Need a good gaming router to replace BT home Hub 5 (76mb)

Hi guys,

I'm currently using a BT Home Hub 5 - i have good speed (76 - 85mb)
My main PC is directly connected RJ45 and my eldest son uses wifi for his PS4 - both of us for FPS gaming
Problem is when my youngest son uses his tablet to watch youtube etc and my wife is on her laptop on FB - we get serious LAAAAG

I know BT use cheap hardware and i'm looking to aquire a new router thats good for multiple wifi devices and good for gaming - need something thats good bang for buck hardware - are these Asus Routers that good or are they selling the name?
Hopefully just want to spend about £100

Thanks

 

BT Home Hub 5 is not bad hardware-wise. While SoC might not be the fastest, it's certainly not slow, 128MB RAM is enough, 802.11ac Wi-Fi is a nice addition and with Gigabit Ethernet switch, USB port and ADSL and VDSL modem I would not call it cheap hardware.

Start by checking if there are any firmware updates to get this out of the way.

Next thing - what upload speed to you have? This tends to be a problem more often than anything.
Also with this router being double band you should spread out your devices between bands if you have devices that support 5GHz one.
If you have 3 or 4 using a single 2.4GHz radio you will be in trouble.

Last but not least - check if there are any QoS settings to prioritize certain types of traffic of at least certain devices (like PS4) over others.

 

If everything downloads suggested to look over is working properly then yes Asus are good routers... Their RT-AC68U is a nice unit offering good speed and great features.

 

I don't deal with too many routers (lately), but I can safely say my ASUS RT-AC3200 rocks during gaming!

 

I also suggest the Asus line of AC routers. The built in VPN utility works great for when your out on a public wifi and need security, not to mention built in FTP and torrent too!

 

I have a Netgear R7500 v2, it's pretty good too.. You can't go wrong with the Asus or the Netgear R series routers...

 

My TrendNet TEW-812DRU AC1750 router handles everything I throw at it plus has DD-WRT support (which I don't use, performance is better with the stock firmware). The big thing is that your devices are on 5GHz. My Comcast gateway is disabl d because the 2.4GHz was so slow it literally was less than a megabit per second due to all the networks in the neighborhood. My TrendNet handles it much better, averaging 70Mbps most of the time but the AC maxes my 150/20 connection every time, averaging about 170/24 and it can support 9-10 devices simultaneously split between both bands without skipping a beat.

This household has 5 computers, 2 PS3s, 2 PS4s, an Xbox One, a Wii U, 3 iPhones, 1 Android phone, 1 Android tablet, 2 iPads, a Sony smart TV, an Apple TV and a Fire TV any of which can be using the net simultaneously and it never hiccups. I have had to reset the thing exactly 0 times in the past two years due to connectivity issues.

 

You might also consider this guy http://www.t-mobile.com/accessories/t-mobile-wi-fi-cellspot-router.html it's a rebranded ASUS RT-AC68U which is one of the highest rated routers around and has been mentioned already in this thread.

 

With that much activity you need to set up some kind of QoS to make sure your traffic has priority. The choice of router should be based on the QoS options it offers and the stability of the hardware. The specs of the router won't mean anything if the firmware is bad. I see a couple of choices:

1) buy a consumer router with decent hardware and QoS, like Asus/Netgear etc. Use whatever QoS it comes with and see how it works. If the QoS is really basic, set up a VLAN with low priority and make your wife and youngest use that
2) buy an enterprise router with good QoS, whether it's Cisco/Ubiquiti etc. Learn some networking skills and build a proper QoS+firewall.
3) make a DIY router with old hardware/mini pc and get an AP for your wife. Setup linux/pfsense, configure everything properly by hand.

Option 1 is easiest, option 3 is most time consuming. The more work you put in, the better the results. Good luck.

 

I too, am looking to buy a router, but first i need to deal with my low download speed approx 7 mbps. I will be looking to see what comcast has to offer. Currently in my household we have 2 phones, an ipad, my wifes laptop, and soon coming my gaming rig which all will be on wifi at any given moment. What speed should I be looking for to satisfy my above requirements? Also the matter of a router, I'll need one that has large coverage, i dont have a small home. As for building a diy router, I just dont have the time with my current work load. Enterprise router, QOS is all greek to me. Thank you in advance for your help and comments.

 

Personally I would stay away from Netgear. The problem is if you have one it takes forever, if ever, for them to fix the firmware of even their high end devices.

 

I heard about netgear these days, too bad they are falling by the wayside.

Question for comcast users for the internet, are you renting or did you purchase a gateway? I dont want to rent, ill have to buy a gateway and a router. What gateway are you using?

 

The Asus router brands seem to be very good for gaming. I have an asus router that is AC and supports Advanced Tomato. A custom firmware that gives you more features with a modern GUI.

 

Ive noticed asus router and I think theres one that is a modem and router combined for cable, apparently this is something new. Dsl ive always had the modem and router combination.

Which model do you have?

 

@breaktimeplayer Always buy separate devices, not a combo device. Among other reasons the most important one is that 3rd party firmwares almost never support modem-router combos. Modem is not a particularly advanced piece of hardware so firmware updates do not matter that much here bur routers do a lot more and firmware is more complicated. That's why it is important to have an alternative to an official firmware if possible (like before mentioned Tomato or DD-WRT or Open-WRT).

A general note regarding this thread - there is no such think as a good router for gaming. Gaming has no requirements that other type of activities do not share. Please do not fall for the marketing bollocks that companies use to sell you expensive things because it's for gaming (looking at you Killer brand).
Just buy a good router - it will be good for gaming, streaming, VoIP and whatever you throw at it.

As far as recommendations go - I suggest you take a look at TP-Link routers. You should like the prices and these actually use good hardware and provide good support.

 

I agree just like i didnt buy a gaming headset, i ended up buying a separate headset, to be sure i bought a quality one at a better price.

Thanks for your recommendations i will dig into it.

 

I have the opportunity to purchase a asus rt ac-5300 for $275. anyone have one that could tell me how they like it?

 

I have the RT-AC-5300, it is a massive router. It is good but somewhat overpriced, unless you need to cover a large area or have a large number of devices it may be more than you need. It replaced my RT-AC68U which was excellent and to be honest I have not noticed any performance gain since going with the 5300. The dual 5Ghz band is nice if you want to segregate devices which I do.

At $275 (assuming US$) it's a good deal, like almost $100 off retail price, if you need this beast then the price is right.

 

I think that's too much for a router... if you can get the AC-3200 version that is good enough tbh..