Help me pick a cable modem/router for gaming/streaming

[Openupitsdave]

I have a 7700k, GTX 1080, and a 100/10 internet connection, and I noticed that when I stream games, my latency goes up...NOT my ping though-- I notice a slight (but noticeable) difference in response-time (similar to that of an IPS vs TN monitor panel situation) and it's annoying because I know that both my connection and system should be able to handle it. Either way, the slight delay is no bueno in competitive gaming. I was told it can be fixed by getting a "gaming" router...My current modem/router is a Netgear N450 CG3000Dv2 which is cable..

Which specs should I be looking for? I dont care for wifi speeds but it must have wifi...or maybe not IF the deal is right.

Im on Cox Cable. My budget is $100 or less. I dont care much about WiFi as I will be using a wired connection. It must have enough speed to handle my 100/10 connection obviously..And I am the only user of the connection..

Also, I know a lot of people are using DDWRT still..Is there a cheaper router I can flash DDWRT to? What is the best route to take?

 

[Harro Penk]

You want a good router, I assume wireless, for less than $100?

Let me know when you find one. In the meantime, the best combo for the least dollars is a unifi usg plus a UAP Pro. If you want to connect more devices via wire, get a unifi 8 port switch too. If you want to have more than one Wifi access point, I suggest going with an 8 port 150w PoE switch. That, by far, is the biggest, baddest bang for the buck.

 

[Openupitsdave]

Sorry, I DO want Wifi...though I dont care much for it, nor do I want to pay premium for high wifi speeds.. Im assuming decent Wifi is already standard in most newer routers.

Spending over $200 is out of the question so I cant do the Unifi + UAP Pro.. but I am interested in knowing what makes the Unifi so good?

I am totally all for finding the best bang for buck router-- It would need wifi though. Im mostly looking for a router than can deal with streaming/gaming well..

 

[timmy_area51]

ZyXel is your answer

 

[Openupitsdave]

Zyxel? Which model and why?

 

[Openupitsdave]

Apparently I didnt know the difference between a router and a modem/router..

Should I buy a modem/router? or buy them separately ?

 

[timmy_area51]

Zyxel? Which model and why?

ZyXel must be cheaper than netgear , it's also american , i remember i bought a zyxel with 3 external antennas some years ago with a fair price . that's why i recommended you zyXel .. i guess when buying a router for home gaming its antenna gain is more important . than say its wireless protocol , your games never use more than 10 megabits

 

[Harro Penk]

UniFi is an enterprise level system. What most of us are familiar with on a day-to-day basis are home routers. Those ASUS, Netgear, TP-Link, etc. brands. Those are all basically glorified "router+switch+wifi" in one neat little box. For what they do, they're adequate. However, they typically use the cheapest crap for chips, which in turn then translates to pretty lousy software/feature sets.

I have now owned about 3 different "home routers". Not one of them does a decent job with QoS, which is a software intensive operation. It's a simple test to tell you how robust the hardware "running" the router actually is. Every review I've read, every thing I've seen posted about these routers basically made me understand that whoever does these reviews essentially just turns them on, tests the speed a bit, and then writes a review with little more than a list of features, i.e. copied right from the box or from the manufacturer's website. They don't spend time actually testing the security, or even looking to see if the company supports the router past the the first few months. TP-Link, in particular, has a huge black eye on my list for that one alone. Literally, every piece of hardware they make, no matter how cheap or expensive, is essentially little more than ABANDONWARE two weeks after it hits the shelves.

Anyway, so UniFi: It's enterprise level. They've made improvements to all their hardware for years, on a monthly basis. They also are entry-level priced. On the other end of the spectrum, with similar features/performance, you'll find names like Cisco/Meraki and Brocade. If you can afford those, you're probably not trolling a website like this for deals - you'll just tell your minions/vendors to buy you one, send you the bill later.

You can literally build a small home network that's ROCK SOLID for just a couple of hundred bucks, supported for half a decade or longer, and has a huge variety of "extras" you can do with down the road. Or.... you can build a network the size of a football stadium with hundreds of AP's spread out over a couple of acres. Same hardware. Same controller software. Just more of it.

As a bonus, unlike high-end players like Meraki, UniFi has zero recurring license fees. That's pretty rare for enterprise level hardware these days. Even network switches seem to be tied to recurring license fees these days. With UniFi, licenses cost you exactly 0 bucks per device per year, no matter if you have one device or two thousand.

Look up their specs. Their switches can handle loads that others at similar prices simply can't touch. There's a reason why companies like TP-Link and Netgear don't advertise actual throughput numbers........while UniFi puts that info on page 1 of every brochure. They just work.

 

[Openupitsdave]

Thanks a lot! After multiple calls to my ISP, and researching firmwares, I found that my router/modem firmware is out of date. So I called my ISP again, because of corse they are the only ones that can upgrade the firmware....except they didnt-- They actually DOWNGRADED my firmware from v2 to an even earlier release (v1), even though the website states that the newest firmware (v3) is officially verified by my ISP, they still downgraded me. So that didnt solve my issue so I tried to factory reset and it didnt roll back by fimware...GREAT, THANKS ISP!!! What a load of crap.

SO im definitely in the market for a modem router now...The UniFi USG is not a cable modem though, so I dont know how it would work for me. (some kind of adapter?) And I wont be gaming through wifi, but I will keep Zyxel in mind for future purchases.

What a mess...between these ISPs and these router companies, I dont know whos the bigger slimebucket...

Thanks again guys