Need advice: In-home wifi gaming streaming

[elessar25]

I have CenturyLink and am forced to use the Zyxel q1000z modem/router. In truth, this router has worked fine for me over the past year. On a typical evening, I have my desktop hooked up via ethernet and two smartphones, two iPads, and a laptop connecting via WiFi.

I'm an avid gamer and have been using the desktop PC (i5-2500k, GTX 670, 16GB RAM)for most of my needs. However, we just got a baby and the office is basically off-limits for gaming once he's asleep at night. So.... I'm looking for different options. (I don't wanna rely on the TV b/c it's frequently occupied.)

Yesterday, I tried using Steam's In-home streaming with a 2008 MacBook via Wifi. I was streaming TombRaider 2013 and Bioshock Infinite from the desktop PC. Both games had constant stutter and were almost unplayable. I realized in retrospect that someone else was streaming YouTube on another laptop at the same time.

What am I missing from my setup? Do I need another router dedicated to game streaming? Or get a three stream router and put the Zyxel modem/router into bridge mode?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

[SilentHorizon]

Don't use wifi unless you have a very very good router.

If you have a long ethernet cable, try using that instead.

[Trogdor0]

I'm in agreement with HBZK100. A wired CAT5/6 connection would be best. But if you don't have a cable that is long enough or don't feel like fishing cables though the walls, there are other options. The next best option for high throughput with reasonably low latency that I've found (depending on the condition of the house wiring) is powerline networking devices and/or MoCA adapters (that use the coax already in the walls of some homes). Wireless is unreliable by nature...even if you have the newest, shiniest $300 router. I try only to use Wi-fi for applications that are inherently mobile and don't have the option for ethernet. (TVs and game consoles sit in one place all the time, tablets and smartphones only have wireless options, laptops are in a grey area) havening the fewest possible devices frees up the spectrum so your wireless network can work a little better.

If you don't have Internet access issues in general, I wouldn't go buing a new router. I think you would be better off buying a dedicated wireless access point to add on to what you have. You just plug it into one of the LAN ports on the back of your current router, set up your network name and passphrase and you should be good to go. The other thing that is good about having a separate access point is you can position it more freely (i.e. nearer to where you use your Wi-fi devices).

Now, before you go spending a bunch of money, You should probably make sure the problem isn't internal to one of your PCs. Try hooking up your laptop to your router with some CAT5/6. It doesn't have to be a long cable. Try streaming again while both PCs are on the wired connection. (You should probably turn off your Wi-fi card or at least disconnect from the Wi-fi network so your Mac doesn't get confused about which network adapter to use.) If the stuttering goes away, getting a better access point should help. It may not completely fix all the stuttering though. There could be interference from other Wi-fi (yours or others) or non-Wi-fi (radios, baby monitors, bluetooth devices, microwave ovens, etc.) sources. If not, there may be more diagnostics that need to be done.