Best Gaming Router

[The1Fear]

So Far The Best Gaming Router Review I Read is D-Link-4500 Xtreme N Gaming Router.
Also I need A good Range Wireless and I have a budget of 230$ so Anyone Knows A better Gaming Router? or any other kind of routers.

Thank you

[Brian]

Quite frankly, i always prefer linksys routers, i haven't had any problems with them and their tech support is solid. Their interface is very well designed too , compared to others.

[TrigZu]

Yes, I rather like my Linksys router.

[ktiedt]

How about you state what features you are expecting from this "gaming router" -- Linksys is known to have bugs relating to NAT so if your ISP uses NAT for anything you're likely to run into problems... In regards to linksys I actually am required to run 3rd party firmware on one because its the only way to avoid the NAT bug in the native linksys code

[Brian]

Modern Warfare 2 is a game that requires NAT to be completely open. In Florida where I have a linksys router, I tried playing and it worked fine, except on rare occasion the NAT type would switch to "strict" mode but a restart of the game fixes this.

[ktiedt]

Nothing to do with the games requirements, the bug in linksys code (it may or may not be fixed in newer routers -- but some of the WRT54G routers are no longer being updated by Linksys and the bug exists in the most current (final release) firmware from them) The bug actually causes your home network to be completely exposed to the internet (your ISP and potentially other people will be able to see exactly what you have connected and what its IP is where as normally ONLY your router should be visible) meaning your laptop or desktop would show up as being connected to your ISP's next router and cause connectivity issues between those computers and the internet

[The1Fear]

so I guess I should stick with d-link router and try it.

[ktiedt]

still dont see why pay extra money for a 'gaming' router when you can do the same stuff with a standard router (from most vendors)

[Brian]

I had one quick problem with WRT54G2 linksys (well now Cisco) router, where I was getting 50% packet loss (the router was the cause). First they recommended, I change my MTU size to 1400 manual (I'm not sure what this MTU is though). That didn't work, but a quick update of the Firmware from 1.5 to 1.5.0.1 build 13, and immediately, the packet loss was gone--however, there's still a bit of slowness.

It hasn't been a problem for gaming, I still am pretty good at it (so as Karl has said, routers don't matter as long as it's reliable).

I think if you want really good wireless connection get an "N" version router, rather than the standard "G", but it requires "N" antenna's to be plugged into your wireless card (so it's expensive).

Otherwise, if you have a good connection, a good wired ethernet connection, and a fairly reliable router, (I recommend cisco / linksys only because I have seen problems with D-Link and Netgear [but that may have been fixed by now])

[ktiedt]

Its not just an antenna... A/B/G/N are all something the radio must support and if you go the route of N (recommended) be sure to match your computers card with your router -- ie. same brand... I do believe N never did get final approval yet so every mfgr still has their own way of implementing it.

[Aspras]

So whats the difference beetween a godo and a bad router ? What makes a router better for gaming ?

[ktiedt]

A router that supports uPnP for opening/closing ports as needed is always good, and some form of Q(aulity)O(f)S(ervice) feature that can give the game system priorty status when bandwidth issues come up... thats really about it

[Dan]

I wish I could get a stronger signal from my router. There's too much interference for me to pickup signal in my room from the router location. I think I'll have to try and adjust the router position or move my computer a liiiiittle closer so I can try to get a connection.

[Brian]

There's a lifehacker article about making better antennas for your router to boost its signal. Of course, it's time consuming and may not always work for you.

[Dan]

I've searched the issue before and came up with some interesting ideas, like making tin foil antennas and setting them up around my house.

[Aspras]

But why would you use wi-fi when cable is more reliable.

[Vassily Ivanski]

This one is probably the best rated router. It's fast and works well, I just don't know the company too well (but the router is incredibly popular on the internet)
BUFFALO WHR-HP-G54 IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11b/g Wireless-G High Power Router and Access Point
High Power b/g 54Mbps
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6833162134
Won a customer choice award.

An expensive D-Link gaming router that seems to have satisfied many customers
D-Link DGL-4500 IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11a/b/g, IEEE802.11n Draft Xtreme N Gaming Router
Gaming Dual Band Gigabit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6833127243

Netgear's best router, quite popular, and verrryyyy cheap:
NETGEAR WGR614 IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11b/g Wireless-G Router
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6833122016

Most popular D-Link router, with over 1000 reviews. They say it's pretty good:
D-Link DIR-655 IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE802.11n Draft 2 Xtreme N Gigabit Wireless Router
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6833127215

Linksys's best router, I'm just concered about no external antenna thing.
Linksys WRT54G2 IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11b/g Wireless-G Broadband Router
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6833124284

[Brian]

Thanks for the great suggestions vassily, I hadn't seen these before. I actually bought a cable modem that came with a horrible buffalo router hehe from Newegg.

Make sure you look at reviews before buying your router online. Don't buy routers from local stores unless it's urgent.