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.
Feel free to share this with your friend or bookmark this if you find this is useful. Blacktubi.com is a non-profit ad-free independent website.
⚠️ 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, currently im using unifi lite 10mbps. would you recommend a suitable router?
You would have to use the TM router unfortunately.
Hi. My current plan is 500mbps. Which should I replace for Unifi Dir 850? Need hyptv port
TP-Link Archer A9
Hi Alvyn, do any of these compatible router support VPN? Just a quick yes or no then I can look up which specific models can be configured.
If you need VPN, I suggest the ASUS RT-AC86U. It has a fast processor for VPN.
Hai can the tenda Ac7 support unifi network? Im currently using 300mbps plan
Tenda routers have quite a lot of security vulnerabilities so I don’t recommend them. https://www.cvedetails.com/vulnerability-list/vendor_id-13620/Tenda.html
Hi Alvyn, you seem to be the best person for this question. I have D-link DIR842 router supplied by Unifi. Current plan is 100Mbps (free turbo last time). Although with speed test it shows download speeds up to 100Mbps, sometimes when you use the Internet for casual browsing on the phone, it just doesn’t run; keeps buffering every now and then. If it doesn’t go crazy, then it is really fast, especially if you are downloading large files. My issue is casual browsing seems to be not getting the data quickly (Facebook comments not loading, WhatsApp picture not loading and… Read more »
The DIR-842 is known for a notoriously bad wireless router. I suggest getting a mesh WiFi system and ditch the repeater as well.
Hi,
I’m currently on 500mbps plan and I’m looking for a powerful router to cover a 3 storey house. Currently have stock router on 3rd floor as main router and a repeater on 2nd floor.
Can you recommend a router that will be strong enough for 3 storey coverage?
Thanks in advance.
I suggest you get into the mesh WiFi system which is the best for your use case. I suggest the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus which is easy to setup.
Hi, any difference between C9 and C2300?
C2300 is much faster than C9.
Current im using D-Link DIR-842 for 2 storey terrace house, but upstairs recep very bad. looking for upgrade~ any suggestion?
Low budget – TP-Link Archer A9
Medium budget – TP-Link Archer C2300
High budget – ASUS RT-AC86U
Thanks, it help me to select the best one
Hi there I am actually torn between C5400X and Asus RT-AC5300. However, would you think that having either will be an overkill to my double storey terrace house? I am planning to have a TP Link AC1200 upstairs as an AP.
The C5400X will be better than the ASUS RT-AC5300. The comparable model from ASUS will be the GT-AC5300. No, it is not overkill.
Hi Alvyn, which one should i get, RT AC86U or TP Link AC5400, or AC4000. Its for 2 storey house with 2,500sf of space and working with unifi 800Mbps.
I would rank their performance level to be this.
C5400X
RT-AC86U
C4000
Hi. I’m on the unifi 300mbps plan. Currently living in 2 story house … Top floor some room cannot get WiFi with provided TM tplink router … Thinking of mesh system … Not sure … Using hypptv.. is deco m4 compatible ?
Yea, Deco M4 can support HyppTV.