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.
This lag can be bad enough to cost you the match, and it means the game isn't much fun to play as well. Even if you don't play many multiplayer games, getting a specialist gaming router can help a lot - for a start, it should mean that when downloading games and updates, you're getting the best possible speeds. Using cloud-streaming services such as GeForce Now will also benefit.
If you're still using the free router that's supplied by your ISP (Internet Service Provider), then upgrading to a gaming router should bring almost instant benefits.
But why pick a gaming router rather than an all-purpose one from our best Wi-Fi routers guide? The best gaming routers don't just come with fancy gamer asthetics - they also come with dedicated features aimed at giving you the best possible online gaming experience.
These features are sometimes hardware-based, such as having multiple antennae that can help ensure your gaming devices can access high-speed internet anywhere in your home, to software-based features built into the router, such as network prioritization (also known as Quality of Service (QoS)), which means gaming-related traffic in your network is given priority over other traffic (such as streaming videos and general internet browsing). In busy households with lots of people (and devices) accessing the internet, this ensures that when you're playing a game you're getting the best possible speeds.
This is actually the reverse of what a lot of standard routers do. Normal routers usually come with QoS settings that prioritize general internet use over gaming. Other advanced features of gaming routers can even let you set which servers to use for particular games, allowing users to select a server that's close to their location for faster speeds).
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.
This buying guide was reviewed on 20/08/2025. The gaming routers we recommend are still great picks, and we've called in newer models as well to review. When these new models are fully tested by our team of experts and if they score highly enough, they will then be added to this guide as part of a major update.
The best gaming routers 2025
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Gamers looking to get an edge on the competition would do well to get a router that can keep up with their internet needs. That means a router with high enough speeds and throughput, a stable connection and features like QoS to keep that online arena shooter prioritized in the network’s bandwidth.
In our experience, the TP-Link Archer GX90 does all that. It’s a Wi-Fi 6 router that offers three bands, including a dedicated 4.8Gbps “gaming band,” and all three were speedy and rock solid in our testing. It even has other useful features such as OneMesh support that lets you connect it to other routers with the same feature for a mesh-type router system.
When the GX90 launched, Wi-Fi 6 was still a new standard and this router was pretty expensive, but the good news is that these days, it’s surprisingly affordable for the performance you’re getting. One downside to note is that we did experience some bumps with the initial setup of this device, however.
Read the full TP-Link Archer GX90 review
The Asus RT-AX58U is a solid Wi-Fi 6 router and while it only offers two bands, 2.4GHz and 5GHz, that’s a small sacrifice to pay for its reasonable price.
In fact, in our tests, we found little else to fault. It’s easy to set up whether through a web browser interface or a mobile app. It comes with solid parental controls. And, like any good Wi-Fi 6 capable router, it can handle a lot of devices at once.
It may be overkill if you just want to watch Netflix and read some emails. And, it might not be capable of handling a large home – consider one of our mesh router recommendations for that. But, if you want solid, speedy performance in a small to medium sized space, the Asus RT-AX58U is a smart choice.
Read our full Asus RT-AX58U 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.
Read our full Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 review
For not a lot of money, the Asus RT-AX82U is the kind of jack-of-all-trades router you might want to consider for a busy and varied household. It’s a decently speedy Wi-Fi 6 router that’s more than capable of handling quite a few devices.
When we tested this router, not only was setup a breeze, but we found in the web interface and mobile app the ability to either just set up and go, or to fine-tune our internet experience the way you would expect from an expensive gaming router. That included some gaming-related features, and there’s even a ‘mobile gaming’ feature meant for iOS and Android gamers.
While it’s not expensive, it’s not cheap either. This is solidly a mid-tier router. So, if you’re very limited on what you can spend, there are cheaper options out there - but they won’t be as fully featured as this Asus router.
To save money on Asus products, check out our Asus promo codes.
Read our full Asus RT-AX82U review
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.
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.
