Rock-solid networking is too important for gamers to ignore these days. If you’re still struggling with dropped connections, slowdowns, or dead zones, it's time to reassess your equipment and consider an upgrade to one of the best gaming routers. The good news is that if you’re glued to competitive online games and you’re in need of a new router, you're spoiled for choice in 2024. There are loads of great WiFi systems out there, but if you’re serious about your online gaming, it’s worth going for a gaming-designed option from a brand like Asus. This is a name you’ll likely have heard of if you’ve shopped for any type of gaming hardware, but its latest feature cutting-edge WiFi 7 tech such as the new PS5 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro, and loads of X870 and Z890 gaming motherboards, which will provide streamlined and sturdy next-gen speeds if own a WiFi 7 router.
Mesh WiFi systems and across-the-series support for AiMesh make it easy to blanket every room in your house with high-quality coverage. And for gamers on a budget, this brand’s WiFi 6 lineup still has plenty to offer you.
Ready to find your next router and wave goodbye to rubberbanding? Let’s dig in.
The best overall WiFi 7 gaming router: the ROG Rapture GT-BE19000
If you’re buying a router in 2024, we think you’re best off purchasing a WiFi 7 model. And if you’re looking for a top-tier WiFi 7 experience, your choice is simple. The ROG Rapture GT-BE19000 is the premium pick from Asus. Currently available in the EMEA region, this router takes a giant leap forward compared to last-gen tech, offering transfer rates up to 2.4x faster than WiFi 6 with up to twice the bandwidth.
The GT-BE19000 achieves this gen-over-gen boost with a rich set of WiFi 7 technologies. First are ultrawide 320 MHz channels that operate in the low-interference 6 GHz band. 4K-QAM makes each transmission more efficient. Multi-Link Operation lets clients and access points use more than one band simultaneously to raise throughput and/or lower latency. The result is doubled data transmission capacity, making lag nonexistent and allowing more simultaneous transmissions at the fastest possible speeds. These cutting-edge features offer you future-proofing, letting you spend the next several years without slowdowns or dropped connections.
The wired networking options on the ROG Rapture GT-BE19000 deserve some attention, too. With dual 10G ports and four 2.5G ports that combine for up to 31G of blistering WAN and LAN capacity, this router allows for stunning network options. Perhaps most usefully, the 10G LAN port even serves as a dedicated gaming port so that you can prioritize the traffic of your most important gaming device without any configuration.
Better yet, the ROG Rapture is ready for tomorrow’s devices. Its quad-core 2.6 GHz CPU and 2 GB of RAM provide performance strong enough to handle the most demanding scenarios, including 10G and advanced AI networks. You’ll get versatile control of your network, including the exclusive Gaming Network function of Guest Network Pro. Gaming Network gives you a dedicated SSID for gaming that’s ready to accelerate the traffic of your favorite games and devices. You can go even further with network segmentation with dedicated SSIDs for Internet of Things (IoT) devices, a kids’ network, a guest portal, or a VPN-covered safe haven.
The best WiFi 7 gaming router for network enthusiasts and large homes: the ROG Rapture GT-BE98
With every new generation of WiFi, Asus brings something new to the market that pushes boundaries and tries to shatter expectations. For the brand’s WiFi 7 lineup, that’s the ROG Rapture GT-BE98.
This quad-band router goes all-in on WiFi 7. Boasting not one but two 5 GHz bands, the ROG Rapture GT-BE98 allows you to allocate one 5GHz band as a dedicated wireless backhaul with ASUS-exclusive AiMesh technology, all while keeping the second 5GHz band open for your devices.
The ROG Rapture GT-BE98 can use its AiMesh to create a seamless mesh network with any other compatible ASUS router and mesh WiFi system, which means you can extend your network coverage across a much larger footprint, or through multiple floors of a building. Sick of losing connection when you head into a room that has slightly thicker walls? You can take full advantage of the quad-band advancements of this router to get the best whole-home experience.
Like the ROG Rapture GT-BE19000, the ROG Rapture GT-BE98 gives you nearly unbounded wired networking options. Dual 10G ports unleash the power of 10 Gbps networking for gaming, streaming, and other data-intensive applications (so long as your ISP is capable of getting that speed to your home). Four 2.5G ports ensure high-bandwidth connections to a wide range of devices, while the dedicated 10G gaming port ensures that your gaming PC, laptop, or console always gets to the front of the bandwidth line.
The best gaming router for apartments: the ASUS RT-BE86U
WiFi may have changed the world and simplified home networking, but plenty of users still take advantage of the reliability and performance offered by wired ethernet connections. That’s especially true for gamers who live in an apartment or condo, where the distance between their PC and their router can often be measured in feet and inches.
In this kind of home setup, you might not get as much play from the advanced features of WiFi 7 — but you'll absolutely benefit from bulked-up wired networking options. That’s what you’ll get with the ASUS RT-BE86U. While this dual-band router is no slouch in the wireless department, its claim to fame lies in its Ethernet options.
Its 20G total wired capacity makes it a standout in its price tier. With a 10G WAN/LAN port and four additional 2.5G LAN ports, you’ll have high-bandwidth options for a dedicated gaming port, an Ethernet backhaul, and advanced network configurations. If you’re using it wirelessly, it provides a speed boost over most comparable WiFi 6 units with its 6800Mbps bandwidth, dual-band MLO, and 4K QAM.
With a wired workstation at the center of the network, you can also build out the ideal home studio or next-gen entertainment palace. Whether it’s time for console gaming, movie night, or team sports with a roomful of friends, the RT-BE86U has your back. Connect as many devices as you like, knowing that the monster 20G combined network capacity will cover everything you need it to.
The RT-BE86U may also be tempting for folks who currently use Asus’s popular RT-AX86U Pro router. These are both extendable routers, so you can easily use them to create a mesh network. And since they both offer up to seven streams for enhanced throughput, you’ll make efficient use of both routers’ resources in such a network.
The best gaming router for esports teams and studios: the ASUS RT-BE88U
A few scenarios can provide an ideal situation for wired networking, and at-home or professional-grade studios are one such example. Since streamers and content creators tend to have many devices directly plugged into their routers at any given moment, the ASUS RT-BE88U performance router is a great choice. This can bolster your wired network capacity up to an unimaginable 34G, ensuring a stable connection for all the devices you use to live stream on Twitch, upload content to YouTube, or play competitive games while doing all of the above at once. Esports teams could make a lot of use out of this type of network hub too, because those finely honed reflexes deserve better than one teammate lagging behind the rest.
With this gaming router, there are more than enough ports to go around — it’s a bit like having a router bundled with a multi-gig switch. The roll call of ports includes one cutting-edge 10G SFP+ port and another standard 10G WAN/LAN. Then come eight more LAN ports, four of them 2.5G and the other four Gigabit, to guarantee each and every teammate gets a seat at the lighting-fast-connectivity table.
For everyone else, the RT-BE88U leaps forward with all the advancements of multi-gig network and decent dual-band WiFi 7, from exceptional wire speed to extremely low WiFi latency and enhanced reliability. The resulting performance for wire gaming is unparalleled, of course, but it works just as well for streaming, smart home devices, AI PCs, and more.
WiFi 6 remains a great option for many
The latest and greatest technology tends to claim the spotlight, but there are still reasons why a last-gen WiFi 6 router might make more sense for you in 2024 than a cutting-edge WiFi 7 model. Maybe your region doesn’t offer WiFi 7 connectivity yet. Perhaps your networking needs are rather modest, and you just need a reliable WiFi connection and a reasonable number of Gigabit Ethernet ports. Maybe you need to make the most out of a limited budget, or maybe you spotted a Black Friday discount that’s just too good to ignore.
Whatever your reasons for choosing WiFi 6, Asus has a full selection of options for you, no matter your budget. One that’s easy to recommend to just about anybody is the ASUS RT-AX82U. This gaming router gives you speeds up to 5400Mbps with all the congestion-busting tech of WiFi 6. Perhaps more importantly, it gives you a rich feature set. To minimize lag and latency for mobile gaming, simply tap Mobile Game Mode on the ASUS Router app. The commercial-grade security in this home router will keep unwanted guests off your network, courtesy of a lifetime pass to free ASUS AiProtection Pro. Advanced parental controls make it easy to limit screen time for kids, and AiMesh support allows you to easily set up a whole-home WiFi network with a second compatible router.
Besides its considerable performance and versatile network management options, the RT-AX82U provides a touch of style. This is an important consideration in smaller households, where the router often becomes a de-facto decoration. The RT-AX82U keeps your home décor sophisticated with a customizable lighting vibe thanks to its full set of ASUS Aura RGB lighting effects. Setting the mood will be easy whether you’re switching from study time to playtime or just relaxing into your evening.
The best WiFi 6 gaming router for larger homes: the ROG Rapture GT6
Of course, network congestion isn’t the only challenge facing WiFi networks these days. If you live in a larger home or a multi-story apartment, you might require a broader range of coverage than a single router can provide. After all, when a household’s router is on the bottom floor in the living area and your bedroom is on the top, frustrating dead zones and dreaded disruptions can start to appear. You can solve that problem — and enjoy a boost in your gaming performance — by switching to the ROG Rapture GT6.
This tri-band mesh WiFi system expands your coverage by using nine powerful internal antennas and ASUS RangeBoost technology to blanket up to 5,800 sq. ft. in fast, rock-solid WiFi. To keep you gaming at peak performance, the built-in Triple Level Game Acceleration optimizes traffic at every step, from the server to your device. Compared to a dated WiFi 5 router you might have lying around, this tri-band system offers up to four times the capacity and 2.7 times the speed.
The best budget WiFi 6 gaming routers: the TUF Gaming AX4200 and AX3000
Lastly, there are two final routers in the Asus range to put a spotlight on. If you’re starting fresh in a new home or apartment and you need a rock-solid router that’s cheaper than renting a unit from your ISP, take a look at the TUF Gaming AX4200 and AX3000. These dual-band WiFi 6 gaming routers aren’t as flashy as some of the routers we discussed above, but these durable options will get the job done. Thanks to AiMesh technology, these extendable routers can still play a role in your network when you make your next router upgrade.
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