Razer Sila - Perhaps you do not need a gaming router

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Gaming has boosted laptop sales, and has created new product categories such as gaming routers. Razer is the latest player to enter the Razer Sila gaming roulette. However, why would you need a gaming router?

Manufacturers have begun to take out gaming routers that cost you hundreds of dollars. Razer, one of the most famous gaming accessories manufacturer, launched its first router.
They did not learn routers overnight, and for Razer Sila they worked in partnership with Ignition Design Labs, the startup that launched the Portal router, following a successful Kickstarter campaign. The two products are similar, especially at the design level. Both routers are minimalist and the antennas are not visible but hidden in the case.

The Razer Sila is a simple matte black box with the Razer logo in the middle and a Gigabit Ethernet WAN port on its back, three Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports, a USB 3.0 port and a USB 2.0 port.

I really liked the look of the router and I appreciated that you can choose not to have the logo on it. There are nine antennas on the inside to spread the signal. As a Wi-Fi standard, we refer to the 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac and the two-band support, a 2.4 GHz and a 5 GHz one.

Why there are gaming routers like Razer Sila

Razer Sila, a good router, but a fingerprint magnet
No matter how much wireless connections have evolved due to the new standards introduced in recent years, there is still the likelihood of experiencing connectivity problems in a larger house or thick walls. So this can be a problem when you must not be lag when playing Fortnite, Call of Duty or PUBG.

Gaming roaming promises to give you a gaming experience no matter who is connected to the network and how it is used.

With Razer FasTrack QoS technology, the Razer router turns the gaming session into a priority. This means that Sila automatically detects the game console or game you enjoy on your PC and reserves a gaming piece of gaming tape, independent of other internet users. This system should minimize the response time to the server or lag.

Another Razer system that should help you when you play is called zero-wait multi-channel DFS and ensures that your router operates on a channel and at a frequency that does not interfere with other neighbors' routers in the area. This extra effort will make it easier for you to make "clean" connections with home appliances without interruption.

How powerful Razer Sila is
I installed the Razer router and put it to work to see what she can do. Installation is easy enough and you need to install the Sila application (Android or iOS) to take advantage of all the features. I let go and the first thing I noticed is that the router's signal is better than the one I had at home with the old router.

At a Gigabit subscription from RDS-RCS, we achieved a speed of more than 250 Mbps per dowloand and over 150 Mbps per upoload at 2.4 GHz.

On the 5 GHz frequency, things were as follows: about 450 Mbps per download and about 300 Mbps upload. I'm in a studio and the signal is not such a big problem, but I noticed that Sila did a better job than the router I have. Even on the ladder we had a good signal at home.

If you are staying in a larger home or want to cover a wide network, you can create a mesh network with three Razer Sila devices. The company says two routers are enough to cover an area of 550 square meters.

On the desktop, we had download speeds of 850 - 950 Mbps and upload around 450 Mbps. In real terms, I managed to download content on torrents up to 34-40 Mbps.

However, for gaming, download speed is even less important and more bandwidth.

The first test consisted of a simple 5-GHz World of Warcraft game session. The lag recorded in the game was, on average, 50-60 milliseconds. Very rarely dropped below 50 and rarely increased to 100 ms.

I said to stress the network and started Netflix Full HD streaming on a smart TV, I dropped a torrent on the desktop and with another laptop I browsed and listened to online music. As I expected, the lag in the game stayed the same, the router managed to offer a good gaming experience.

I started another download on my laptop and I went into the "hora" and two smartphones. The lag in the game remained the same and oscillated between 50-70 milliseconds.

I wanted to see if it's different for Fortnite. Things were pretty much the same, with a minimum of 40 milliseconds and a maximum of 120 milliseconds of server response.

Prioritizing network connections is formalized

In Sila, you can see who is connected to the network and what apps are connected to the internet
The first tests were done without going to any setting. Then I started playing with the QoS (Quality of Service) option that I could set up the network device's priority. I mean, I could tell the router what device is important and who to give it more tape.

I was disappointed to find out that it does not matter if the laptop we play WoW had low priority, low high, or auto, because the lag stayed the same 50-60 milliseconds. Throughout this time, repeating the actions described above (Netflix streaming, torrent downloads etc.)

I also walked in the router's web interface and so on. I have not noticed a change. It's annoying, because I wanted to see a change, either in the dowload speed or in the server response, but I was not lucky.

Razer Sila against a regular, commercial router
I said to see if my gigabit router, bought with 186 lei, can do such tests. I was surprised to learn that she did almost as well.

Internet speeds were similar to the router, but at a distance, they dropped. I connected everything I had to the internet and I stressed the network and even this router resisted well.

In games, the lag was similar to the one seen on Razer Sila, 50 to 60 ms in WoW and 50 to 100 ms in Fortnite.

If you have a big house and you need good connections everywhere or if you have thicker walls then you can invest in a good router around 100 euros, especially if you play competitively online.

However, Razer Sila sells in Europe with 300 euros, too much for a router that is not much better than another 200 lei. So if you do not have a game room, dozens of computers, phones, laptops connected to the internet then you do not need Razer Sila to be a better gamer.