How we test wifi gaming router

Whether it's for the best wifi gaming router, the best wifi gaming router, the best mesh Wi-Fi systems, the best wifi gaming router, best gaming routers, or the best powerline extenders, it's important to know how well they're perform in your home. 

At Tom’s Guide, we evaluate wifi gaming router using a combination of quantitative testing and experience-based qualitative measures. In addition to a critical evaluation of the setup process, we look at the router’s range of features, the quality of its interface and how well it might fit into the home.

How we test wifi gaming router: Benchmark tests
In the quantitative portion, we use Keysight's xChariot network performance software to measure the router’s overall throughput by simulating 10 data-hungry users. When we test traditional routers, we set it up in a corner of a 3,500-square-foot home, place the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro endpoint laptop at 15-, 50-, 75- and 90-foot intervals and take throughput readings with IxChariot. Then, we set up the system in an adjacent room that is 25 feet away to check on the router’s ability to penetrate a wall followed by running the tests in a room directly above the router’s position to examine its ability to send a signal through a ceiling and floor.

For mesh products, we start with the six traditional wifi gaming router data points using the host router and no satellites connected and add a couple mesh tasks. In the first, we set up a satellite in a room above the router and measure throughput at a point 40-feet down a hallway. If the mesh kit included two satellites, we set up a second node a floor below the router and place the receiving system 40 feet away to measure its throughput. 

With everything set up, we measure the router’s range by walking away from the router carrying the receiving system, looking for where the system loses contact with the router. To measure the router’s effectiveness at filling the entire house with data, we walk throughout the house with a connected system looking for dead zones where the system disconnects. wifi gaming router