Razer is selling a $150 mesh Wi-Fi router optimized for gaming

It's been a long time since Razer was solely focused on gaming mice. Since those humble beginnings, Razer has expanded into several other product categories, more recently adding a smartphone to its product lineup. Now it's getting into the Wi-Fi router business.

Razer is now selling a version of the Portal Wi-Fi mesh router designed by Ignition Design Labs, that has been optimized specifically for gaming.

"While evolving its ecosystem of hardware and software for gaming and entertainment, Razer identified device connectivity as a major area needing improvement.  A sub-par router is often the cause of lag, screen tearing and buffering, three issues that commonly plague gamers. Mesh-capable Portal Wi-Fi routers help prevent these glitches. With key technologies, Portal successfully addresses the demands of high bandwidth gaming and streaming applications," Razer said.

The "Portal by Razer" is a quad-stream, dual-band 802.11ac wireless router with Wave-2 MU-MIMO. Routers that support MU-MIMO can communicate with multiple supported devices at the same time, rather than having to rapidly switch between them like SU-MIMO routers do.

Razer's customized Portal is advertised as an AC2400 model, which translates to speeds of up to 600Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and up to 1,733Mbps on the 5GHz band. While you can't combine the two bands into some sort of super connection, router makers typically add the speeds of all available channels together, and oftentimes round up—in this case, to an AC2400 designation.

In collaborating with Ignition Design Labs, the model Razer is selling boasts a couple of "patented congestion-busting technologies." One of those is FastLanes simultaneous multi-channel DFS. This gives users access to radar-protected channels to avoid interference from other devices. There are four DFS FastLanes on this model.

The Portal by Razer also steers devices to uncrowded, fast channels. This is not uncommon among today's routers, though Razer seems to think it can do it better.

This is also a mesh router. Razer's claim is that it can blanket homes up to 6,000 square feet in fast, reliable Wi-Fi coverage with just two Portal units, versus three or more if going with another company's mesh router.

Razer is selling the customized Portal router now in its web store for $150 (€170). It will be more widely available in the first quarter of next year.

Paul Lilly

Paul has been playing PC games and raking his knuckles on computer hardware since the Commodore 64. He does not have any tattoos, but thinks it would be cool to get one that reads LOAD"*",8,1. In his off time, he rides motorcycles and wrestles alligators (only one of those is true).

Latest in Networking
Netgear Nighthawk XR1000
Netgear says certain router owners should 'download the latest firmware as soon as possible' to patch a critical vulnerability
TP-Link AXE75 Wi-Fi 6E router
US congressman calls again for the government to ban Chinese-made TP-Link routers: 'I would not have that in my home'
An illustration of a silhouetted thief in motion running while carrying a stolen fingerprint. This could represent individuality, identity, privacy concerns, or a concept of personal data being in motion or at risk. The combination of the human form with the unique identifier of a fingerprint offers a visual metaphor for themes such as identity theft, digital security, or the trace we leave behind in a digital age. The overall aesthetic is bold and dynamic, fitting for topics of cybersecurity, personal identity, or discussions about the intersection of humanity and technology.
Hackers hijack over 16,000 TP-Link network devices, creating a big ol' botnet that's absolutely slamming Microsoft Azure accounts
Netgear Nighthawk RS300 Wi-Fi 7 router
Netgear Nighthawk RS300 review
TP-Link Archer GE800 router
US lawmakers believe TP-Link networking products come with an 'unusual degree of vulnerabilities' leaving them vulnerable to hackers
A racing car in F1 2022 game with a cartoon explosion overlayed on top
Today I learned F1 cars can have their engines disabled wirelessly via IP connection
Latest in News
Two brightly colored stormtroopers dressed like Run-DMC stand in front of PAX Australia's WELCOME HOME banner.
Tickets for PAX Australia 2025 are on sale now
An Enshrouded player in a recreation of Erebor from The Lord of the Rings
Kings under the Mountain! 33 Enshrouded players spent 10,000 hours to recreate this iconic location from The Lord of the Rings
A mech awakens.
Mecha Break developer is considering unlocking all mechs following open beta feedback
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again