Razer has launched its first wireless router

Razer has expanded into many different areas over the years, from gaming mice and keyboards to laptops and smartphones. Now this week, Razer is diving in to a new area with the Razer Sila, a high-performance WiFi router designed to give a boost to gaming traffic.

The idea of a ‘gaming router' has been around for a few years now. The idea is to prioritise traffic to reduce latency while gaming, streaming or downloading media content. The Razer Sila aims to stand out with its own set of technologies, including Fastrack, Multi-Channel ZeroWait and Mesh capability. FasTrack is a proprietary QoS engine for smart traffic management, inspecting packets and reorganising data flow based on device types and applications. That means it will detect PCs, consoles, smartphones and adjust network traffic accordingly.

Multi-Channel ZeroWait DFS on the other hand is Razer's software to enable “clean” WiFi channels, avoiding network traffic and maintaining high speeds, avoiding downtime, hanging and disconnections.

We've reviewed plenty of Mesh capable network devices over the last couple of years. The Razer Sila will also adopt mesh networking, allowing two or more of these routers to connect together and boost WiFi coverage across areas up to 6,000 square feet. The Razer Sila is a Tri-Band router too, so it has a dedicated 5Ghz backhaul and independent fronthaul links operating on up to 4 simultaneous DFS channels, which reduce interference and network congestion.

Razer has been working on this router in collaboration with Ignition Design Labs, an engineering firm founded by former workers from Qualcomm and Broadcom. Here is the full feature list for the Razer Sila:

• Tri-Band AC3000
• IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
• 11n 2.4GHz: up to 400 Mbps
• 11ac 5GHz-1: up to 1734 Mbps
• 11ac 5GHz-2: up to 866 Mbps
• WPA / WPA2-PSK
• 9 x powerful high-gain internal antennas
• Razer FasTrack Adaptive QoS + DPI Engine
• Multichannel ZeroWait DFS
• Tri-Band Mesh with dedicated backhaul
• Multi-user MIMO & Beamforming technology
• Intelligent active steering
• Isolated guest network support
• Simplified app setup via Android or iOS
• 4 Gigabit Ethernet (1x WAN, 3x LAN)
• 1 x USB 2.0 port
• 1 x USB 3.0 port

The Razer Sila will begin shipping today with worldwide availability. It will be an expensive purchase though, sitting at $249.99 in the US and €299.99 in Europe.

KitGuru Says: Razer is now in the networking game. It will be interesting to see how these hold up in reviews. Are any of you shopping around for a new high-end router?

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