Unifi Router Buyer's Guide in 2021
If you use Unifi at your home, you are probably not so happy with the speed and stability of the WiFi network. That’s because TM is still a business and they cannot give an expensive router while remain profitable. But, luckily, TM doesn’t stop you from buying your own router.
While the router provided by TM isn’t too bad, they have slower CPU and weaker WiFi coverage. This means they aren’t very good if you stay in a bigger home or if you have more WiFi devices at home. Thus, in this article, I will show you some WiFi routers that I’ve tested that will recommend for you to upgrade your home WiFi router.
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⚠️ This guide is only intended for Unifi Fibre users!
Table of Contents
Unifi Fibre Equipment Overview
All Unifi Fibre installation come with 2 devices which is the fibre modem and WiFi router. The Fibre modem comes with lifetime warranty from TM and it is non-user replaceable. But, don’t worry as the WiFi router rarely breaks down and it performs well. What we will be focussing is the WiFi router part which will impact all your home networking performance.
Unifi Router Brands
Once you purchased the new router, please request your Unifi login ID and Password from TM. You will need them when configuring your new router. Once you got everything ready, remove your old wireless router and connect the new router to the ONU. You have to reconfigure your new wireless router. The process depends on the brand of the router but generally, you just need to insert the PPPOE ID and password and select the Unifi profile on the router.
TP-Link Unifi Router
TP-Link routers are fully compatible with Unifi. TP-Link offers really good value for money as their routers are usually cheaper while delivering the same level of performance compared to their competitors. They offer a 3 years warranty on all their networking products.
You can refer to my guide on how to setup TP-Link Unifi router here.
Model WiFi Specification Suggested Plan Beamforming MU-MIMO Maximum NAT speed Retail Price
Archer C5400X Gaming AC5400 800Mbps ✔ ✔ 941Mbps RM1499
Archer C5400 AC5400 800Mbps ✔ ✔ 941Mbps RM949
Archer C4000 AC4000 800Mbps ✔ ✔ 941Mbps RM999
Archer C3150 AC3150 800Mbps ✔ ✔ 941Mbps RM799
Archer C2300 AC2300 800Mbps ✔ ✔ 941Mbps RM639
Deco M9 Plus Mesh AC2200 500Mbps ✔ ✔ 800Mbps RM999
Archer A10 AC2600 800Mbps ✔ ✔ 941Mbps RM639
Archer A9 AC1900 500Mbps ✔ ✔ 941Mbps RM439
Archer C9 AC1900 500Mbps ✔ – 941Mbps RM469
Deco M5 Mesh AC1300 500Mbps ✔ ✔ 800Mbps RM439
Deco M4 Mesh AC1200 300Mbps ✔ ✔ 800Mbps RM399
Archer C7/ A7 AC1750 500Mbps – – 800Mbps RM312
Archer C6/ A6 AC1200 300Mbps ✔ ✔ 941Mbps RM209
Archer C1200 AC1200 300Mbps – – TBD RM279
Do note that HyppTV do not work on their Deco mesh series of products but Internet is working properly.
Asus Unifi Router
Asus is another well known brand in the wireless router industry. They are slightly more expensive but they have really solid performance and the AsusWRT firmware offers the most comprehensive set of features. Asus also pioneer their AiMesh technology which allows you to use several compatible Asus routers to form a high performance mesh network. Asus routers come with 3 years of warranty in Malaysia.
You can refer to my guide on how to setup Asus Unifi router here.
Model WiFi Specs Suggested Plan AiMesh BF MU-MIMO Maximum Internet Speed Price Range
RT-AX88U AX6000 800Mbps ✔ ✔ ✔ 941Mbps Unreleased
Asus ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 Gaming AC5300 800Mbps ✔ ✔ ✔ 941Mbps RM2489
RT-AC5300 AC5300 800Mbps ✔ ✔ ✔ 941Mbps RM2209
RT-AC88U AC3100 800Mbps ✔ ✔ ✔ 941Mbps RM1809
Asus Blue Cave AC2600 800Mbps ✔ ✔ ✔ 941Mbps RM1099
RT-AC68U AC1900 500Mbps ✔ ✔ – 850Mbps RM1039
Lyra Trio Mesh AC1750 500Mbps ✔ ✔ ✔ 850Mbps RM1579
Lyra Mesh AC2200 500Mbps ✔ ✔ ✔ 850Mbps RM999
RT-AC66U B1 AC1750 300Mbps ✔ ✔ – 941Mbps RM859
RT-AC1300UHP AC1300 300Mbps ✔ ✔ ~500Mbps RM569
RT-AC58U AC1300 300Mbps ✔ ✔ ~500Mbps RM479
RT-AC1200G+ AC1200 100Mbps – – ~400Mbps RM449
D-Link Unifi Router
You probably heard of D-Link before as they are one of the oldest brand selling networking gear in Malaysia. They also produce some really great networking equipment. New D-Link routers are fully compatible with Unifi. They are also rather affordable while delivering good performance.
You can refer to my guide on how to setup D-Link Unifi router here.
Other Brands (Tenda, Netgear and etc)
There are also other brands in the market and most if not all Enterprise level gear can be configured to support Unifi. But, we do not include them in this list as they may be harder to configure for most users.
Netgear is known for requiring manual setup of VLAN for it to work with Unifi.
ASUS AC3100 RT-88u router any good? i’m planning to get one to prepare the free upgrade from unifi 100Mbps to 800Mbps. Double story house and i wish to get full speed (5Ghz) in every corner in my house. Do you think AC3100 is powerful enough?
Yes, it is good but don’t count on getting 800Mbps over wireless as most devices in the market only come with wireless AC1200 with peak speed of 867Mbps and realistically 600Mbps.
Hi blacktubi,
I’m currently using unifi 100Mbps plan and would like to buy the Asus RT-AC1300UHP. However, after the new free upgrade to 800Mbps can I still use this router with no problem?
Thanks
Yes you can still use the router with no problem.
Hi blacktubi,
– Can I use a powerline wireless extender if my house is using 3-phase electricity?
– To use my HyppTV service I need to use LAN connection. Why cannot use wifi
connection?
Thank you.
Best regards,
Irfan
Possible but make sure they are on the same phase.
Hi blacktubi,
I ‘m changing the unifi router to Tenda.
After setting up, I got the internet connection status as
“dial-up successful, but cannot surf the internet. Please contact your isp!”
What is the problem actually? How do I fix it. I have not contacted ISP yet.
Ike
We have not tested Tenda router so we not really sure about this.
Hi.
I would like to ask which is better n easy as plug n play for Unifi 50MB with wireless unifi home phone replacement for double storey house?
Budget $400.
Please advise and thank you.
You can consider the Asus RT-AC1300UHP wireless modem router.
Thank you very much for yr advised.
Hi there. I am having a weak signal for my 5ghz using default dlink black cylinder router. Can I know if the option:
1. Wireless extender
2. Powerline extender
Is better since I am living upstairs and the router is downstairs. Using desktop, smart TV and smart phone. Tried googling about the pros and cons but most reviews are from overseas and I rather seek a local expert opinion like urs
Thanks
I would recommend upgrading the router first as the router have a rather slow processor and it will crash when you have more devices connected.
Thank you for helping UNIFI users who want to upgrade their routers.
I have a Netgear Nighthawk X10 R9000 router as i want to use the build in Plex.
I should have checked this website before buying, alas i have to find a way of using it. If i cannot use with Maxis/Unifi what about Time?
Can i configure use VLAN? i tried and it don’t work, but i am really a novice. Before this i was using Netgear genie which should be very easy but it didn’t work.
Thank you
Hi, take a look at one of my latest articles on how to use Unifi on any wireless routers.
Hi sir how about the lastest stock unifi router tp link AC1200? Should i replace it? Which router u will recommend? Budget RM600.
Thanks
I think the Asus RT-AC66U B1 would be a good choice
Any recommendations for a double storey house, Unifi installed almost at the front end of the house, having horrible coverage upstairs. Recently replaced Mikrotik to D-Link 842, throughput improved using 5GHz but coverage upstairs still weak. But 2.4GHz seems to be bad for my wireless CCTV camera’s. Really need help here, already changed so many routers.
You will need powerline wireless extender, there’s only that much a single router solution can do as signal cannot penetrate through wall very well.
best router for a small apartment, please? Of course with a lower price point. =) My apartment is around 800sqft.
TP-Link Archer C5 is a good one.
Hi
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and advice for unifi users here.really appreciate your effort .
Recently I upgraded to 100Mbps package from 30Mbps ; TM changed my old silver d-link router to new tplink archer 1200 router in order to support the speed.But since then my Wi-Fi connection became weak and unstable .But using wired connection I can get 100Mbps but on Wi-Fi i only able to get 40 to 50 Mbps ( unstable) pls help ; Thanks
You need a better wireless router as the router provided by TM is only suitable for small to medium size houses.
Hi. I need a new router with wide range since I’m staying in a double storey house. D-link dir-880l good enough? Not very heavy use of internet. Thanks
Yes, it is good enough.