Do You Need a Gaming Router? What the Gaming Features Do

Most players don’t need a gaming router. Online games send and receive very little data, so a faster router rarely makes them smoother. Lag usually comes from a weak Wi-Fi link, other people using the connection at the same moment, or the distance to the game server. The one gaming feature that targets a real cause is traffic prioritization, and many ordinary routers have it too.

A gaming router is a router sold with features aimed at games: a priority port, game-traffic prioritization, and sometimes a paid route service. This is a research-based guide built from the manufacturers’ own descriptions of those features. We have not tested gaming routers, and none of the manufacturer pages we reviewed gives measured latency results.

What actually causes lag in online games?

Two different things get called “lag.”

Latency is the time data takes to travel to the game server and back, measured in milliseconds (ms) and often shown in games as ping. Bandwidth is how much data the connection can carry per second, measured in megabits per second (Mbps). Games are sensitive to latency and need little bandwidth.

The FCC’s broadband speed guide, last reviewed on July 18, 2022, lists 4 Mbps as the minimum download speed for online multiplayer gaming and 3 Mbps for a game console connecting to the internet. Almost any current plan covers that many times over.

Latency gets worse in three common ways, and only one of them is something a router controls:

The first one has a name, bufferbloat. Our bufferbloat guide explains how to test for it.

Cloud gaming is the exception to “games need little bandwidth.” There, the game runs on a remote server and is streamed to you like video. NVIDIA lists 25 Mbps for its GeForce NOW service at 1080p and 60 frames per second, and 45 Mbps for 4K at 120 frames per second. It also requires less than 80 ms of latency to its data center.

What do gaming router features do?

ASUS publishes the clearest breakdown, describing three “levels” of game acceleration on its ROG gaming routers. Other brands sell similar features under different names.

QoS stands for Quality of Service, a router setting that decides which traffic goes first when the connection is busy.

The route service is a separate company’s product. TP-Link offers WTFast on its Archer GE800, GE650, GE550 and GXE75 routers and says users can “play without any restrictions for the first month,” which indicates a paid subscription after that. TP-Link lists “lower latency, reduced packet loss, and minimized ping” among the claims, without figures. Treat it as something to trial against the games you actually play, not as a reason to buy a particular router.

Do ordinary routers have the same features?

The one that matters, traffic prioritization, is common. Two examples:

• Netgear Dynamic QoS on Nighthawk routers “resolves traffic congestion when the Internet bandwidth is limited.” Netgear says it can help if your speeds are “250 Mbps or less” and you game or stream, and that at 300 Mbps or faster “you don’t need to use Dynamic QoS.”
• eero’s “Optimize for Conferencing and Gaming”, a beta feature in the eero Labs section of the app. Eero says it “queues wifi traffic and limits the amount of bandwidth certain devices can use,” is “best for internet connections under 500 Mbps,” and that “you may see slower performance on certain devices.”

Both manufacturers make the same point from different directions. Prioritization helps most on slower plans, where a single upload or download can fill the connection. On a fast plan there is more headroom, so the same activity is less likely to slow your game. And prioritizing one thing can slow others.

To check what your router offers, look for “QoS,” “SQM” (smart queue management), “traffic prioritization” or “gaming” in its settings or app.

What doesn’t help?

• Higher maximum Wi-Fi speeds. A router’s headline speed is usually the combined theoretical rate of all its radios; TP-Link’s Archer BE230, sold as a BE3600 router, for example, adds a 2,882 Mbps 5 GHz radio to a 688 Mbps 2.4 GHz radio. Games use a few Mbps. See how much internet speed you need.
• The “gaming” label on its own. It describes features, not performance. Compare the features in the table above, then check whether your current router already has them.
• A new router to fix NAT type. An Open NAT type, which consoles need for party chat and hosting, comes from UPnP or port forwarding. Every router has at least one. Our guide to WPS and UPnP covers the trade-off.
• More bandwidth for a lag problem. If ping is high with nobody else online, a faster plan won’t lower it.

What should I try before buying one?

In rough order of cost:

1. Use a cable. Connect the console or PC to the router with Ethernet. It removes Wi-Fi from the equation and is what a gaming port assumes anyway. NVIDIA recommends “a hardwired Ethernet connection, or a router with a 5 GHz WiFi connection” for GeForce NOW. Our Ethernet cable guide covers which cable to buy.
2. If you can’t wire it, use 5 GHz. Make sure the console or PC is on 5 GHz and not 2.4 GHz. See our Wi-Fi bands guide.
3. Test whether lag follows other people’s activity. Run a speed test that reports latency under load while someone else uploads. If ping jumps, it is congestion.
4. Turn on your router’s QoS or SQM feature, if it has one, and test again.
5. Check NAT type on the console and fix it with UPnP or port forwarding.
6. Only then consider a new router, and choose it by the features you found you need.

Who should buy a gaming router?

We have not included prices. We only publish a price with the date we checked it.

Fact-check notes

Bottom line

A gaming router is an ordinary router with a few traffic features and a label. Before buying one, wire your console or PC, check whether lag follows other people’s activity, and look for QoS in the router you already own. If your router lacks prioritization and congestion is the cause, buy one that has it, gaming-branded or not.