Best router for hardcore wired gamer

[Special-K]

Hello I'm new on the forum

I was looking at those models, price in CAD from bestbuy:

1. RT-AC3100 $350
2. RT-AC87R $260
3. RT-AC68U $235 (ncix)
   
4. R7000 $220
5. RT-AC66R $200
6. R6400 $150
   
7. RT-AC56R $120

Prices are only here to show how they go now, before buying I will check my stuff don't worry

Here are my needs:

• I play CS:GO 30 hours a week
• I only use wifi with my iphone or some stuff like that, I don't need enormous speed
• I never transfer from computer to computer
• I need something that will never let me down, best online speed and 100% uptime
• My connection is now 120down 20up, but might increase in 1-2 years
  
• So its all about wired for my gaming needs

I used linksys with old routers before and they were amazing but now I think asus is more appealing to me.

thanks a lot

 

[System Error Message]

The best router for QoS stuff is actually non consumer. There are many to choose from such as x86 based (i.e. pfsense, and more), linux/unix server OS, mikrotik, ubiquiti and many more brands. Though they require skill they perform much better even for gamers. non consumer routers also never freeze up

WTFast isnt particularly helpful unless you have a really bad ISP network.

Netduma uses a non consumer router with a user friendly interface, they are focused on gaming and have features like geo filters so you dont get into a lobby with bad ping.

The AC87 is a very poor choice as it doesnt work properly. it will work but with disappointing results as it is bottlenecked internally.

If you dont have the skill than Netduma would be my recommendation as it is gaming orientated, more gaming orientated than asus when it comes to routers and they use a non consumer platform whereas asus routers focus on consumer.

 

[joegreat]

The AC87 is a very poor choice as it doesnt work properly. it will work but with disappointing results as it is bottlenecked internally.

Au contraire, mon cher!
Some people claim to have issues with the AC87U - I could not find a general rule what goes wrong in their case - so I went to buy one recently! In general the device is not bad!

In my case (see footer) it runs like a charm and the 30 bugs uplift to a AC68U pays back with the faster CPU (dual CPU setup for 5GHz) and the overall better WLAN performance.

For wired connections there is not difference in most of the routers (beside the 8 LAN ports on on some of them).

Regarding stability and QoS: Stability comes from the software/firmware and there Asus does a really good job to remove any issues. On top Merlin's work adds stability to the Asus firmware.
You should only use QoS if you really need it (multiple concurrent sessions/players use all your bandwith) - otherwise it adds overhead and could slow down the overall network performance as it's handled by the weak router CPU.

If you really need QoS and a high speed router, you need to go for semi-pro devices with x86 CPUs!

 

[System Error Message]

Au contraire, mon cher!
Some people claim to have issues with the AC87U - I could not find a general rule what goes wrong in their case - so I went to buy one recently! In general the device is not bad!

In my case (see footer) it runs like a charm and the 30 bugs uplift to a AC68U pays back with the faster CPU (dual CPU setup for 5GHz) and the overall better WLAN performance.

For wired connections there is not difference in most of the routers (beside the 8 LAN ports on on some of them).

Regarding stability and QoS: Stability comes from the software/firmware and there Asus does a really good job to remove any issues. On top Merlin's work adds stability to the Asus firmware.
You should only use QoS if you really need it (multiple concurrent sessions/players use all your bandwith) - otherwise it adds overhead and could slow down the overall network performance as it's handled by the weak router CPU.

If you really need QoS and a high speed router, you need to go for semi-pro devices with x86 CPUs!

As a normal router the ac87u works, but the moment you put it under stress such as with wifi + the first ethernet port which is both shared, things can go wrong. it also a different architecture.

 

[kvic]

As a normal router the ac87u works, but the moment you put it under stress such as with wifi + the first ethernet port which is both shared, things can go wrong. it also a different architecture.

The architecture of AC87 is quite a breakthrough compared to the AC56/AC68 platform. Frankly I don't know what's wrong in the firmware that upset quite a number of users.

EDiT:
for the OP if budget is not a concern, go for #1 or else #7. If stability is paramount, go for 68U - proven platform with a mature firmware.

 

[System Error Message]

well the OP said hardcore, so i think none of his choices fit. netduma or x86 would do well.

 

[kvic]

well the OP said hardcore, so i think none of his choices fit. netduma or x86 would do well.

You raise a good point about hardcore. I thought hardcore gamers don't play at home. They perhaps rent a place near game servers and with fast pipe in between.

Reminds me of flash boys in finance. Place best servers near exchanges. Run the tcp/ip stacks in asic/fpgl.

 

[L&LD]

Hello I'm new on the forum

I was looking at those models, price in CAD from bestbuy:

1. RT-AC3100 $350
2. RT-AC87R $260
3. RT-AC68U $235 (ncix)
   
4. R7000 $220
5. RT-AC66R $200
6. R6400 $150
   
7. RT-AC56R $120

Prices are only here to show how they go now, before buying I will check my stuff don't worry

Here are my needs:

• I play CS:GO 30 hours a week
• I only use wifi with my iphone or some stuff like that, I don't need enormous speed
• I never transfer from computer to computer
• I need something that will never let me down, best online speed and 100% uptime
• My connection is now 120down 20up, but might increase in 1-2 years
  
• So its all about wired for my gaming needs

I used linksys with old routers before and they were amazing but now I think asus is more appealing to me.

thanks a lot

#7 is a winner. Exactly what you need in your environment (make sure you use RMerlin firmware or one of the forks thereof; john9527's or hggomes).

In one or two years when your ISP offers you better speeds, the RT-AC3100 may be the same price or less.

At best, there may be an RT-AC9000 (with 8 antennae/8 stream MU-MIMO i3 kabylake processor with 4gb ram and 10GbE Ethernet ports to consider).

But today, the RT-AC56U ('R' is the equivalent BB models) or the RT-AC68U (which have the same base hardware - less an antennae, of course) are your best bet.

 

[Special-K]

netduma looks nice but its look like it would fit more to a console gamer? does it have wifi? I forgot to mention I play on a computer, I dont need QOS and some kind of vpn or geo tracking, Since i dont know how they work, I cant tell if i need them, maybe?

What are the internal of the netduma, cpu? I'm scared the 56r will slow me down?

 

[L&LD]

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/charts/router/bar/76-total-simul

No, I don't think it will slow you down.

And RMerlin firmware offers everything else you (may) need.


Opinion; netduma has great marketing skills. Never used one (never will).

 

[SnakeByte]

Since x86 has been brought up -- If you (anyone here who wants to respond) were ASUS and got to choose all the hardware into their next router directed towards gamers, what would you choose?

What would be a good cpu/mb combo for mini-itx these days? Preferably something that didn't munch down on watts when idle?

Also, what about those nics that advertise low latency, such as the Exablaze products (https://exablaze.com/exanic-x2) -- or is built-in motherboard intel nics better?

OS... too much overhead with pfSense?

 

[Special-K]

What if I rent my ISP router, heard it was good and its new, should i expect similar result from the 56r?

 

[L&LD]

What if I rent my ISP router, heard it was good and its new, should i expect similar result from the 56r?

I have never used an ISP supplied router that was equal to or above even an RT-N56U (yes, 'N', not 'AC').

Particularly if you need to do anything more than connect to your ISP with it.

 

[Special-K]

Im good with computers, suck at networking (better than average joe tho) What if I buy the 56u/r then in my spare, build my own x86 router, it is hard, I guess their is a lot of tutorial out there? or i should just buy the netduma and save myself time? or tell me im dumb and buy that 56u/r already

thanks boy, 10/10 forums

 

[Nullity]

Gaming traffic is nothing, especially FPS games. The last paper I read cited most bitrates below 256Kbit. Even a crappy, ancient router could handle that.

Even if you host a 32 player CS server, the traffic is minimal.

Unless you are torrenting while playing, your ISP supplied router will work fine.

 

[System Error Message]

Netduma uses mikrotik hardware and they do very well when it comes to QoS but im not sure if they have wireless AC yet.

FPS games arent bandwidth hungry but are latency sensitive. They send more smaller packets so an ancient router wont exactly keep up. When it comes to QoS non consumer routers do well here because you cant do both bandwidth and priority QoS with ASUS routers. Sure FPS games dont use much bandwidth but you still have to reserve a little bit of bandwidth for it aside from giving it a really high priority and assigning a tiny buffer size for it or none at all.

There isnt really gaming orientated stuff, it really depends on if the router is reliable and can handle the load and is fast enough that your latency doesnt increase and that it can perform QoS well if multiple people are using the internet at the same time. Some consumer routers can be reliable and handle the load but whether they can perform QoS well is another matter.

From my experience, ISP given routers always suck. The only one time this was the exception was when getting VDSL which the modem supplied was actually good and as a router was actually better than the ISP supplied router.

 

[avtella]

Price wise the R6400 makes the most sense for your needs (its actualy very similar to the R7000 and AC68U chipset wise). Do you really want to spend $200+? I mean the AC3100 is probably nice but its diminishing returns at that point. If you don't mind spending more then probably get the AC68U or R7000 both are pretty solid.

 

[SnakeByte]

Has anyone looked at the router comparison benchmark charts here?
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/charts/router/view

ASUS's numbers aren't that great, and oddly older models are shown to have better throughput than newer (At least in the WAN<->LAN categories)

 

[L&LD]

Im good with computers, suck at networking (better than average joe tho) What if I buy the 56u/r then in my spare, build my own x86 router, it is hard, I guess their is a lot of tutorial out there? or i should just buy the netduma and save myself time? or tell me im dumb and buy that 56u/r already

thanks boy, 10/10 forums

Stop being dumb!

Buy that RT-AC56U already (should be able to find it for close to $100 on sale 'easily'.

If it really isn't to your satisfaction, you'll know a few moments after loading up RMerlin, john9527's or hggomes firmware and you'll at least have narrowed down your choices. But I bet you won't give it up.

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/no...l-and-manual-configuration.27115/#post-205573

Be sure to follow the relavent parts of the post above when switching to different firmware.

Also use john9527' NVRAM save/restore utility to your advantage (different than the built in 'save configuration backup file' built into the gui, and better too, can be used to transfer settings (successfully) between different models).

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/user-nvram-save-restore-utility-r22.19521/


This is why you want an Asus with a version of the RMerlin forks;

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/router-advice.30053/#post-234294

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/router-advice.30053/#post-234561

 

[Special-K]

on bestbuy.ca i see the the 56r is only 600mhz in speed and 128mb ram in specification, is it a mistake or the R version of this one is actually a cheaper router?