The DGL-4500 gaming router, by D-Link, is a wireless router designed solely for the purpose of optimizing Internet speed for playing online games. It has a bunch of features that allow you to get the most out of your games. It allows you to turn on a feature called ‘Gamefuel’ which focuses the entirety of the router’s connection to gaming devices, meaning that if you’re playing Xbox Live or PSN, lag will no longer be an issue. This will work on PCs as well, as only gaming connections and data will be prioritized, throughout the entire network. This means that if you’re brother or roommate is downloading music or watching videos online, it won’t affect your gaming connection at all. The router can also switch between 2.4 and 5 GHz wireless signals, allowing you to choose what band your gaming will be on.

I really love the built in display, which allows you to see your network settings and your connections with just one quick look. It can show you your upload and download speeds, allowing you to easily check to see if your connection is strong or not. It features data transfer rates of 300 Mbps, much more than I have ever or will ever need to play Minecraft and Call of Duty online, as well as gigabit LAN and WAN ports that allow you to have lightning fast gaming speeds.

There are a few things I do not like about this router though, despite its many features; it does not work directly with Macintosh computers, which is a problem for me because I had to rewire my gaming setup so my PC was handling my main gaming connection now. This required a lot of Ethernet cables and creative use of duct tape, and eliminates a number of serious gamers who own Mac computers. (However, Macintosh computers can use the Internet from this router just fine, they just can't install the firmware or drivers) Additionally, I have to restart the router whenever I change the settings, which can be annoying if I’m trying to get online and play with some friends. Also, the dual band technology doesn’t work at the same time; rather, you have to manually choose which one to use, which is a bit of a letdown.

One final word of warning; when you update the firmware, you have to export the router configuration while you upload the new firmware, and then import them again because the update will not automatically save them. Do not update your firmware above 1.15, because there were a number of bugs and problems with this software. You can still run it just fine with 1.15, but anything higher could give you some problems.