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Is Cox Elite Gamer Worth It?
Cox Elite Gamer is an add-on to your Cox High-Speed Internet service that optimizes your gaming performance by routing your game data along the fastest possible path, decreasing your overall lag. But what exactly does that mean, and is it worth it?
Table of Contents
- What is Cox Elite Gamer?
- How Does Cox Elite Gamer Work?
- How Much Does Cox Elite Gamer Cost?
- What Games Are Supported By Cox Elite Gamer?
- Is Cox Elite Gamer Worth It?
- FAQ
Summary
Cox Elite Gamer is a software add-on to Cox high-speed Internet customers that uses smart routing to minimize latency while gaming. The application uses a specific gaming connection to reroute game data in times of traffic, ensuring the fastest possible connection is always used whenever a millisecond matters most. Elite Gamer won’t make anyone switch to Cox from another provider but for current Cox customers who want to optimize their connection for gaming, it’s a neat add-on.
What Is Cox Elite Gamer?
Cox Elite Gamer is an add-on to Cox High-Speed Internet service (the Preferred 150 plan or above) that uses a data optimization system to reduce a user’s overall lag.
This is especially useful when gaming, when every split second counts.
Elite Gamer is a software installed on your PC that constantly routes your data to the game server using the fastest path possible.
When compared to a typical internet connection, Elite Gamer makes use of a private network. The software also lets users monitor game and network performance in real time and create and view quality reports.
Another great feature of Cox Elite Gamer is that gamers can view public leaderboards for the game they are currently playing.
How Does Elite Gamer Work?
Cox Elite Gamer is a software installed on your PC that sets up what is essentially a private network for gaming. This connection uses smart analytics to route your video game data through the fastest path to the game’s server.
The software is only available through Windows for PC, meaning it is not compatible with Mac or console gaming.
The main goal of Cox Elite Gamer is to reduce ping, lag and jitter, three terms synonymous with poor video game performance.
Ping and latency refer to the speed at which data is transferred from your computer, through the network and to the game server and then back again.
Jitter refers to how smooth or stable the gaming connection is, or how often ping spikes occur. The lower these three values are, the better your overall gaming performance will be.
This is what Elite Gamer optimizes through its software.
Cox Elite Gamer does not have any effect on overall internet speeds. Instead of speeding up your connection, or increasing your bandwidth, it instead reroutes data in a more efficient manner. This could make your internet connection feel faster when in reality the speeds are unchanged.
How Much Does Cox Elite Gamer Cost?
Cox Elite Gamer is available only to Cox High-Speed Internet customers.
One Cox Elite Gamer connection comes included free with a Panoramic Wifi Gateway. This means that one PC in your home is allowed access to Cox Elite Gamer. If you have your own modem, the software is $6.99/mo.
To add more connections/PCs to your Cox Elite Gamer software, each additional connection is $4.99/mo.
Please keep in mind that Cox Elite Gamer is compatible only with gaming on Windows PCs, meaning it will not work on Mac or video game consoles.
Consult the table below to see how much Cox Elite Gamer would cost you:
| Item | Speeds (if applicable) | Price (/mo.) |
|---|---|---|
| Cox Go Faster | Up to 250 Mbps | $70.00 |
| Cox Go Even Faster | Up to 500 Mbps | $90.00 |
| Cox Go Super Fast | Up to 1000 Mbps | $110.00 |
| Panoramic Wifi Gateway | N/A | $13 |
| Cox Elite Gamer 1st connection | N/A | Free with Panoramic Wifi Gateway, $6.99 with different modem |
| Cox Elite Gamer subsequent connections | N/A | $4.99 each |
What Games Are Supported By Cox Elite Gamer?
Over 150 games are currently supported by Cox Elite Gamer, including many popular titles like:
- Apex Legends
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Call of Duty: Vanguard
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Destiny 2
- Escape From Tarkov
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Fortnite
- League of Legends
- Overwatch
- Rocket League
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
- Valorant
- World of Warcraft
Is Cox Elite Gamer Worth It?
Cox Elite Gamer has its pros and cons. If you are a current Cox customer and do not have a Panoramic Wifi Gateway, getting a free Elite Gamer connection for an extra $13 a month may be worth it if you are a diehard or even casual PC gamer.
However, keep in mind that internet speeds and a solid ethernet connection may play a greater role in gaming performance than optimizing your latency.
If you are geographically close to your favorite video game company’s servers and you have internet speeds above 150 Mbps, you may not even notice a difference with Elite Gamer. However, if you are located far away or in a more remote area from the respective servers, that optimized data path could make a noticeable difference. Even a few milliseconds could change everything in your game.
Is Cox Elite Gamer worth switching your entire internet service provider for? No, most likely not. Other service providers have plenty of high-speed options available and Elite Gamer is not anything revolutionary. Other gaming-specific networks exist.
But if you are a current Cox customer and have not heard of it before or you are looking for a new Wi-Fi gateway in general, Elite Gamer is a cool inclusion with the Panoramic Wifi Gateway. The dashboard functionality and title-specific leaderboards alone that it offers may make the software worth it for some.
Pros
- Dedicated gaming network
- Free with Panoramic Wifi Gateway
- Growing game compatibility
- Dashboard shows real-time analytics, reports, game leaderboards
Cons
- Doesn't increase actual internet speeds
- Must be high-speed customer
- Not compatible with every video game
Frequently asked questions
Do you need to be a Cox customer to use Elite Gamer?
You need to be a Cox Internet Preferred 250 customer or higher to use Cox Elite Gamer.
What is the Panoramic Wifi Gateway?
Panoramic Wifi Gateway is Cox Internet's modem and router all-in-one hardware device. One free connection to Cox Elite Gamer is included when you rent one for $13/mo.
How many PCs can you use Cox Elite Gamer on?
Each PC in your home needs its own Cox Elite Gamer connection. This is because the network needs to individually authenticate each PC to allow it to use the network. Each additional Elite Gamer connection costs $4.99/mo.
Is Cox Elite Gamer compatible with Mac?
Cox Elite Gamer is compatible only with Windows on PC, meaning it is not compatible with Mac or video game consoles (PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo.)
Is Cox Elite Gamer worth it?
If you currently have Cox Internet and you're an avid gamer with a budget to try Elite Gamer out, it is certainly worth a shot. But the service itself isn't enough of a reason to make the switch to Cox Internet.
