If you are a hardcore gamer, you might have bought a huge range of gaming accessories such as consoles, keyboards, and whatnot. In case you have opted for the Sony PlayStation 5, looking for the best router for PS5 should be one of the excellent options. Using a good quality router for gaming can be helpful in achieving performance without hindrance and buffering issues of any nature.
Features You Need to Look for in the Best Router for PS5 – A Comprehensive Buying Guide
Understanding a router’s functionality and investing in it in a very practical manner can be a little tougher option. Understanding a few salient features of the router for PS5 before finalizing one may prove to be quite a good idea.
Wi-Fi Range
The range of the WiFi router can be something you need to take special care of. In case your router covers only a smaller area, you may be in for trouble. You are likely to face a few ping issues. A good range that covers almost an entire home should be quite practical as it provides you enough room to focus on the portability of your gaming rig.
Number of Ports
The number of ports on the router can be yet another point to ponder. A good number of ports will ensure that you can connect multiple devices to the router. While most of the modern day devices connect through WiFi, LAN connectivity may be preferred for some of the stationary devices.
Latency
The latency of the best router for PS5 should never be too high. The latency refers to the time interval taken by the router to access the data from the server and deliver it to you. A too high latency can make your game lag and you may feel an interruption. Checking for a router with low latency can be a great option.
Wireless Speed Standards
The WiFi speed standards should be yet another prime factor you need to focus on. The wireless speed represents the speed at which the router sends the information to the console. The latest standard is WiFi 6 and we would recommend opting for a standard for a minimum of WiFi 5.
Processor
The processor on the router is yet another prime factor one needs to pick with due care. If you do want the best router for PS5 to function as you would intend it to, it would be advisable to go with a processor that perfectly meets the minimum standards. A good processor will ensure that you have access to a fairly good degree of lag-free gaming experience.
The Best Routers for PS5 – A Formidable list
Having checked out the best prime factors you need to focus on when buying the best routers for PS5, here are a few of the best options you can check out.
| Features |
WiFi Performance |
No. of Antennas |
LAN ports |
Wireless standard |
| TP-LINK ARCHER C5400 V2 |
Tri-Band MU-MIMO Gigabit WiFi |
8 |
5 |
802.11a/b/g/n/ac |
| Linksys WRT32X AC3200 Dual-Band WiFi Gaming Router |
A C3200 Dual-Band WiFi |
4 |
4 |
802.11a/b/g/n/ac |
| NETGEAR Nighthawk AC1900 Dual Band WiFi Gigabit Router |
AC1900 Dual Band WiFi |
3 |
4 |
802.11a/b/g/n/ac |
| ASUS GT-AX11000 ROG Rapture Router |
AX11000 dual band WiFi |
8 |
NA |
802.11ax, 802.11ac |
| Netgear Nighthawk XR500 Pro |
AC2600 Dual Band Gaming WiFi |
4 |
4 |
802.11ac |
If you are looking for that old look in your router, but a great gaming experience, the TP-LINK ARCHER C5400 V2 should be the prime option you should go with. A simple and basic configuration should be one-off the prime features that should make it one of the practical options you need to opt for. The router provides you access to Tri-Band Wi-Fi speeds to 5334Mbps which should be one of the excellent options ever.
The NitroQAM and 4-Stream Support can provide you access to a maximum WiFi speed. TP-Link Archer C5400 V2 will provide you access to MU-MIMO technology that will provide you a non-stop entertainment on the move. You can get access to four simultaneous streams. This will ensure that the router can attain the speeds of up to 4x when compared to the standard AC routers.
The Eight antennas with Beamforming technology can detect your devices and this goes a long way in promoting and improving the network performance to a consistent degree. The wired connections will also be one of the best and will provide you a far better degree of performance enhancement. It is indeed one of the right options for the perfect Best Tri-Band Router for Gaming.
Pros and Cons of TP-LINK ARCHER C5400 V2
Pros
- A great degree of an incredible 5GHz performance
- An easy and breezy setup of the router
- Control your router with your phone
Cons
- The shape is a little out of place
The Killer Prioritization Engine is one of the strongest factors that make it one of the most reliable options you can go with. The AC3200 Dual-Band WiFi Gaming Router Linksys WRT32X should be one of the excellent options for the best gaming performances. That apart, it may be seen as a small package and should be a good option for a smaller requirement.
The menu does leave a lot to be desired and not much intuitive. However, a host of other features such as a 1.8Ghz processor, beamforming, and MU-MIMO should ideally make it one of the most reliable options ever. One of the strongest factors in its favor is the affordable price tag. If you are a hardcore gamer on a budget, this should be the right choice for you as it has been rated to be the best budget router for gaming.
The router comes with four Gigabyte ports and four detachable antennas. The clear winner and leader on the router is the Killer prioritization engine which prioritizes your network based on the individual requirements.
Pros and Cons of Linksys WRT32X AC3200
Pros
- A great 5GHz performance
- Best possible gaming latency
- Ping stabilization capability
One of the renowned names in the networking industry, Netgear has been quite impressive in terms of an enhanced experience ever. The NETGEAR Nighthawk AC1900 Dual Band WiFi Gigabit Router is a tri-band router with a dual-core (64-bit) processor at 1.8 GHz clock speed.
The six external antenna options with the high-quality coverage and lack of any network interference are what would further make it one of the excellent options for almost all your expectations in the Best Dual-Band Router for Gaming. The 3-microphone call technology improves the voice on your calls rather effectively. One-touch access to Amazon Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant are some of the strongest factors that make it a formidable choice for the best router for PS5.
The router does provide you a host of connectivity features along with enhanced security features. The VPN support feature should further be one of the unique options that further improve your experience. The smart parental controls and IP54 rating are a few of the prime features we found rather interesting and efficient in improving the performance of this Best Tri-Band Router for Gaming.
Pros and Cons of NETGEAR Nighthawk AC1900
Pros
- Can handle an area as wide as 2000 feet
- It can connect to up to 20 devices simultaneously
- A very intuitive user interface
- Dynamic QoS for optimal bandwidth prioritization
Cons
- The firmware may not be reliable and crashes at times
The Game First V network acceleration software is one of the prime features that makes the ASUS GT-AX11000 ROG Rapture Router one of the thoughtful and practical options for the best router for PS5. The router provides you access to a triple-layer game acceleration functionality. This assists in lowered ping and reduced game latency.
A simultaneous gaming and VPN services are some of the enhanced options. This is useful and practical wherein you can run an ordinary network connection and VPN service simultaneously. Thus you will use VPN for other browsing and internet activities, gaming will not be bogged down by the VPN. A 2.5G WAN/LAN port for up to 2.5X faster data transfers when compared to the regular Ethernet connections.
The QoS performance is one of the excellent options for providing you access to a great testing performance par excellence. It does come with a host of gaming-centric features such as WTFast, latency-killing Games Radar, and VPN Fusion. If you do not have any qualms about spending a little more money on the best features, this should be the right choice for you.
Pros and Cons of ASUS GT-AX11000
Pros
- A Stellar QoS performance
- A stronger throughput efficiency
- Great 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz connectivity
- MU-MIMO support for a stable internet connection
Cons
- A little higher price point
Have you ever dreamt of checking out the best experience akin to the Rolls Royce of routers? The Netgear Nighthawk XR500 Pro WiFi router is indeed a wonderful option for those needs. The sleeker and compact look of the router takes a very little space and doubles up as one of the best routers for PS5. The Netduma OS software is known for the best in class optimization functionality.
The ability to connect to the quickest and fastest servers is one of the prime features we loved the most on the router. The dynamic frequency selection can be quite useful in letting you avoid unwanted noise. You can easily prioritize the gaming traffic rather efficiently with better control over upload and download speeds.
The customizable dashboard is yet another premium factor we found a rather interesting feature to view the real-time bandwidth usage. The Dual-core 1.7GHz Processor provides you access to a great degree of performance with smoother connectivity and no buffer working.
Pros and Cons of Netgear Nighthawk XR500 Pro
Pros
- Extremely faster speeds
- A great degree of customization with the Netduma OS software
- VPN, WPA/WPA2, and the Gaming VPN client support for better security
- Fast paced gaming with wired and wireless connectivity
What is the Point of a Gaming Router?
Do you really need a gaming centric router? Practically speaking, you would not need a specific gaming router. But, if you are into high-speed gaming, you may need low latency and that should be the prime reason for using a gaming router for PS5.
A home internet connection generally has a ping or latency of 30 ms to 50 ms. A gaming router can perhaps help you out with a better degree of performance. While the expensive routers for gaming may not necessarily improve the performance in terms of your gaming, you definitely stand to gain considerably when it comes to the additional benefits and ports.
In essence, whether you should go with a gaming router will be dependent on what games you normally play. High-speed online games can prove to be a good option for opting for a gaming router.
Is a 150 Mbps Router Good for Gaming?
Each of the gaming systems requires a different speed requirement. In practice, most of the online games can do with a download speed of 3 Mbps, an upload speed of 1 Mbps, and a ping of 150 ms. The key to achieving better ping or latency performance with online gaming can include the use of wired connectivity irrespective of the connection speed.
WiFi connectivity can offer you a higher speed and a stable gaming performance. However, you cannot be assured of perfect connectivity. Wireless connections are always susceptible to interference and degradation of signals.
Is Zero Ping Possible?
Ping or latency is one of the important parameters in any sort of connectivity. This will hold good in the case of gaming as well. Getting the lowest ping is always one of the prime options for perfect gaming. But, getting a Zero ping is not possible. Due to the laws of physics that govern the universe, the data packets do take time to travel, and this introduces at least a little ping.
You can theoretically get the zero ping on your localhost. In this method, you will ask your computer to reply itself. In this scenario, you will get access to a ping that indicates itself as <1 ms. This can be equivalent to a zero ping.
Does a Gaming Router Reduce Ping?
A gaming router cannot essentially reduce the ping. In fact, the most a gaming router can do is to detect the traffic that is directed to the gaming activities and manages the ports according to the gaming services.
For instance, when the router detects that the device is sending and receiving the data related to gaming, it simply prioritizes the device over other connections. This will ideally prioritize the gaming activity on the device and throttle the performance and connectivity on other devices such as your computer, smartphone, smart TV, and other devices.
Do Gaming Routers Make Your Internet Faster?
Gaming routers cannot increase your speed. The internet speed you get at your location necessarily is dependent on your ISP and increasing the speed provided by your ISP is not possible at any cost. One of the best things that a gaming router is to connect you to the closest server. This way you will get connected to the nearest and fastest server, get your ping reduced, and prioritize your gaming connection.
If you are a casual gamer, you will find that these are always not needed. Of course, you will get access to a huge degree of performance enhancement. But, unless you are indeed in need of those specific features, there is no point in thinking that the gaming routers increase your network speed.
The Closing Thoughts
Picking the best gaming router may not be a tough task if you know what you are actually on the lookout for. Understanding your exact gaming requirements can help you achieve a better degree of performance in finding the right options for the best router for PS5. The top picks for the best gaming routers featured in this combination here can help you pick the right options.
