If you play a lot of competitive multiplayer games, getting the best gaming router can be just as important as investing in the best gaming PC, gaming monitor, gaming keyboard or gaming mouse.
For online games, having a fast and reliable internet connection is essential - you don't want a network dropout just before you win a match. Keeping your ping rate (the time it takes for data to travel from your gaming PC or console to the game's servers, measured in milliseconds) as low as possible can also be the difference between winning and losing - as the higher the ping, the bigger the gap between you performing an action and your character responding.
We’ve gathered the best gaming routers – including some of the best Asus routers – for you, digging into all their respective features, including support for the latest wireless standard - blazing-fast Wi-Fi 7. If you have a large area of coverage, however, you should take a look at our best mesh Wi-Fi system picks instead.
Ever since I set up a local network using a null modem cable between my two PCs to play multiplayer Quake, I've been hunting for the best networking tools to help me get the best possible gaming experience, and 30 years later, I'm here to show you the best gaming routers that can help you level up your online games. A huge amount has changed since I first got into online gaming - Wi-Fi technology can now rival wired Ethernet connections, broadband speeds are getting ever faster, and online games even more ambitious - but some things have remained the same, especially when it comes to lowering ping and trying to eliminate latency, and the best gaming routers money can buy can help.
This buying guide was updated on 31/10/2025 with a brand-new lineup of amazing gaming routers that feature the very latest technology to help improve your online gaming experience.
The best gaming routers 2025
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The Acer Predator Connect T7 is the best gaming router you can buy in 2025. It can be bought as a single unit to act as a regular router, or you can buy it in packs with additional units that turns it into a powerful mesh Wi-Fi system that will ensure that every device in your house gets rock-solid Wi-Fi.
As it's an Acer Predator product, the Connect T7 features cutting-edge technology to give gamers the very best experience and performance, with the company claiming that this gaming router boasts ‘wired-level latency.’
So, if you're a competitive online gamer that is sick of trailing network cables throughout your home, the Acer Predator Connect T7 could be the answer, finally allowing you to go wireless without sacrificing your competitive advantage.
Game-centric features include a QoS option – quality of service – that allows you to prioritise high-bandwidth tasks such as gaming or streaming video for specific devices, plus security and parental control features, and two Gigabit Ethernet ports for wired connections.
In our tests, we found that the Acer Predator Connect T7 gave us fast and dependable Wi-Fi speeds across the entire building. The T7's top speed of 11Gbps is incredibly fast, and will be overkill for most people. However, if you have lots of devices on the network for playing local multiplayer games, then this is a fantastic investment.
Read our full Acer Predator Connect T7 Wi-Fi 7 Mesh Router review
If you don't need cutting-edge Wi-Fi 7 (and many devices still don't support it), then the Acer Predator Connect W6x is an excellent affordable gaming router. It sticks with dual-band Wi-Fi 6, which while not the fastest, should still be plenty for most people.
The design is unobtrusive, though there's definitely a hint of gamer asthetic to its sharp corners and angles, and you get a 2.5Gb Ethernet port for a high-speed Internet connection, plus four Gigabit Ethernet ports for a gaming PC or console if you prefer a lag-free wired connection for your online gaming sessions.
It also comes with some useful features including free security and parental controls, something its rivals sometimes charge extra for. It also has a QoS option to prioritize gaming network traffic for the very best performance.
During our review, we were impressed with how the Acer Predator Connect W6x performed with nearby devices, and it managed to expand our test Wi-Fi network to areas of the building that were usually out of reach. However, speeds did drop noticeably when you start going too far. So, this isn't the fastest gaming router in the world, but it's affordable and dependable, making it a great budget pick.
Read our full Acer Predator Connect W6x review
If you want the fastest possible performance, based on cutting-edge Wi-Fi 7, then look no further than this Asus gaming router – but be warned, you’ll pay a heavy price for it.
Before we come to that price tag, let’s explore the specs here which are nothing short of staggering for wireless performance. The Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 boasts quad-band Wi-Fi 7 with a top speed of 24.4Gbps, and if you want great wired performance, that’s on hand too – with 10Gb and 2.5Gb Ethernet ports at your disposal. There are two 10Gb Ethernet connectors, in fact, one of which is a dedicated ‘gaming port’ into which you can plug your gaming PC to ensure it gets priority over all other ports.
Not only is the ROG Rapture GT-BE98 jaw-droppingly fast, but it’s also well-featured – incorporating the likes of parental controls even – and this is a standout router for features and performance. Of course, then we come to that price tag, which at launch is around the same as the cost of a cheap gaming PC – it goes beyond eye-watering for a router.
In short, the GT-BE98 won’t make sense to any gamer but those with deep wallets, and also the matching hardware with Wi-Fi 7 support, plus a very speedy broadband connection to feed to the GT-BE98 to make the most of it. If you want the absolute pinnacle of gaming router performance, though, this is it – but in the value stakes, a Wi-Fi 6 or 6E model makes a lot more sense currently.
To save money on Asus products, check out our Asus promo codes.
Read our full Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 review
Netgear used to be known for making some of the most expensive routers on the market, and while it still does (check out the Orbi 970 if you want to see just how expensive Wi-Fi mesh systems can get), it's also been releasing a steady stream of affordable Wi-Fi 7 routers, and the Netgear Nighthawk RS100 is an excellent example of this, and one of the best gaming routers you can currently buy.
As with many other affordable Wi-Fi 7 routers we're seeing these days, the Netgear Nighthawk RS100 sticks to dual-band, supporting both 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz bands, but not the faster 6.0GHz band that more expensive Wi-Fi 7 routers offer.
So, this isn't a gaming router to get if all you care about is speed, but the benefits Wi-Fi 7 offers are more than just about raw bandwidth. Being able to handle far more devices accessing your home network at once, while also offering a wider and more stable wireless network means that even dual-band routers like the Netgear Nighthawk RS100 can offer a big upgrade over your current setup, especially if you're using the free modem/router that your ISP (Internet Service Provider) gave you.
For households with plenty of gamers with PCs, laptops and consoles (plus various mobile devices) all vying for your internet connection, the Netgear Nighthawk RS100 is an excellent option that is a lot more affordable than its competitors, while still featuring solid build quality and an easy setup that we've come to expect from Netgear's more expensive routers.
In our tests the Netgear Nighthawk RS100 did an excellent job of maxing out our broadband connection, while also reaching areas a Wi-Fi signal usually struggles to get to. While high-end gaming routers like the Acer Predator Connect T7 are overkill for many households, the Netgear Nighthawk RS100 offers an ideal balance of cutting-edge Wi-Fi 7 performance with an affordable price tag, and some handy gaming features as well.
Read our full Netgear Nighthawk RS100 review
FAQs
Should you buy a gaming router?
Why invest in a gaming router when you have a perfectly good one at home? You don’t have to be a hardcore gamer to need one. Whether online and co-op games are your thing or you download a lot of games on Steam, gaming can monopolize a chunk of your bandwidth, slowing your network down considerably.
A router made specifically for gaming, however, will not only deliver a stable, uninterrupted connection – most vital during the most intense moments of your game – but also allow you to prioritize traffic to your PC and consoles. It’ll vastly improve your gaming experience (and your download speed), minimizing lags and offering smoother graphics. It’ll also feature technologies like MU-MIMO and Quality of Service (or QoS) to take your network to the next level when playing with or against players from around the world.
Multi-device households will benefit as well, since gaming routers are better equipped to handle several devices and users using the network simultaneously.
Do gaming routers lower ping?
Many gaming routers come with features that manufacturers claim will lower your ping, such as QoS (Quality of Service) tools that prioritize game traffic on your network over other traffic, such as streaming movies.
This can help lower your ping (which is the time it takes for data to be sent from a device to a server and back again - the higher the ping, the more noticeable the delay or lag will be in your game), if you live in a house where lots of people are accessing the internet at once from a variety of devices.
Other features, such as beamforming, which cleverly directs Wi-Fi signals straight to your device, rather than just spreading the signal throughout the area, can also help. However, it's worth keeping in mind that there are lots of things that can affect your ping (such as where you live) which a gaming router won't be able to help with. Also, reducing your ping by a few milliseconds won't really be noticable. If you're having issues with excessive lag when gaming, it might be worth talking to your ISP (Internet Service Provider) before investing in any new hardware, though buying the best possible gaming router will bring other benefits as well.
How we test gaming routers
Gaming routers are just as important as gaming PCs and peripherals, especially for online gaming, so of course we take our job seriously when testing them. Before recommending one in this buying guide, we make sure that each one not only performs as promised, but is also a cut above the rest. After all, although there are a lot of options out there, only a few stand out.
We start with the design. We test its build, physical features, and look – although a whole lot of them are going to have that gamer aesthetic. We make sure that it has enough ports for that all-important wired connection, is effortless to set up, has support for such technologies as QoS, and has features like parental controls (in case you have young ones at home).
Naturally, we test its performance as well, seeing how it measures up against our file download test as well as the Ookla speed test – especially in comparison to its rivals. And, because you need to know how exactly it performs in real world scenarios, we take it for a spin by playing a few of the most demanding and popular online titles out there. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it.
When all is said and gamed, we take all the information we’ve collected and compare it to the unit’s price tag. At the end of the day, what matters is that the gaming router delivers robust performance, an excellent feature set, and a solid build that is worthy of its price – even if that means paying a little more.
