5 Wifi 6 PS5 Routers for Ultra Low Latency
Gaming routers are their own breed of beast. That's especially true because of the high demands that gaming places on latency, network speeds, ping and other factors. To get a gaming router that really suits your intense gaming needs, you have to go over to the high-end routers and pick one that can handle your needs.
Here's 5 routers that we think are ideal for gaming, especially with consoles like the PS5.
Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 (Our pick)
The Asus ROG Rapture GTAX11000 ($450), includes almost every feature that you can reasonably expect, and then adds even more features or as Nigel Tufnel would call "... that extra push over the cliff."
It's an excellent choice if you want a router with lots of software tweaks, gaming-friendly options, and the ability to prioritize your gaming traffic. It's not a router that is fast, but we have seen comparable speeds with routers that are much cheaper, some of which were part of Asus' product stack.
This is the polar opposite. It's a discreet router that can be placed on a shelf. The Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 horizontal router has eight antennas placed around its square, chunky body. Two on each side. Its 3.8-pound weight won't prevent it from being placed on some shelves. And it is very loud. It would look great in an orange accented spaceship set from the Avengers sequel. The ROG logo is illuminated by Aura RGB to complete the look.
TP-Link Archer C5400X
TP-Link's AC5400 MU-MIMO Gaming Router (aka Archer C5400X), is square, squat, and flat black. It looks unlike any other router on market.
The Archer C5400X's 9.5 x 9.5 x 2.2-inch base is one of the largest home networking devices. But there's more. Snap on eight red or black antennas, and the Archer C5400X becomes 11.2 x 11.2 x 7.6 in. This is three times larger than Netgearās jet-black Nighthawk XR500 Gaming Router.
The downside is that the antennas cannot be swiveled, aimed or turned and it can look like a combination of a sculpture and a coatrack. Despite its aggressive appearance, gamers will be more inclined to display the Archer C5400X than hide it.
The Archer C5400X's Wi-Fi chip is a Broadcom BCM4366. It includes beamforming and MU-MIMO to connect with multiple devices simultaneously. The quad-core processor's 1.8GHz speed has three secondary processing cores, 1GB RAM, and 128MB storage space for settings and software. A brilliant router for high-demand gaming.
Netgear Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR1000
The XR1000's black cabinet is sculpted with red grillwork and it immediately tells you this router was built for gaming.
It measures 2.5 by 11.6x 7.8 inches (HWD), which is less than the TP Link AX11000 (7.2x 11.3x 11.3 inches) and uses only four antennas, compared to the AX11000's 8. The router's top has LED indicators for internet activity and LAN activity.
The router's power LED is lit in white when it is powered on and then turns amber for firmware updates. The back panel has four gigabit Ethernet ports, one gigabit Wi-Fi port, as well as a USB 3.0 port. There is also a reset button and a power jack. The XR1000 does not have the multi-gig (2.5Gb), LAN port or support for link aggregation as the TP Link AX11000 or Asus RT-886U gaming routers.
The XR1000 has a 1.5GHz processor, 256MB flash memory and 512MB RAM. The dual-band AX5400 router can reach speeds up to 600Mbps in the 2.4GHz (2x2) and 4.8Gbps in the 5GHz (4x4) bands. It supports Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), which includes 1024 QAM (quadrature amplified modulation), 160MHz channel bandwidth and WPA3 encryption. OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) is also supported. Direct-to-client signal transmissions are possible (beamforming).
Asus RT-AX86U
At $250, the RT-AX86U is a definite step up from entry-level Wi-Fi 6 routers like the $70 TP-Link Archer AX10 and the $150 Linksys MR7350, but neither of those felt like much of an upgrade when I tested them out at my home.
The RT-AX86U outperformed all of them, and I felt it was a top-of the-line access point every time I used it. It registered top speeds of 1.8 Gbps for wireless distances up to 37.5 feet. At 75 feet speeds were only 1.4 Gbps.
It maintained low latency in my home better than any router that I have ever tested. This is great if your a gamer and fantastic even if not. To me, $250 for a router of this quality is not unreasonable.
This router ticks all the right boxes. It's fast, easy to use, and has Wi-Fi 6E. Even without that, the router feels future-proof. The router also features a WAN port that allows for incoming speeds up to 2.5 Gbps. This router is a great choice for gamers.
Here's our full review on the RT-AX86U.
Zyxel Armor Z2 AC2600
Zyxel's Armor Z2 product is the most expensive in its network portfolio. It includes a variety of NAS units and extenders, powerline adaptors, as well as a few products aimed at business users.
The company may not be as well-known or as well-known as other networking brands, but the Zyxel kits we have previously looked at were quite useful, with many features that stand out, decent performance, and decent value for the money. We had high expectations when we set up the Armor Z2, an 802.11ac dual-band wireless router that supports the majority of its competitors' networking features.
We are happy to report that the Armor Z2 exceeded our expectations after extensive testing and usage.