Good routers for gaming12/8/2023 ![]() Your router uses network address translation (NAT) to share your internet connection between the devices connected to it: PCs, gaming consoles, smartphones, tablets, and whatever else. You can then prioritize network traffic to devices based upon their unique identifier. When your device connects to your gaming router, the router receives the device MAC address. Your hardware has a unique identifier known as a MAC address. ( How do you get a static IP address, anyway?) If each device has a static IP address-that's an IP address that isn't dynamically allocated when it joins the network-you can specify the network traffic priority for each IP address. Each device on your home network has a specific IP address behind your router. That is, you can give your wireless connections priority over wired. Gaming routers allow prioritization by the network. For instance, you could set every device on your network to have priority to a specific game or a video streaming service, like Netflix. Want every device on the network to access a specific app? Set your network to prioritize by service. What's the best way to prioritize your gaming router traffic to deliver the best gaming experience? One of the most important things to do after purchasing a gaming router is configuring your network priorities. How to Prioritize Your Gaming Router Traffic Increased power and memory in your gaming router means it can a) handle more connections and attempt to decrease latency, and b) create and use more advanced QoS features. Powerful modern gaming routers feature faster, more powerful CPUs and more RAM. Some gaming routers use tri-band to transmit on two 5Ghz and a single 2.4GHz, while others broadcast on the newer but as yet largely unused 60GHz frequency. High-end routers now support tri-band wireless networking, allowing them to transmit on three channels at once. ![]() However, the IEEE is developing 802.11ax, the successor to 802.11ac, while 802.11ay is set to function in the largely untapped 60GHz spectrum (wireless internet currently uses 2.4GHz and 5GHz). The most common wireless standard at the time of writing is 802.11ac. At this point, most gaming routers pack in the latest wireless standards. How many wired devices do you have and will you add more in the future? How many Gigabit Ethernet ports does the router have? The Netgear Nighthawk XR700 even has a 10 Gigabit Ethernet port for those with an ultra-fast internet connection. There are a few gaming router features you should look out for. Gaming routers also come with a bunch of other useful QoS and quality of life (QoL) features. But as it is a gaming router, your gaming QoS will take precedence if that's what you require. Rather, the adaptive QoS attempts to balance the demands of the available incoming bandwidth for the end users. (Unless you set it up like that, of course.) In many cases, adaptive QoS isn't there to strangle the connections of other internet users in your home. StreamBoost and similar technologies are considered adaptive QoS, in that they can automatically adjust to the shifting demands of your home network. Manufacturers have tweaked and developed their own versions, too. StreamBoost (or variants based upon StreamBoost) features in a wide range of gaming routers as many are powered by a Qualcomm chipset. One of the most common quality of service tools is Qualcomm's StreamBoost. ![]() In that, your gaming router attempts to minimize packet loss for gaming connections while bunching the rest of the incoming and outgoing network data into a separate stream. QoS takes that incoming data and, understanding how important gaming is, prioritizes incoming traffic for your game. ![]() Gaming Router Quality of Service and Other Features And if you're trying to smash someone online at FIFA while someone else streams 4K video and another decides to upload their entire photo collection, your online gaming experience becomes decidedly laggy. Of course, if you live in a busy household with multiple people attempting to use these services simultaneously, your internet can struggle to meet the demand. All of it has equal priority when it comes to your internet connection Your roommate using BitTorrent at maximum speed, Dropbox uploading and downloading files, web browsing, Netflix, gaming-it's all the same to your router. However.Ī typical router doesn't care about which type of traffic is which. A QoS utility predominantly focuses on sending your data exactly where it needs to go.ĭon't all routers do that? Yes, they do. If manufacturers want you to buy a gaming router, what separates them from a regular router? The key difference between a gaming router and a regular router is Quality of Service (QoS) features. But what exactly do these gaming routers do differently from standard routers? Moreover, do their features really matter? What Does a Gaming Router Do? ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |