When it comes to gaming on your PS4, there is nothing worse than suffering from buffering or ping issues.
That is why you need to make sure that you buy the best gaming router for PS4 possible.
Not all routers will work the same for gaming, so getting a router that is made to handle the kind of speeds, geo-filtering, and traffic monitoring is essential to your gaming prospects.
You do not want to buy the first gaming router that you see, however. You need to know what to look for. This is what you need to know about PS4 routers.
Features That A Gaming Router For PS4 Should Have
If you are planning to get a gaming router for PS4, you should make sure they have the following features:
Dual or Tri-band Router
Your PS4 should ideally be on a band of its own. As PS4 runs on 802.11N on the 2.4GHz band, having a dual band is essential, and having a tri band router is a bonus. Why share the 2.4GHz band with other legacy Wifi devices?
Dynamic QoS & Beamforming
Having QoS can allow you to prioritize your PS4 traffic over your bands so that your PS4 gets priority over other devices at your home, making sure it remains unaffected by all the other connected devices on the network. Use QoS to really give importance to your PS4 traffic.
Beamforming feature will help extend your network’s coverage while giving a stronger and more stable connection to your connected device.
CPU & RAM
Having a good RAM is important if you are sharing your network with others. If not, you don’t need to worry too much, but if you are not the only user, you need power provided by a dual core processor to get all your features working smoothly and to help lower latency issues.
Port Forwarding
This is so you can communicate with anyone whilst gaming and allow you to join any game you want.
7 Best Gaming Routers For PS4 (2022)
Device | Speeds | Ports | Rating | Check Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Netgear XR700 Editor's Choice | 7200 Mbps | 6 Ports | 100% | |
2. ASUS ROG Rapture High Performance | 11000 Mbps | 4 Ports | 99% | |
3. Netgear XR500 Budget Friendly | 2600 Mbps | 4 Ports | 97% | |
4. TP-Link C5400X | 5400 Mbps | 8 Ports | 98% | |
5. ASUS RT-AC88U | 3100 Mbps | 8 Ports | 96% | |
6. Netgear R8000 | 3200 Mbps | 4 Ports | 95% | |
7. ASRock G10 | 2600 Mbps | 4 Ports | 93% |
1. Netgear Nighthawk Pro XR700 Router
Best Gaming Router For PS4 (Editor's Choice)
The best gaming router for PS4 is the Netgear Nighthawk Pro XR700. This router is different than others that you will see on the market, because it is a router made especially for gamers.
Design
Looking at its design, the XR700 has four high-gain antennas, to help extend the reach of your router.
This design is also bulky, as most gaming routers are, so it will need to be placed in a location with good ventilation. It is worth the amount of space that it takes up.
As we said above, this router was designed specifically for gamers. The XR700 router has everything that you need to game efficiently without internet interruption.
The router comes with six LAN ports and one WAN port, so you should be able to wire-in any device that needs it, including your PS4, another gaming console, or even an HDTV.
Performance
This router is made to perform. The XR700 has speeds up to 7.2 Gbps, using its powerful 1.7GHz quad-core processor.
The XR700 router also has one of the lowest pings on the market as well as Anti-Buffer Bloat (ABB), which prioritizes traffic to keep you from missing out on any action. The advanced QoS feature will also help to prevent other people in your network from hogging the bandwidth when you need it most.
Furthermore, the XR700 has geo-filtering, which will help your router connect to the closest servers and players, giving you a quick response time and while allowing you to dominate on the battlefield. It also lets you monitor your network and game ping in real-time, so you can see exactly what is going on right as it happens.
2. Asus ROG Rapture Gaming Router
High Performance
Our choice for the best router for PS4 that is high performance is the Asus ROG Rapture AX11000.
Design
The Asus ROG AX11000 has a huge design, so you are not going to be able to hide this router, even if you wanted to. It needs to stay out in the open where it can get good ventilation.
The Asus ROG AX11000 does sit horizontally on a surface and has 8 high-powered antennas, extending from every side of the router. You really need to put it in a good location where it will not overheat and can do its job.
The Rapture also has a 2.5 G gaming port, for ultimate, high-speed performance for the devices you plug in. It’s good to note that the design of the Gaming Center interface is ROG-themed as well, so you get an easy point-and-click control over everything that you need to set up on your router.
Performance
The Rapture is a high performance tri-band router with triple-level game acceleration with game package and game server prioritization. The triple-level acceleration will boost game traffic while lowering the ping rate and reducing the game latency, for an overall better gameplay.
Like we said, this router is made for gaming, so it should do nicely for the PS4. It would work for anyone who wants high speeds from their router, so even if you aren’t a gamer, this router might still work for you. Its speeds are also impressive, because it gets WiFi speeds up to 11000 Mbps.
3. Netgear XR500 Pro Gaming Router
Budget Friendly
If you’re looking to up your game and really kick some royal butt, there’s no other router you would want apart from the Nighthawk XR500 which reigns, as of now, as our budget friendly choice.
Design
This dual band MU-MIMO enabled router has the normal bells and whistles like any high end route r- the 1.7GHz processor, 512MB RAM, 256MB flash memory, 2 USB 3.0 ports, four port Gigabit switch for wired connections and more. But what’s really making us sit up and notice the XR500 is the software behind this powerhouse.
Netduma, a company reputed for its gaming routers has partnered up with Netgear to produce one killer router that short help you make short work of your online gaming enemies.
Performance
The software, named DumaOS, includes a gaming dashboard which shows you at a glance the bandwidth usage of different devices connected to the network, while reporting on various other criteria.
Your speeds will definitely see a HUGE increase – and while this not only optimizes your gaming experience, it has other frills that just make any gamer love this even more.
The geo filter helps you to limit the gaming servers you are connected to, and gives you the option to allocate servers into black or white lists – depending on how good (or bad) those servers are at offering great gaming experiences.
If you feel that something else (or someone else) is hogging your bandwidth, you can know which network client is being a bandwidth hog or which programs running on whose computers are helping causing lags in your network.
4. TP-Link Archer C5400X Gaming Router
Another great gaming router for the PS4 gaming console is the TP-Link Archer C5400X.
This router has excellent range as well as dynamic optimization, helping you to play your PS4 without undue interruption.
Design
Looking at the design of the C5400X, you will find that it is fun and it is quite large. As a result of its size, it is important that you keep it as cool as possible, preventing overheating.
The router’s casing is red and black, making it more eye-catching than the average router. It also comes with 8 high-beam antennas to reach every device in your network.
The design is awkward and impossible to conceal, due somewhat to the amount of antennas as well as the bright red colour. Inside of the router, you will see that it has a 1.8 GHz 64-bit quad-core CPU to accelerate your load time.
There are 8 Gigabit LAN ports as well, so you can hook up whatever devices need that hardwired connection.
Performance
As this is another router great for gaming, it is a high performance router when compared to the average router. It really was built for serious gamers.
The RangeBoost feature within the router increases the router’s overall range as well as the strength of the reception itself, so you don’t have to sit with the router to get a connection.
The router also has dynamic optimization prioritizes that eliminates latency. This will allow you to indicate which devices should have the strongest signal, keeping you from losing a battle when someone else starts hogging your bandwidth.
The router also comes with MU-MIMO technology as well as AirTime Fairness to increase the total throughput and response rates.
5. ASUS RT-AC88U WiFi Gaming Router
As your PS4 runs on the 2.4GHz, it is imperative that you get a router that boosts that band.
Design
The Asus RT-AC88U is dual band, making this a great choice, and the fact that it uses MU-MIMO technology only makes the BlueGadgetTooth team love this router even more.
You do have to remember that each connected client has to have a MU-MIMO compatible adaptor to work with this technology.
Performance
4x4 antenna design will be able to deliver great coverage – which you will appreciate if your PS4 is not glued to your router.
You may love wireless because it is so convenient, but if you really want top speeds, nothing can beat being hard wired, and having so many Gigabit ports will only be good news for you and your many Ethernet compatible devices.
The Asus RT-AC88U has a powerful 1.4GHz dual core processor that will give that much needed boost to your speeds and data transfers.
Asus AiProtection – Gaming is serious business, and if you want to keep your gaming account safe (you don’t want to be in Sheldon’s situation – from Big Band Theory – where his account gets hacked) – then you’ll want the best security around.
Smart connect feature allows your devices to get allocated to the best band – so you don’t have to worry on placing other devices on bands – this uses smart technology to do that for you so that you can focus on your PS4 games.
1024 - QAM technology – you do want the fastest speeds possible while gaming, and this can potentially increase 2.4GHz speeds by 66% - you’ll thank this feature when you’re in the heat of battle.
6. Netgear Nighthawk X6 Router
The Netgear R7900 follows a long line of illustrious routers, made by a company whose reputation precedes itself.
Design
We’ve all probably used a Netgear router sometime or know someone who has owned one. Why we like this router as one of the best wireless routers for PS4 is because it has all the features you need, while being very pocket friendly.
Which means you saved just that little bit more to get the new game that will be releasing soon.
Performance
There are 3 bands that can be used in this router, which means there is more space just for your PS4. Your PS4 will use up a fair amount of your bandwidth, and this way, you can allocate your devices to the available bandwidth, making sure that there is even Wifi experience for all devices or more prioritized bandwidth or your PS4.
Smart Connect feature which assigns your devices to the best suited wireless band – slower on one and faster on others – which means less work for you and more time for gaming!
Dual Core CPU + 3 offload processors – These make sure that the load is lessened on your device and really gives your network that boost it needs, especially when it comes to connections between local and internet, wireless to Ethernet/ wired and USB. So if you want to get data transferred, or others want to join you in your game, you can enjoy excellent connectivity.
6 High performance adjustable antennas which can be tweaked and their directions changed to give your PS4 the best signal strength possible.
ReadyShare features which include file sharing for those who want to quick and effective transfer of data, a backup feature that automatically saves your work so you can take off where you left it, the printer so that you can print out winning stats or incredible scores that you want immortalised in time, and to stick your winning scores on your bedroom wall.
7. ASRock G10 Gaming Router For PS4
Not only does this AC2600 router play the part – it looks the part. A huge leap into the gaming networking market by ASRock, the G10 is 802.11ac and backwards compatible, while offering dual band speeds combined to an impressive 2533Mbps (rounded off to 2600).
Design
The speeds the G10 delivers is great for any gamer, and what made us notice the G10 to place it on our list of PS4 routers is the Infrared Learning technology. What does it do? Users can transmit codes to their devices via infrared, so that all consoles can be unified under one remote.
When we tested the G10 for its speed, we were very pleasantly surprised to see that we were receiving nearly the top speeds possible from our ISP. The 5GHz band delivered on the speeds, making the use of our old extender redundant.
Performance
The 2.4GHz had good signal strength, even over larger distances, like our basement – underneath couple of floors, walls, plenty gadgets that could interfere with the signal and goodness knows what else.
We just have to wait and watch this space for more – we’re expecting great things from ASRock, and only time will tell if the company will continue to greatness or if this will be their one hit wonder.
Reasons To Get A Gaming Router For PS4
There are many awesome games being released for PS4, like Call of Duty: WWII and God of War, and if you’re itching to get your hands on these games and waiting to lock down over the weekend with your buddies as you face obstacles, encounters and enemies, then you should probably be prepared to get a high performance router for PS4 so you can enjoy uninterrupted gaming time.
Also, your PS4 probably hogs up the bandwidth, especially when you’re busy gaming online and downloading HD graphics to make the realistic gaming environment come to life, and you want to make sure that your network isn’t getting clogged up and all your devices are getting the speeds they should.
After all, if there’s a battle between you and your opponent, and it’s just a matter of the fastest trigger finger first, you want every added advantage, even if it’s just milliseconds.
You have to remember, other household gadgets could be using up bandwidth or placing a strain on the network, and getting a gaming router for PS4 will help you have a smooth gaming experience.
PS4 Ethernet vs. WiFi Router Connection
There really is no comparison when it comes to Ethernet vs. Wifi for your PS4. Wired Ethernet connections always win hands down. An Ethernet connection is more reliable, stable and secure than a wireless router connection. If lags are a serious point of concern for you, you should consider playing wired.
Why? Because the radio waves emitted by your router can be affected by obstructions such as walls, obstacles such as aquariums, disturbances from other household gadgets or nearby routers using the same wireless channel, or even the distance between your PS4 and your router.
This in turn can cause packet loss or latency issues which will throw a wrench in your PS4 gaming experience.
Meanwhile, an Ethernet connection will hardwire your PS4 to your router directly, which means that can be no outside factors that can disrupt your gaming experience. As your PS4 is not an object that will be likely to be constantly on the move while playing, Ethernet is a good option for you – while if you are simply playing a game on your mobile device, wireless is more convenient.
Open Source Firmware Router & PS4
Ditching your standard firmware and going for open source firmware such as DD-WRT, Tomato or OpenWRT is always a good idea if you want more from your router.
As a wireless router comes with standard settings that caters to an average user in an average home, it is simply a one setting suits all kinda thing.
But the truth of the matter, every user is different and if you are an avid PS4 user, you want to get the most out of your router and have it prioritising your PS4 game play, instead of trying to focus on all your home’s devices.
Flashing your routers with open source firmware allows you to access advanced security features which is vital for a system involved in interactive gaming, extending your wireless network’s range and prioritising your bandwidth allocation. Open source firmwares also have Port forwarding control and NAT which could be important in your PS4 gaming experience.
Open Source firmware such as DD-WRT is the most popular custom firmware and getting this will enable you to manage the stability of your internet, while allowing you to remotely control your network as well.
To really understand the differences between DD-WRT, Tomato and Open WRT, you should check out our article so that you can decide which open source firmware will be best for your router.
Final Words
With great performance comes great responsibility. There is no reason to settle for a mediocre router when you are committed to gaming.
Our choice for the best gaming router for PS4 is the Nighthawk Pro XR700. This is an incredible router that seems to have fleshed out your entire internet gaming needs.
The ROG Rapture AX11000 is definitely a high performance router, so that is the way to go if you want something really capable of power.
No matter which router is the right choice for you, make sure that you have enough bandwidth and MU-MIMO capabilities on board to play your PS4 without interruption.