Wireless gaming

[Lupinicus]

I will be moving to a new apartment soon, and the room that my main PC will be in would be much better suited to a wireless connection than wired. I've been searching around for wireless routers that are suited for gaming the past couple days, but I haven't come up with much. The D-Link 4300 gaming router seems to be the only one specifically geared for gamers, but all the reviews I've seen seem to be a wired connection using the GameFuel tech and not the wireless connection. Tom's Networking had a MIMO router round-up and a couple Airgo-based routers had very low throughput variation (basically lag from what I understand) which made them somewhat suited for game purposes, but I haven't been able to find much else out.

I guess I'm wondering if anyone out there has had success with a wireless router and gaming, or if I should just give up, get a decent router, and go wired.

Edit: I will have to purchase a router no matter what, so that's not an issue.

 

[Fardringle]

I don't play many FPS games, but the few games I do play have no issues at all with my wireless connection. In testing I have seen no measurable difference in connectivity or ping times on my wireless network using a Linksys WRT54G V2.2 router. If there is significant wireless interference in the area, or if your wireless network simply is not configured properly, then it is entirely possible that gaming over the connection will not work well.

A properly working wireless network should not be any different than a properly configured wired network, except that actual data throughput speeds will generally be faster on the wired connection. But even that shouldn't matter since no broadband Internet connection will be anywhere remotely as fast as a good G wireless network so minor differences in throughput are a non-issue in my opinion.

 

[ktwebb]

1 to 3 ms added to your ping. Basically the minimum hop latency you'd see from a wired router, IF your setup properly. That includes configuration and wireless environment. If your not then wireless could be a problem for gaming.

 

[Lupinicus]

I guess I've just been listening to various people talk about how they'd never use wireless for gaming, but didn't really back it up with any proof. My experience with a wireless router and gaming was with 802.11b which was definitely lackluster. I haven't tried anything with a good G router yet.

 

[jlazzaro]

Wireless or not, when im in a clutch situation i know my wired connection isnt going to let me down. You would probobly be good with wireless if everything is setup correctly, but even then ive had people with connection issues (latency) whose problem was fixed by switching to a wired connection. Just depends on preference and the amount of gaming i guess...

 

[BigPete]

I live in a 2 bedroom condo where the 2nd bedroom does not have an outlet for cable. I have setup a WRT54G in the master bedroom next to the cable modem and bridged it to another WRT54G in the second bedroom. All the computers in the second bedroom are wired to the router in there. However, the connection between the 2 routers is still wireless so I guess it's safe to say that for all things internet related (including gaming), all my computers are wireless.

There are few people out there with an internet connection fast enough to saturate the wireless link between a computer and a router. If ALL your computers are wireless and you are transferring files within your own network, that adds to the problem. People who say that wireless is not good for gaming and offer no evidence or anything are just elitists who think "thats the way it should be". True, I also try to hardwire as much as possible just because I feel it tends to be more secure, but thats it.

I have not noticed any latency issues. I can honestly say that there is no difference between a wireless connection and a wired connection for me. They both work equally well.

Also keep in mind that the context of this conversation is in regards to gaming. You will, without a doubt, have people telling you that you shouldn't go wireless for various reasons, none of them having anything to do with gaming. If gaming is your priority and main concern, my personal opinion would be that you should give the wireless a shot.