It’s the 21st century, and gaming isn’t only some activity for leisure and time-pass. It has now started making its way in mainstream profession, and tournaments for the same, such as eSports World convention, FIFA eWorld cup, and whatnot. 

This shift of gaming towards a sophisticated profession from a recreational activity has given a lot of scope to several brands to tap the needs of pro-gamers with specialized hardware and types of equipment to make their gaming experience a lot smoother. For instance, the adamant increase in gaming laptops and PCs sales is a perfect example of how this specialized gaming hardware is in need. 

The key features of such hardware are the use of high-quality video and graphic cards, solid-state drives (SSDs) rather than hard disk drives (HDDs) for better booting of the system, vast memory, a top-notch motherboard for fast and hassle-free processing, and CPU coolers over avoiding overheating. For some gamers, these are necessities for a better gaming experience, while for some, these are just another hoax created by brands for their marketing strategy. 

One of the victims for this confusion is gaming routers, where again some might think it’s another marketing ploy, let’s dive right away into why we need gaming routers and the top 6 gaming routers in the market now. Gaming routers are specifically designed by keeping the online gaming experience in mind and work very differently from the standard Wi-Fi router we use at home.

The typical standard Wi-Fi routers don’t differentiate between the traffic that comes through them. In contrast, a gaming router takes the incoming data packets, but it is designed in a way that it prioritizes the data for online gaming above the other data packets.

For instance, if you share your Wi-Fi with other people at home, the standard router might give equal priority to all the download and upload of the data packet, which would make the gaming experience slow and laggy.

Simultaneously, a gaming router will reduce package loss for the games while bunching other data packets for incoming and outgoing in other streams. Thus gaming routers are genuine and come with features like gaming traffic prioritization, additional ethernet ports, powerful router hardware, etc. 

Specs to be seen by gamers while purchasing a gaming router

No matter how many Wi-Fi come with promising speed, nothing tops the gigabit ethernet connection. They come with fewer data packet loss and faster in speed, so gamers can prioritize routers that would support gigabit ethernet connection. However, there is nothing wrong with playing on a Wi-Fi connection, but not before the mind the following features: 

802.11ac Wi-Fi routers: It is a standard of routers, providing a speed of roughly 1 GBPS. It also has variants and updates.

Dual or Tri-band: Dual or Tri-band Wi-Fi router will make sure that you have two or three (based on choice) bands of Wi-Fi frequencies or a combination of these frequencies.

The next spec to be checked is to be higher bandwidth, along with an easy user interface for the software.

Top 6 gaming routers in India 2020

1. TP-Link Archer C7 AC1750 Dual-band Gigabit wireless cable router:

• Comes with a dual-band Wi-Fi speed of 450 Mbps with 2.4 GHz and 1300 Mbps with 5 GHz.
• Supports the latest generation Wi-Fi standard of 801.11ac.
• High powered amplifier to ensure widespread use of Wi-Fi with ultimate range and stable connection.
• Guest network and parental control help to create a separate workspace for guests as well as set time boundations for children.
• Easy user interface and management, compatible with both android and Ios setup.
• Price starting from Rs 4,999/-

2. Netgear Nighthawk X6S R8000P AC4000 Tri-Band Gigabit Wi-Fi Router: 

• Tri-band Wi-Fi with network optimization.
• Combination of 750+16252+1625 Mbps of wireless speed.
• Built-in Support for gigabit LAN and WAN speed.
• Works with Amazon Alexa and Echo voice command modes. You can access those features if you log into router by using guide by routerlogin.one
• Next-gen powerful dual 64-bit processors with a speed of 1.8 GHz for better video streaming and lagging in video games.
• Price starting from Rs 17,599/- 

3. ASUS RT-AC66U B1 AC1750 Dual-band Gigabit Wi-Fi router:

•  Concurrent dual-speed of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz combination.
•  Optimized Wi-Fi range and power antennas for better coverage.
•  Parental controls and monitoring the time spent on the internet.
•  Improved network safety with ASUS AI protection.
•  Price starting from Rs 9,970/-

4. Asus ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 Wi-Fi Gaming Router:

• Wireless dual-band gigabit router
• Front line network security.
• Three-level game traffic acceleration.
• Certifies a cloud gaming router.
•  Standard Wi-Fi of 802.11ac.
•  Internal 5ghz antenna.
•  Wall-mount design
•  Price starting from Rs 20,946./-

5. Netgear Nighthawk X8 R8500 AC5300 Tri-Band Quad-Stream Wi-Fi Router:

• four active antennas along with four internal antennas amplify the speed and range covered.
• Tri-band delivers high-speed Wi-Fi up to more devices, along with four data streams with each Wi-Fi band.
• 6-gigabit ethernet ports.
• 1 GHz dual-core processor.
• Easy and automatic installation and user-friendly interface.
• Price starting from Rs 13,999/-

6. Asus Lyra Voice Home Mesh Wi-Fi System AC2200::

• AC2200 Tri-band router.
• Built-in Amazon Alexa
• Two 8W speakers.
• Features ASUS AI mesh technology, which could combine all AI mesh routers and create stable networks all over in the home.
• Lifetime network security.
• Parental control and Bluetooth feature.
• Price starting from Rs 18,905/-

Now go and grab your gaming router for an amazing and realistic gaming experience this lockdown!!!