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.
Hi, I’ve recently gotten Unifi 800mbps. My modem is Huawei HG8240w and router is DIR 850L.
Is the equipments compatible to utilize the speed? If not, can you recommend suitable replacements? I’m using both LAN and wireless and need to cover 2 floors.
I recommend the TP-Link Archer C2300.
Saya punya ISP unifi 800mbps. Saya beli router asus rt-ac86u. Kenapa bila saya buat speed test wifi 5ghz, hanya dapat download 300mbps saja? Router unifi lama model dlink ac1200. Wifi 5ghz speedtest pun sama 300mbps download. So tiada beza ke ac1200 dan ac2900? Menyesal beli mahal mahal.
Hi Amirul. Wifi bukan pasal router sahaja, gajet yang digunakan mestilah support kelajuan itu. Kebanyakan handset and laptop dalam pasaran hanya support speed sehinga 300-500Mbps.
i am using asus rt-1300uhp. from the table you put 300mbps unifi plan next to it. Does it mean that it only support max 300mbps?
The WiFi speed can only support 300Mbps max.
i upgraded from10mbps to 100mbps, but my 2.4ghz only get 26mbps DL, while 5ghz can get full speed at 100mbps…i called tm, they said it is like this and cannot help…. 🙁 ….
what problem? is that the dlink router can not support the full speed at 2.4ghz or i need replace it with oter brnd router.
2.4Ghz is very overcrowded. Imagine every thing uses 2.4Ghz. Dect phones, microwave oven, CCTV etc
2.4GHz can be distracted by other devices connection(like microwave). One of the merit point is it does penetrate wall/floor better than 5GHz.
While 5GHz is having better speed and does not get distracted easily by others radio wave. On the other hand it doesn’t do great on penetrating wall/floor.
what would be your best recommendation for the bang of your bucks for a router that supports 500mpbs unifi?
TP-Link Archer C7 or C9.
Hi,
Need your advice. Thanks…
Using Unifi 800Mbps ( double storey )
Budget RM1500 ( stable and quality router )
Asus RT-AC88U vs Tp Link C5400X ( price almost same ).
Which is best choice ?
Archer C5400X is much faster than RT-AC88U. RT-AC88U come with more features. IT depends on what you value.
hai im planning to get the Tenda Nova MW6 AC1200, its rated 5ghz at 867mbps and 2.4ghz at 300mbps. So im currently in unifi 500mbps and limited at 300mbps by my TP link C5, so technically if i change to the Tenda, i’ll still be limited to 300mbps on 2.4ghz right? thus i need a faster router like netgear ac2200? is my understanding correct?
2.4Ghz is limited to 100Mbps realistically no matter what router you use due to overcrowding.
so that mean even 1k plus router cannot support more than 100 mb for 2.4gh
Correct.
Hi
I just get turbo from unifi to 500mbps. Can you suggest me the suitable router? i consider to buy Asus RT-AC1300UHP. Thanks.
Yes, that is a good router.
Hi, My Unifi upgraded to 500Mbps and my router is DIR-859 AC1750, i can only get LAN (CAT6) 100Mbps on Speedtest.
PC is having Gigabit Ethernet
Wifi can get around 300Mbps
Any guide ?
Try it with another computer and use a different cable. Could be a hardware failure on the computer or cable is old.
I got my Unifi upgraded from 50 to 500 Mbps. And my existing router is TP-Link AC1200.
Why I can only get WiFi speed of about 270 Mbps at 5 GHz frequency? I though this device is rated to give up to 867 Mbps at 5 GHz.
Is Unifi limiting or capping the WiFi speed at 300 Mbps for this router?
Thanks.
Hi, Unifi is not limiting the WiFi speed but WiFi is subjected to multiple interference. Besides, it heavily depends on your devices you use. Not all device can support the fast Wireless speed.
read this Albert to further understand the AC meaning
https://www.digitalcitizen.life/what-does-ac1200-ac1900-ac3200-mean
Hi, my unifi was upgraded to 800mbps. Can rt-ac1200g+ support the speeds on LAN?
Hi, you need the RT-AC1300UHP to support that speed on LAN.
Hi, Blacktubi,
Can my old Asus RT N66u compatible with TM Unifi ?
Yes, it is compatible with Unifi.