What's the best wireless router for online gaming?

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Taco_42

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#1 Taco_42
Member since 2009 • 35 Posts

SO right now I have a wireless g router from comcast. Although I have heard of a better type of broadcast called N. Is there a wireless router that works best for PC gaming? Thanks.

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1redeemer

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#2 1redeemer
Member since 2004 • 25 Posts

The best gaming router in my opinion is the D-Link Xtreme Gaming router: check my reviews at http://pcsbydesign.com

http://pcsbydesign.com/built-for-gaming-d-link-dgl-4500

please let me know what you think.

jim 8)

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lundy86_4

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#3 lundy86_4
Member since 2003 • 61473 Posts

Really as long as you're not buying a cheap, cheap router, with a bad name, most will be just fine. Games do not take all that much to play. I have an N router running a laptop wirelessly, gaming PC wirelessly, 2 360's wirelessly, 2 PS3's wirelessly, and a gaming PC wired. I don't even get a bit of slowdown. It's more dependant on your ISP connection

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205047247090237824329930235794

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#4 205047247090237824329930235794
Member since 2005 • 741 Posts

I myself would love to have a D-Link, but I don't spend money when I don't need to. The combination of my old Linksys 8 port wired and the cheapest ****** wireless router there is have not failed me yet. I even got the ****** used and have no issues with wireless access whether it is gaming or browsing. Still waiting on FiOS for my part of town, though...

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Mart_n

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#5 Mart_n
Member since 2007 • 25 Posts
So, in short, you need to have an N router for a smooth online gaming experience? Or will a G suffice?
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205047247090237824329930235794

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#6 205047247090237824329930235794
Member since 2005 • 741 Posts

N spec is better than G spec, but N is also not finalized. They still call it 802.11n "draft". This means that if there are any major changes to the spec, however unlikely that may be, N spec equipment that you buy now may not be fully compatible with future N spec equipment.

That aside, G is plenty for gaming. That's what my cheapo ****** is. Here's a basic comparison chart on Wiki, showing average and max speeds and indoor and outdoor ranges. You can see that G maxes out at 54Mb but "typical" is quite a bit less. My Internet connection is a sad 3Mb DSL, so no slowdown there. We'll see how I feel about the ol' G router when I get 20Mb or 50Mb FiOS.

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Taco_42

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#7 Taco_42
Member since 2009 • 35 Posts

Thanks for all the info guys. It looks like I'll be staying with my g router until the n models get finalized. I think my g will suffice till then.

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ionusX

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#9 ionusX
Member since 2009 • 25777 Posts

yeah thanks guys this has really been pretty helpful for me too even though I'm a newbie and need a little bit more advice. I bought an xbox a couple weeks ago and my crap ****** router doesn't support gaming, it lags and just flat out sucks. I've been looking around for a router and I found this site http://www.squidoo.com/wireless-gaming-router and I'm considering the netgear ac 1780 (I think that's what it is) because I've read pretty good reviews but I've heard their tech support sucks, but who's doesn't? because belkins definitely does too. Anyways, I'm open to suggestions and any help would be great! Thanks. billorr444
reported

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JigglyWiggly_

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#10 JigglyWiggly_
Member since 2009 • 24625 Posts

The best gaming router in my opinion is the D-Link Xtreme Gaming router: check my reviews at http://pcsbydesign.com

http://pcsbydesign.com/built-for-gaming-d-link-dgl-4500

please let me know what you think.

jim 8)

1redeemer

lol no

bad for even 2009

 

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monstermaham

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#11 monstermaham
Member since 2013 • 25 Posts
Go with gigabyte router or brekling routers it can process upto 1000 MB per sec
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godzillavskong

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#12 godzillavskong
Member since 2007 • 7904 Posts

Really as long as you're not buying a cheap, cheap router, with a bad name, most will be just fine. Games do not take all that much to play. I have an N router running a laptop wirelessly, gaming PC wirelessly, 2 360's wirelessly, 2 PS3's wirelessly, and a gaming PC wired. I don't even get a bit of slowdown. It's more dependant on your ISP connection

lundy86_4
I agRee with this. I have a Motorola SBG6580 (wirelessN) and it does fine. With my kids either on their 360s, or their pcs, my wife streaming a movie on her iPad, or tv, and me online at the same time, we still stay at around 25-35mbps.
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sleepingzzz

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#13 sleepingzzz
Member since 2006 • 2263 Posts

So, in short, you need to have an N router for a smooth online gaming experience? Or will a G suffice?Mart_n

This depends on how many people with a G router are near you and the speed of your internet.

Without making this too confusing, wireless routers uses channels to send their frequencies over air.  G routers use the 2.4 Ghz frequency.  They have 11 channels.  Now to keep one router from interferring with another router they need to use different channels within the area they broadcast their signals.  Which means if two router using the same channel and are near each other so that their zones overlap, will have their signals interfere with each other.  

You also don't just use one channel.  The router will use up 3 consecutive channels within those 11 channels.  So if you configure your wireless router to use channel 6 it will use (5,6 and 7).  If you pick channel 9 it will use (8, 9 and 10). If you pick a number near the end or begining like channel 1 it will use (1, 2 and 3).  So since a router will use 3 channels and there only 11 channels to choose from there can only be up to 3 routers that have zones that over lap without interfereing with one another.  Standard practice says you only select channel 1, 6 or 11.  Most routers come set to use channel 6 by default.

G routers also have a max bandwidth of 54 Mbps and gets lower the farther away you are from the wireless router.

Now N Routers have another 8 or 9 channels in the 5 Ghz frequency.  They have a max bandwidth of 300 Mps.  Though one draw back is the 5 Ghz band is shorter so you have less range then G.  So though you can get a max of 300 mps you need to be fairly close to the wireless N router to get that speed.  The best advantage it has are the channels.

Since most of your neighbors will be using G it will be rare to be using a overlapping channel with a neighbor.  You can use a program like inssider to see what channels your neighbors are using.  If you have 15 other routers near you using up all the channels in G then yes you're better off with a N router.  Also, if your computer is near your wireless router and you are paying for a alot of bandwidth then a N router would also be better.  If you have the standard 15 Mbps down and you have just one neighbor using the same channels that your router is using then I would say no.  It's not worth upgrading to a N router.

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kraken2109

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#14 kraken2109
Member since 2009 • 13271 Posts

0072286854501_500X500.jpg

Best option for gaming.

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#15 dxmcat
Member since 2007 • 3385 Posts

0072286854501_500X500.jpg

Best option for gaming.

kraken2109

 

Exactly.

Wireless and Gaming do not go together.

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#16 mitu123
Member since 2006 • 155290 Posts

0072286854501_500X500.jpg

Best option for gaming.

kraken2109
Yeah I learned that the hard way!
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#17 Cyberdot
Member since 2013 • 3928 Posts
Just don't cheap out on a router and make sure that the manufacturer carries a good reputation, then it should be good.
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#18 FelipeInside
Member since 2003 • 28548 Posts
[QUOTE="kraken2109"]

0072286854501_500X500.jpg

Best option for gaming.

mitu123
Yeah I learned that the hard way!

Wireless Gaming is fine for most games. It's ones like Call of Duty and FIFA where cable is better.
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#19 Byshop  Moderator
Member since 2002 • 20504 Posts

The best gaming router in my opinion is the D-Link Xtreme Gaming router: check my reviews at 

please let me know what you think.

jim 8)

1redeemer

Your links are broken. You fail at spamming.

-Byshop

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kraken2109

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#20 kraken2109
Member since 2009 • 13271 Posts
[QUOTE="mitu123"][QUOTE="kraken2109"]

0072286854501_500X500.jpg

Best option for gaming.

FelipeInside
Yeah I learned that the hard way!

Wireless Gaming is fine for most games. It's ones like Call of Duty and FIFA where cable is better.

COD is p2p anyway so ping tends to be high. WiFi ping is just too high for competitive games.
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#21 godzillavskong
Member since 2007 • 7904 Posts
[QUOTE="FelipeInside"][QUOTE="mitu123"] Yeah I learned that the hard way!kraken2109
Wireless Gaming is fine for most games. It's ones like Call of Duty and FIFA where cable is better.

COD is p2p anyway so ping tends to be high. WiFi ping is just too high for competitive games.

Indeed! I get so frustrated playing madden online on my ps3 wirelessly. Lag is horrible more than half the time! Speedtest.net says I have 35-45mbps, even wirelessly, but I think it may be due to the ps3s wireless , which is G I think. I have no issues on my Xbox, but it's direct wired anyways.
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FelipeInside

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#22 FelipeInside
Member since 2003 • 28548 Posts
[QUOTE="godzillavskong"][QUOTE="kraken2109"][QUOTE="FelipeInside"] Wireless Gaming is fine for most games. It's ones like Call of Duty and FIFA where cable is better.

COD is p2p anyway so ping tends to be high. WiFi ping is just too high for competitive games.

Indeed! I get so frustrated playing madden online on my ps3 wirelessly. Lag is horrible more than half the time! Speedtest.net says I have 35-45mbps, even wirelessly, but I think it may be due to the ps3s wireless , which is G I think. I have no issues on my Xbox, but it's direct wired anyways.

@godzillavskong: indeed PS3 is G but look at your router settings to see a what transfer rate G is set to. Some routers let you put more than it can handle which results in packet loss.
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godzillavskong

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#23 godzillavskong
Member since 2007 • 7904 Posts
[QUOTE="FelipeInside"][QUOTE="godzillavskong"][QUOTE="kraken2109"] COD is p2p anyway so ping tends to be high. WiFi ping is just too high for competitive games.

Indeed! I get so frustrated playing madden online on my ps3 wirelessly. Lag is horrible more than half the time! Speedtest.net says I have 35-45mbps, even wirelessly, but I think it may be due to the ps3s wireless , which is G I think. I have no issues on my Xbox, but it's direct wired anyways.

@godzillavskong: indeed PS3 is G but look at your router settings to see a what transfer rate G is set to. Some routers let you put more than it can handle which results in packet loss.

Cool. I did not know that. Now how do you go about doing that??
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FelipeInside

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#24 FelipeInside
Member since 2003 • 28548 Posts
[QUOTE="godzillavskong"][QUOTE="FelipeInside"][QUOTE="godzillavskong"] Indeed! I get so frustrated playing madden online on my ps3 wirelessly. Lag is horrible more than half the time! Speedtest.net says I have 35-45mbps, even wirelessly, but I think it may be due to the ps3s wireless , which is G I think. I have no issues on my Xbox, but it's direct wired anyways.

@godzillavskong: indeed PS3 is G but look at your router settings to see a what transfer rate G is set to. Some routers let you put more than it can handle which results in packet loss.

Cool. I did not know that. Now how do you go about doing that??

Depends on each router of course. You just log into the router and then look thru the wireless settings. For example on my router, I can choose the level of Wireless Speed I want on both G and N. Thing is, I can put G on N speeds but that sometimes causes trouble cause the transmission gets "overloaded"
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#25 Byshop  Moderator
Member since 2002 • 20504 Posts

Wireless Gaming is fine for most games. It's ones like Call of Duty and FIFA where cable is better.kraken2109
COD is p2p anyway so ping tends to be high. WiFi ping is just too high for competitive games.

If you actually do a ping test to compare wifi speeds to wired speeds, the difference is typically under 2ms difference. I'm in a hotel in Redmond, WA right now (so probably not the best wifi). Here are my results:

Wired:

Pinging 12.10.73.130 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 12.10.73.130: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 12.10.73.130: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 12.10.73.130: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 12.10.73.130: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 12.10.73.130: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 12.10.73.130:
Packets: Sent = 5, Received = 5, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

Wifi:

Pinging 12.10.73.130 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 12.10.73.130: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 12.10.73.130: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 12.10.73.130: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 12.10.73.130: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 12.10.73.130: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 12.10.73.130: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 12.10.73.130: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 12.10.73.130: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 12.10.73.130: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 12.10.73.130: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 12.10.73.130: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 12.10.73.130: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 12.10.73.130:
Packets: Sent = 12, Received = 12, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 1ms, Maximum = 2ms, Average = 1ms

That's not enough to make any appreciable difference in an online game. Also, in terms of bandwidth, and G or better network carries enough data to handle the traffic typically (bear in mind that G is 54mbit which is way better than the average internet connection).

The problem isn't that wireless is inherently too slow, it's that it's range and reliability are less than wired. IF you have a strong signal then wireless is fine, even for FPS. The problem is that -if-. You need good saturation in all the areas where you'll be using wifi, and in a house this might take 2 or more routers. Just because your wifi signal strength is suffcient for web browsing (which is inherently stateless), or Pandora streaming (low bandwidth) or Netflix streaming (variable bandwidth), that doesn't mean it's suitable for gaming.

Wired goes farther and is much less suspetible for interference, but if you set it up right then wireless is fine.

-Byshop

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#26 Makari
Member since 2003 • 15250 Posts

[QUOTE="1redeemer"]

The best gaming router in my opinion is the D-Link Xtreme Gaming router: check my reviews at 

please let me know what you think.

jim 8)

Byshop

Your links are broken. You fail at spamming.

-Byshop

He posted that 3 years ago. :D
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Byshop

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#27 Byshop  Moderator
Member since 2002 • 20504 Posts

[QUOTE="Byshop"]

[QUOTE="1redeemer"]

The best gaming router in my opinion is the D-Link Xtreme Gaming router: check my reviews at 

please let me know what you think.

jim 8)

Makari

Your links are broken. You fail at spamming.

-Byshop

He posted that 3 years ago. :D

ARG! FREAKING NECRO THREADS! :lol:

-Byshop

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kraken2109

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#28 kraken2109
Member since 2009 • 13271 Posts

[QUOTE="Makari"][QUOTE="Byshop"]

Your links are broken. You fail at spamming.

-Byshop

Byshop

He posted that 3 years ago. :D

ARG! FREAKING NECRO THREADS! :lol:

-Byshop

They're everywhere :(