Best Routers for QoS

You can finally enjoy the best lag-free gaming experiences, thanks to the QoS routers below.

As a gamer, you will agree with us that only the best gaming routers are capable of guaranteeing the most reliable and uninterrupted connections for online gaming. There aren’t two ways about it – you just have to find the best router, which is basically a router. With this router, you know that you won’t suffer a sudden lag spike in the most crucial moment in the game, and you will be connected at all times. So, does this mean that all routers labeled ‘best gaming routers’ are the best options for you? Well, this should be the case, and the selected router must be designed for speed and performance.

But rather than peg on these features and look at different features at the risk of getting disappointed, we’ve established that the ability of a router to provide the most seamless, uninterrupted connections during gaming is a factor that depends on the ability of the router to prioritize network traffic to your gaming devices. And for this to happen, there is a nifty little feature that you must look out for – we are talking about Quality of service or QoS.

QoS is this nifty feature that allows for the most reliable and uninterrupted gaming experiences, even when everyone else connected to the same home network as you are already using a huge chunk of the bandwidth.

So, if you are shopping for a gaming router, you better turn your search into the best QoS router on the market.

Fortunately for you, we’ve dedicated a lot of time to figure out the best routers for QoS, and you won’t have to do the hard work. From tens of potentially excellent routers, we’ve come up with a rather short list of excellent routers for QoS. Keep reading for a peek into some of the best options for you.

Comparison Table for the Best Routers for QoS

Best Routers for QoS	Best For	Price
TP-Link Archer C5400 Gigabit Router	Best Performance and Best Overall Router for QoS	Check Price
Asus RT-AC86U	Best Gaming Router Offering Significant Value for Money	Check Price
Netgear Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR500	Best, Uncompromised Speeds	Check Price
Asus RT-AC5300	Beasty QoS Router	Check Price
TP-Link Archer C5400X	Best Range	Check Price

Reviews of the Best Routers for QoS

1. TP-Link Archer C5400 Gigabit Router – Best Performance and Best Overall Router for QoS

If you are looking for a high-speed, high-performance router for QoS, you need a router that makes use of the latest technologies, and this TP-Link router is one such router.

It operates on the 802.11ac wireless protocol, and it’s been battle-tested for the best performance, lag-free gaming, and 4K video streaming. Besides the ultra-fast WiFi 5 protocol, it also features Wave 2 and MU-MIMO technologies that ensure elegant device performance, even with gaming and other data-hungry activities. The top speeds are enhanced by the super-fast AC5400 build that features the 4-stream system, as well as the NitroQAM systems for high-speed performance. The tri-band system means 1000Mbps speeds on the 2.4GHz band and 2167MBps on each of the 5GHz bands. All these are made possible by the 1.4GHz dual-core CPU and the 3 co-processors.

Besides QoS for device prioritization, the router features advanced security features like the TP-Link HomeCare that protects your network and devices from threats and malware, and it also features robust parental controls. You also get to enjoy VPN Server access for enhanced network security.

Pros

• Dynamic QoS
• 4Gbps maximum throughput
• 8 external antennas
• NitroQAM and 4-Stream system for top performance
• 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports
• Works with Alexa
• VPN Server and MU-MIMO technologies incorporated
• USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 for file sharing
• Excellent range
• Dual-band

Cons

• Expensive
• Issues with firmware updates

View Price on Amazon

2. Asus RT-AC86U – Best Gaming Router Offering Significant Value for Money

You don’t have to break the bank for a good gaming router with QoS, as shown by this Asus router. Top features that make this router an excellent option for gaming include its lag-free setup and the incorporation of WTFast Game Accelerator, along with adaptive QoS, which ensure lag-free gaming and streaming.

It boasts the best level of performance as it boasts a collection of some of the most advanced features, hence the best lag-free gaming experience. We are talking about the high-speed dual-band design that promises maximum throughput of 2900Mbs, as well as MU-MIMO technology for the highest-speed data transfer speeds across multiple devices, simultaneously.

The performance of the router is enhanced by the 1.8GHz 32-bit dual-core processor and the adaptive QoS that optimizes network traffic while increasing connectivity speeds of the router. Then you have the 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports that enhance the efficiency of your wired connections.

Finally, the security of this router is enhanced by Asus’ Trend Micro, which prevents external attacks, and neutralizes threats.

Pros

• Great network range
• Ultra-fast data transfer speeds
• Adaptive QoS for traffic prioritization
• WTFast gaming accelerator for lag-free gaming
• 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports
• Advanced security features
• Powerful performance
• Ideal for gaming and 4K/ 8K streaming
• MU-MIMO

Cons

• You might not like the spider-like design

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3. Netgear Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR500 – Best, Uncompromised Speeds

With a 4 Gigabit Ethernet port system, MU-MIMO, and QoS support, this Netgear router is one of the best gaming QoS routers on the market. You might argue that other routers boast higher speeds (we won’t argue with that), but the truth is that even at a maximum speed of 2.6Gbps, the speed is largely stable, and it’s ridiculously high for gaming.

Some of the features that make this a top-speed QoS/ gaming router include the Ethernet ports, which will minimize pings and maximum overall router performance, allowing you to enjoy the best lag-free gaming experiences. Besides the wired system, the router also features a 1.7GHz dual-core processor, which ensures the blazing high internet speeds. Advanced QoS further improves the performance of this router by bypassing any network congestion, reducing any lag spikes, jitters, and jumps.

Speed and overall gaming performance of this router are amped by the geo-filtering feature, which ensures that you ensure every millisecond by allowing you to connect to the closest gaming servers, hence domination in all your games.

Pros

• Reliable high speeds
• Great dual-band system
• Powerful 1.7GHz dual-core processor
• Lag-free gaming
• Geo-filtering
• Real-time monitoring and game pings
• VPN server connection
• Advanced QoS

Cons

• It lacks connectivity option for broadband modems

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4. Asus RT-AC5300 – Beasty QoS Router

If you are looking for a high-end, ultra-powerful QoS router for heavy internet use, you might want to try this Asus RT-AC5300. It is a feature-packed router, and it boasts every little and powerful feature needed for robust overall performance across your network devices.

It’s a tri-band router with a beasty shape and eight powerful antennas for the best router performance. The tri-band system features two 5GHz bands and one 2.4GHz band, all working together to improve the efficiency of the router. The bands and the antennas give it a large coverage, and you can use it in a large space, up to 5,000sq.ft.

Regarding speed and gaming performance, you can look forward to lag-free, high-speed network performance thanks to MU-MIMO technology, which allows for maximum device compatibility and simultaneous high-speed connectivity. Then you have the built-in access to the GPN (Gamers Private Network), which means access to optimized servers and low, more stable ping times for the best gaming experience. QoS enhances device prioritization, while ASUS Smart Connect allows for dynamic bandwidth switches between the 2.4GHz and the 5GHz bands.

Security of the network is enhanced by Asus TrendMicro, which protects from system vulnerabilities, and protects sensitive data.

Pros

• Revolutionary MU-MIMO technology for high-speed wireless connections
• QoS for game prioritization
• AiProtection and advanced parental controls
• NitroQAM for high-speed performance
• Easy setup, control, and configuration from the home hub and network center
• Seamless control with ASUSWRT
• Tri-band
• 4 Ethernet ports
• 5400Mbps maximum throughput
• 8 Powerful external antenna
• Traffic Analyzer and Link Aggregation

Cons

• Large and bulky
• Only one USB 3.0 port

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5. TP-Link Archer C5400X – Best Range

If you are looking for edginess, you might like this TP-Link Archer C5400X because it is the ultimate definition of edginess with its robust and edgy design. And it not only looks like a beast but works as the most intelligent and powerful beast you know.

Powered by a 1.8GHz 64-bit quad-core processor with 16GB storage and 1GB RAM, this router is one of the most powerful routers on the market today, and it might be exactly what you want if you need blazing high gaming speeds and the best gaming performance. Speaking of speed, this AC5400 offers 1000Mbps speeds on the 2.4GHz band and 2167Mpbs for each of the 5GHz bands. This setup means that you could dedicate one of the 5GHz bands to gaming.

The other features of this QoS router include Airtime Fairness and MU-MIMO, which ensure the maximization of the total throughput, as well as the response times. RangeBoost enhances the system’s reception, while Beamforming sends out targeted wireless signals to your network devices in different parts of the house, while dynamic QoS ensures traffic optimization and the prioritization of traffic.

Pros

• High-speed connectivity
• MU-MIMO for high speeds across multiple devices simultaneously
• Airtime Fairness for increases response rates
• QoS for device prioritization
• Powerful processor
• Impressive range
• 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports
• 4Gbps maximum speeds
• Tri-band system
• VPN server acceleration
• Advanced Beamforming technology
• Advanced security features, including robust parental controls next-gen antivirus protection

Cons

• Expensive

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How to Choose the Best Routers for QoS

When looking for the best routers for QoS, which is synonymous with the best routers for gaming, you need to look at a host of features. These are the features that will ensure that the top-notch level of router performance that you are looking for.

In this section, we look at some of the most important features that you need to keep in mind. But first, a glance at QoS, what it is, and how it works?

What is QoS?

QoS is an important factor when it comes to the search for the best gaming router. Essentially, all the devices connected to your router will battle for and hoard bandwidth like the thirst-crazed bandwidth beasts they are, always trying to get more than the rest. In this battle, one beast might win, and others lose. While this melee is something expected with routers and home networks, you will feel the effects of that battle when you need a lot of bandwidth and uninterrupted supply of the traffic. This means that without any intervention, bigger competitors will have more bandwidth, even when they don’t really need it, and everything else will suffer. You don’t want this to happen in online gaming, hence QoS.

Think of QoS as this suite of technologies for bandwidth usage management across computer networks.

QoS, also called traffic shaping, refers to the feature that prevents unequal distribution of your bandwidth, and it ensures that the devices that have the greatest need for internet access more bandwidth. This traffic shaping/ device prioritization feature will control bandwidth use depending on the device’s or activity’s bandwidth needs. In case of gaming or BitTorrent downloads, which are fault-tolerant processes, the server and client will exchange data to verify that all the necessary bits of data have been delivered, and lost packets will be resent to ensure optimal performance of the activity in question.

Today, the best QoS/ Gaming routers feature something called Dynamic or Intelligent QoS. These intelligent QoS functions will support the WiFi Multimedia standard (WMM), which will offer data prioritization in four categories, from the highest priority need to the lowest – Voice, Video, Best Effort/ App traffic, and lastly, traffic not very sensitive to latency.

The best QoS routers will have a QoS system that automatically selects the traffic that gets priority based on the algorithm’s quality and the necessary processor power.

QoS Tools for RTP Packets’ Prioritization

For the management of bandwidth usage across connected devices, there are two main QoS tools needed – classification and Queuing.

Classification is the tool that will identify and mark network traffic to make sure that your network devices understand how to identify and to prioritize data as the data traverses networks.

Queues, on the other hand, refer to the buffers within devices that will hold the data to be processed; hence the provision of both bandwidth reservations, as well as the prioritization of the traffic entering or leaving, said network device. The queues need to be emptied often to prevent overflows and drops in traffic.

The other tools needed for limiting bandwidth are shaping and policing of the QoS technologies.

Why Do You Need QoS?

As a hop-by-hop transport configuration system that’s implemented on specific data-hungry devices for identification and the prioritization of RTP (Real-Time Transport Protocol) packets, you’d have the worst gaming experiences without QoS.

Here are some of the things that would happen in the absence of QoS.

Latency – Without RTP packets assigned the required priorities, the packets’ delivery will take place at the default speeds, and in congested networks, this means that the priority packets will travel at the same speed as the non-urgent packets. Keep in mind that latency even at 100ms is bad, and the packets will be out of sync when they arrive at their destination.

Jitters – the other issue that arises in the absence of QoS and with RTP packets arriving late is called jitters or the irregular speeds that data packets travel at on your network. Jitters come about because of the removal of the standard transportation-level buffering, and this means that there won’t be any mechanism for reassembling the packets for them to arrive in the correct order. The jitters mean that the RTP packets arrive late and often out of sequence.

Packet losses – Absence of QoS means, in worst-case scenarios, would result in losses in a number of packets or parts of packets. The reason for this loss is often the congestion on networking devices. Essentially, when one switch or a router’s output queue is filled up, there is a tail drop, and the device automatically drops/ discards any new/ incoming packets until space is available once again.

Therefore, you need QoS for efficient data sorting, management of queues, and for the prevention of data losses.

Other features to consider in QoS Routers.

• MU-MIMO technology that allows for multiple devices to simultaneously receive data streams in multiple, hence an increase in the network’s maximum throughput.
• Gigabit Ethernet ports
• Best WiFi standard (802.11ac and 802.11ax)
• Multiple Antenna

FAQs

How do I Configure My QoS?

If you have a cable router or an Ethernet switch, you can configure your QoS for the prioritization of protocols through the use of your router’s management software suite. The process is quite easy. Just log into the appropriate application the connect the hub/ switch form the app. Navigate to your QoS configuration menu, and then set up your preferences for packet priority.

How is the prioritization of RTP Packets done?

Prioritization is done through classification (identification with ACLs or CoS and assigning priority by marking) or Queueing. In queueing, queues are used. Queues are the high-performance memory buffers in switches and routers, and the packets that pass through the buffers will be held up in dedicated areas where they way to be sent to their destinations. For packets that are allocated a higher priority, the packets will be moved to this dedicated queue, which pushes the data out at a higher rate, hence a reduced risk of data/ tail drops.

Are there things that QoS will not do?

Yes. While QoS appears as a magic elixir for all issues around network congestion, it’s not an all-round magic pill for all network problems. For example, QoS will not increase your network’s bandwidth, and it shouldn’t be used as such. Also, QoS won’t unclog your home network.

What’s the purpose of DSCP in QoS?

QoS routers have a feature called Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP). It refers to the packet-level opportunity for requesting priority packets from QoS’ management software suites on your network devices. The network managers can either turn DSCP on or off.

Conclusion

There you have it, a comprehensive roundup of 5 best routers for QoS. These routers feature numerous features for top performance, but at the center of all these routers is QoS for device and traffic prioritization, hence the end of streaming and online gaming lags.