Find yourself a hardcore gamer? Yet disappointed by constant lags in online gaming? Maybe, it’s not your internet service provider’s fault but your router’s. Yes, there is a good chance that you have a good internet connection but your router is unable to deliver the speed a gamer requires. As such, we have the perfect router to suit all your gaming needs: The Zyxel Armor Z2 AC2600 Wireless Router.
It’s the best router Zyxel has ever made in terms of specs. You might be hearing the company’s name for the first time, but it’s good that you know now about a company, whose products are unique and stand out amongst others.
Speeds
Expect a speed up to 800Mbps over 2.4GHz 802.11n, and 2167Mbps over 802.11ac, though with a caveat; The 802.11ac band requires a compatible client. Not only this but the router also supports MU-MIMO which is the technology of the future. This MU-MIMO tech increases throughput even when multiple devices are connected. Thus, this ensures, when you are gaming online and another person is using the internet, it won’t affect you.
Moreover, the router also supports StreamBoost, which is more commonly known as Dynamic QoS. Through this technology gets updated automatically and prioritizes traffic where it is needed the most. This tech is only supported by certain Qualcomm Chipsets.
Design
As can be seen in the image, the router is aimed at gamers, by the looks for it. It has a sleek plastic casing. Also, tinges of yellow highlights the device at various crevices, and the curves are a router intent to make the router like an ‘alien’ which is associated with Gamers usually. Moreover, the router in itself is compact, therefore won’t take much space as well unlike other routers from Asus etc.
The width of the router is 250mm, but the height is just 9.8mm. The good thing is that even in this compact design, the company made sure to make available much of the required ports. At the rear of the router, there are the usual 4 GigaBit LAN ports, along with a WAN port for Wireless Connection.
Furthermore, there is a USB 3.0 port as well which means a faster access to files over the network if an external storage medium is plugged into the port. If you find yourself already using that port, there is also a USB 2.0 port, but with a slower file access.
Specs
The router is powered by a dual-core 1.7GHz processor. This means that the router is able to sustain multiple devices without a worry. Not only this but a 512 MB of memory ensures smooth performance as well. This means that when you are navigating inside the router’s interface, it won’t take long to go from one setting to another.
Moreover, the router also has 4 antennas. Though, it may be a bit disappointing to hear that the antennas are not detachable. On the contrary, 4 antennas also mean that the router has a good range, and you can, therefore, access internet smoothly even longer distances.
The router appears to have a nifty physical design and the speeds courtesy the MU-MIMO tech is really good. Also, you will find the router’s traffic analysis software much handy too.
On the contrary, the USB port speeds are average: not the best. Furthermore, the visual designs seemed to be much sparse. Moreover, as mentioned earlier, there are a few devices which can currently use quad-stream 802.11ac.
That said, the router has a price tag of $269.99, which might upset you a bit, but if you find yourself a hardcore gamer, then this is the router you want.