Short answer: Zoom and Teams need only a few megabits per second, so freezes and robotic audio usually come from an unsteady connection, not a slow plan. Use Ethernet or a strong 5 GHz signal, leave WMM on, turn on your router's video-call priority feature if it has one, and stop large uploads from swamping the line during calls.

Video calls need far less speed than most home plans provide. When Zoom or Teams freezes, the cause is usually an unsteady connection: weak Wi-Fi, a crowded band, or another upload filling the line. Fix those first. Then use your router’s video-call priority setting if it has one.

This is a research-based guide built from Zoom’s and Microsoft’s published requirements and router makers’ support documentation. We have not measured call quality on these routers ourselves.

Quick answer: the settings that help most

1. Plug in with Ethernet if you can. If you can’t, connect on 5 GHz or 6 GHz, close to the router or a mesh point.
2. Leave WMM on. Apple recommends it, and Microsoft recommends QoS or WMM for Teams.
3. Turn on your router’s video-call mode, if it has one. ASUS, Google and eero all offer one (see the table below).
4. Keep big uploads off the line during calls. Cloud backups and large file syncs compete with your outgoing video.
5. Fix bufferbloat if calls break up whenever someone else is downloading. See our bufferbloat guide.

How much bandwidth do video calls use?

Zoom says it adjusts bandwidth to each participant’s network. Google’s Meet requirements page lists hardware and says you need a broadband connection, but gives no bandwidth figures.

The figures are per person on a call. Two people on separate 1080p Zoom calls need roughly double. Upload is the tighter limit on many cable plans, so check yours with our guide to how much internet speed you need.

Why calls freeze on a fast plan

Bandwidth alone does not guarantee a good call. Microsoft says “provisioned bandwidth alone” doesn’t guarantee quality, and that calls with static, cut-outs or voices that “sound like robots” could point to jitter or packet loss. When bandwidth does run short, Microsoft says Teams prioritizes audio over video.

The common home causes:

• Weak or crowded Wi-Fi. Microsoft says the 2.4 GHz band is often congested by consumer devices, and that 5 GHz is better suited to real-time media. See 2.4 GHz vs. 5 GHz vs. 6 GHz.
• A full upload. A backup or game download on another device can push your call’s traffic into a queue. That delay is bufferbloat.
• The Wi-Fi link, not the plan. If a wired test is fast but your laptop is slow, the problem is local. Our guide to slow Wi-Fi on a fast connection walks through the checks.

Router settings for video calls, by brand

On an ASUS router, open the router’s web interface, go to Adaptive QoE, switch on QoS, pick Work from Home and apply. ASUS also offers a Bandwidth Limiter that caps a chosen device. It says any limit should be lower than your provider’s maximum speed, or it won’t take effect.

On Google Nest Wifi or Google Wifi, open the Google Home app, then Wi-Fi, Network settings and Preferred activities. To prioritize a single laptop instead, open Wi-Fi, then Devices, choose the laptop and pick a duration.

On eero, open the Discover tab in the eero app, tap eero Labs and turn on Optimize for Conferencing and Gaming.

If your router has none of these, check its QoS or traffic-priority settings, and make sure WMM is enabled. Apple says disabling WMM “can affect the performance and reliability of devices on the network.”

Other settings worth checking

• One network name across bands. Apple recommends a single name for all bands. If you split bands, make sure the work laptop joins 5 GHz or 6 GHz.
• 2.4 GHz channel width. Apple recommends 20 MHz on 2.4 GHz and Auto on 5 GHz and 6 GHz.
• Work VPN. Microsoft says routing Teams traffic through a VPN can add “extra latency and jitter.” That setting belongs to your employer, so ask its IT team whether calls bypass the VPN.

When to change hardware instead

If the room you work in has a weak signal, settings won’t fix it. Run a cable, use MoCA over existing coax, or add a mesh point with a wired backhaul. If your provider’s gateway lacks priority settings, our guide to buying your own router covers what to check before you switch.

Fact-check notes

Bottom line

A video call needs about 4 Mbps in each direction at most, so a faster plan rarely fixes a bad call. Get the work device onto Ethernet or a strong 5 GHz or 6 GHz signal, leave WMM on, switch on your router’s video-call priority, and stop other uploads from crowding the line.

Short answer: Most players don't need a gaming router. Online games use little bandwidth, and lag usually comes from Wi-Fi, a busy connection or distance to the game server. The gaming feature that helps most is traffic prioritization (QoS), which many ordinary routers also offer. A gaming router makes sense if you want those controls built in and plan to wire your console or PC. This is a research-based guide, not a hands-on test.

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.

Short answer: Turn off WPS: its PIN method has a design flaw that lets someone in Wi-Fi range recover your password, and you can join devices by typing the password instead. Turn off UPnP unless something you use needs it, which the NSA recommends. Game consoles are the common exception, and port forwarding is the narrower alternative.

Turn off WPS. Turn off UPnP too, unless something you use stops working without it. Both features exist to save you a setup step, and both have documented security weaknesses. For most homes the only real cost of switching them off is a few minutes of extra setup, and for game consoles, a port-forwarding rule.

This is an explainer based on US government security guidance and published vulnerability notes. We have not tested routers for it.

What is WPS, and what is wrong with it?

WPS stands for Wi-Fi Protected Setup. The Wi-Fi Alliance, the industry group that certifies Wi-Fi products, says it was “designed to ease the setup of security-protected Wi-Fi networks in home and small office environments.” In practice it lets a device join your Wi-Fi without anyone typing the password, usually by pressing a button on the router or entering an 8-digit PIN.

The PIN is the problem. On December 27, 2011, the CERT Coordination Center at Carnegie Mellon University published a vulnerability note on a flaw reported by researcher Stefan Viehböck. The router checks the 8-digit PIN in two halves and tells the other side when the first half is right. The last digit is a checksum, a digit calculated from the others. Together those reduce the number of guesses needed from 100 million to 11,000.

CERT’s note says an attacker within wireless range can “brute force the WPS PIN and retrieve the password for the wireless network, change the configuration of the access point, or cause a denial of service.” A long Wi-Fi password does not help, because the attack goes around it.

CERT’s recommended solution was to disable the feature. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) says the same in its home Wi-Fi guidance: WPS “increases the likelihood that a threat actor could gain unauthorized access to your Wi-Fi network.”

Is the button safer than the PIN?

The published flaw concerns the PIN. The button method opens a short window after someone physically presses it, so an attacker would need to be in range at that moment.

Whether you can keep the button and lose the PIN depends on your router. Some have separate settings, and many have a single WPS switch that controls both. The CERT note is from 2011 and router firmware has changed since, but you can’t easily verify how your own router handles repeated PIN attempts. If you can’t confirm the PIN method is off, turn WPS off altogether.

What do I use instead?

Type the password, or scan it. Many phones can share a Wi-Fi password by QR code, and printers and smart devices can be joined through their own apps or control panels. The Wi-Fi Alliance also has a newer setup method, Wi-Fi Easy Connect, which works by “scanning a product quick response (QR) code.” Whether you can use it depends on both the router and the device supporting it.

What is UPnP, and what is wrong with it?

UPnP stands for Universal Plug and Play. On a home router, it lets a device on your network ask the router to open a port, which is a numbered doorway for incoming connections from the internet. A game console might open ports so other players can connect to it. The device asks, the router agrees, and you never see a prompt.

That convenience is also the weakness. The router does not check whether the request is a good idea. Any device or program on your network can ask, including one that is infected or badly made.

Three official sources address it:

• The National Security Agency (NSA), in home network guidance published in February 2023: “Disable Universal Plug-n-Play (UPnP). These measures help close holes that may enable an attacker to compromise your network.”
• CISA: “Threat actors can use UPnP to spread malware to devices in your network and control them remotely.”
• CERT, in a note published January 29, 2013, on flaws found by security firm Rapid7 in a widely used UPnP software library: “A remote, unauthenticated attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code on the device or cause a denial of service.” One of its suggested workarounds was to disable UPnP.

That 2013 flaw was in one software library, and CERT’s note lists a fixed version of it. It is here as an example of the kind of problem UPnP has had, not as a current threat to your specific router. The NSA and CISA advice is the reason to act.

What breaks if I turn them off?

Turning off WPS breaks nothing that is already connected. Devices that joined by WPS should stay joined, because they store the password once connected.

Turning off UPnP is the one that can bite. Web browsing, streaming and video calls generally start from your device and reach outward, so they don’t need incoming ports. Multiplayer gaming and voice chat on consoles are different, because other players’ consoles need to connect in.

Xbox support explains the symptom: you can sign in, but “can’t hear your friends online within a game or a party” or can’t host or join a multiplayer game. It says “You need your NAT type to be Open to resolve this issue.” NAT (Network Address Translation) is how your router shares one internet address among all your devices, and the NAT type is the console’s measure of how easily others can reach it. The first fix Xbox lists is “Turn on UPnP.” The next ones it lists are opening ports with port forwarding, then a “perimeter network (also known as DMZ).”

Which should I choose for gaming: UPnP or port forwarding?

Port forwarding is the better fit for a household that wants UPnP off. You give the console a fixed address on your network, then forward the ports the console maker lists to that address. The exact ports are on each console maker’s support site.

If you decide to keep UPnP on for a console, reduce the exposure in other ways. Keep the router’s firmware current, and put smart home devices on a separate network so they can’t use UPnP on your main one. Our guide to guest networks for smart home devices covers how.

One note for gamers: an Open NAT type helps you connect to other players. It does not reduce lag. For that, see our bufferbloat guide.

How do I turn them off?

Menu names vary by brand, so look for the closest match in your router’s app or admin page.

1. Open the router’s settings in its app or by browsing to its admin address.
2. Find WPS. It is usually under wireless or Wi-Fi settings, sometimes under advanced settings. Turn it off, and if there is a separate PIN option, turn that off too.
3. Find UPnP. It is usually under advanced, network or NAT settings. Turn it off.
4. Save, then test. Check that devices still connect, and run the network test on any game console. On Xbox this is under Settings, General, Network settings.
5. Add port forwarding only for a device that now has a problem.
6. While you are there, turn off remote management. The NSA guidance says to “disable the ability to perform remote administration on the routing device.”

Your router or mesh system may not have a WPS setting at all. If you can’t find one, check the maker’s support pages before assuming WPS is on.

For the rest of the settings worth changing, see our router hardening checklist. For the security mode itself, see WPA2 vs. WPA3.

Fact-check notes

Bottom line

WPS saves you typing a password once and leaves a known weakness in place, so turn it off. UPnP is off in the NSA’s recommended setup, so turn that off too and see whether anything complains. If a game console does, forward its ports instead of switching UPnP back on. Neither change takes more than a few minutes, and both are easy to reverse.

Short answer: Bufferbloat is the lag you get when a busy connection makes data wait in a long queue. Test it with a speed test that measures latency under load, then turn on your router's smart queue or SQM feature and set it a little below your real speed. Wiring your console or PC also removes WiFi from the equation.

If your game or video call gets choppy whenever someone uploads a video or a device starts a big update, you may have bufferbloat. It is one of the most common causes of lag on otherwise fast connections, and it can often be fixed with one router setting.

What is bufferbloat?

Your router sends data to your internet provider through a connection with a fixed speed. When that connection fills up, extra data waits in a queue. If the queue is long, everything behind it waits too, including your game packets. That wait is bufferbloat, and it shows up as latency spikes.

How do you test for it?

1. Plug a computer into your router with Ethernet so WiFi doesn’t affect the result.
2. Close other apps, then run a bufferbloat test such as Waveform’s or Cloudflare’s speed test.
3. Look at latency under load, not just the download number. A big jump from your idle ping means bufferbloat.

If you’re not sure whether your slowdown is WiFi or your plan, see our slow WiFi test guide.

How do you fix it?

1. Find the setting. Look for Smart Queue, SQM, Adaptive QoS, or similar in your router’s app. Names differ by brand, and not every router has one.
2. Set the speeds a little below your real speeds. Use 85% to 95% of your tested download and upload speeds. This keeps the queue in your router, where it can be managed.
3. Run the test again. Latency under load should be much closer to your idle ping.
4. Wire what you can. Consoles and PCs that stay put should use Ethernet.

Which routers help?

If you are deciding whether a gaming-branded router is worth it, see do you need a gaming router.

Look for a router that lists smart queue management or SQM, or one that supports third-party firmware such as OpenWrt. When we review routers like the Asus RT-BE92U, we check where the QoS controls live and how easy they are to find.

What if it’s your WiFi?

If the wired test is fine but WiFi spikes, the cause is probably distance, interference, or the band your device is using. Try the free fixes in our guide to why WiFi is slow when your internet is fast.