If you don't have a good internet connection, are you even gaming? The importance of a high-quality gaming router can not be overstated. It's a vital part of any setup, especially for those looking to get in on some of the best multiplayer games and stream on Twitch or YouTube.

So while you're investing in the newest gaming console or a great computer, keyboard and mouse, be sure to check out this list for the best gaming routers available.

If you're plagued by persistent lag while carrying out critical split-second decisions that make the difference between victory and defeat, a sluggish internet connection could be to blame.

Some gamers hard-wire their devices via an Ethernet cable to fight lag, but others refuse to be tethered by a cord. If that's the case for you, then you might be thinking about upgrading your wireless router.

Before buying any gaming wifi router, I'd recommend reading my beginner's guide to gaming lag to see if there's anything else you can do to help bring down your ping.

In many cases, it could be as easy as moving your wireless router to a different spot or adjusting the angle of a gaming wifi router's antennas. But if you've tried all that, and your gaming connection still needs an upgrade, you're reading the right roundup.
All the gaming wifi router we tested

Along with seeing how today's gaming routers stacked up against one another, I wanted to get a sense of how they compared with the sort of standard routers that you might be tempted to upgrade from.

Given that a few of these gaming wifi router use next-gen Wi-Fi 6 technology, I made sure to test a few other gaming wifi router, too.

How we test gaming wifi router

Testing routers is a tricky business. Wi-Fi connections are finicky, with lots of variables and key features that will affect your speeds.

We do our best to account for those variables in our tests, but some factors are beyond our control -- and beyond your gaming wifi router control, too.

For instance, your home's specific internet service provider connection is like a speed limit for your router. If you're paying for speeds of up to, say, 50 megabits per second, then your router won't transmit data from the cloud any faster than that.

The average ISP download speed in the US is somewhere around 100Mbps, while those living in areas with access to fiber connections might enjoy speeds of 200, 500 or -- if they're really lucky -- even 1,000Mbps.

That raises an obvious question: How do you test the top speed of a gaming wifi router like that TP-Link AX6000, which promises Wi-Fi 6 data transfer rates well above 1,000Mbps?