check your bandwidth. Next is the speed of your network. With both these results we weigh in on your options. Finally, with diagnostics complete you will have all that you need so you can decide on whether your current setup is in need of just a new router, the best router WiFi router for gaming, or possibly neither.
Working with your bandwidth
Bandwidth is the rate that information is transferred. Bandwidth is measured by bits per second.
It is important to understand the difference between latency and bandwidth. This is mainly because a large bandwidth does not necessarily translate to a faster connection.
For example the difference between a 300mb/s plan and 100mb/s will usually never offer a noticeable difference when performing tasks that require a consistent broadband connection. An Xbox One connected to network with 300mb/s will not perform faster than an Xbox One connected to a 100mb/s network because it has more bandwidth.
We get this result because a device has a maximum and minunium rate at which a bandwidth signal can fluctuate between.
Working with your bandwidth is easy as there are only two methods a person can utilize outside of exploiting software.
- Upgrade the Router: Though not often the problem but may be required. Most routers will remain supported and receive patches though at a concerning low rate.
- Change your ISP: For a number of reasons your ISP plays a primary role in both latency and bandwidth so changing ISP may sometimes be your only option. Depending on your location this may not even be an option unfortunately.
Speed of Your Network
Now we that understand some key measurements in your network we can go over the speed of your own network.
The best way to get an idea of your network properties is by running a download speed test on your system. This will return a value that is a good approximation of where your network speed is at.
It is important to note that the amount of active traffic a network has will affect the rate of download speed. Low traffic networks will see a more reliable connection.
This is the only scenario where one of the best WiFi for gaming will come in handy. These routers can help manage heavy traffic more precisely for those who have constant LAN festivities within a network.
Though at the end of the day the ISP you choose is going to play a big factor with the result.
Options based on results
The results will vary based on a couple factors. To keep things simple we are going to breakdown results into three levels of quality.
- Top Level of Quality – greater than or equal to 50mb/s
- Average Level of Quality – less than or equal to 40mb/s
- Worst Level of Quality – less than or equal to 10mb/s
Based on the results your options will vary.
Top level of quality can rest assured that your network is optimized and will not require any further adjustment. Any change to the network will not necessarily result in a significantly faster connection for reasons we have discussed. At most, you would be paying more to get milliseconds worth of change. Not really worth it when you account the average rate a human can react to what they see, hear, or see on screen.
Average level of quality can be a tricky because it this depends on what you want. You could carry on with average quality most people do. Upgrading your router, changing your ISP plan, or doing both could mean a more quality connection but not necessarily a faster one. If you really strive for the best connection or have a shared connection there are better options like Virtual Private Networks dedicated to your gaming purposes.
Worst level of quality can be relax because there are so many variables that can determine a low quality connection. To put it short this might be a faulty home setup or unoptimized ISP network.
It is good and bad. Good because there are so many ways you can troubleshoot your connection. Troubleshooting will give vital results that can help optimize your network setup. Bad because depending on where you are located the ISP options you have available could be extremely limited. This is terrible because despite optimizing your own network an ISP could end up being the reason your network has an unoptimized connection.
The way your network is setup is entirely up to you and there are plenty of other options outside of buying a new router or ISP plan. Like I said depending on your circumstances it could be as simple as upgrading your router to a newer model or it could be as complicated as trying to circumvent dependence on a local ISP.
Researching or even thinking about the best routers in the market most of the time is unnecessary as they only help out in very few scenarios. I say this to stress that most of the time a network will not require a five hundred dollar router it simply will not change much behind the scenes of a broadband connection.
If you have any relevant comments or questions feel free to drop them in the comment section take care everyone.