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.
Model WiFi Specification Beamforming MU-MIMO Ethernet Port Price DIR-895L AC5300 ✔ ✔ 4 x Gigabit RM1599 DIR-882 AC2600 ✔ ✔ 4 x Gigabit RM698 DIR-878 AC1900 ✔ ✔ 4 x Gigabit RM518 DIR-867 AC1750 ✔ ✔ 4 x Gigabit RM399 DIR-868L AC1750 ✔ – 4 x Gigabit – DIR-842 AC1200 ✔ ✔ 4 x Gigabit RM289
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.
Got upgrade speed today from Unifi 30mbps to 50mbps.
planning to buy new router (Asus RT-AC1200G+)
My house is 25 x 70 double storey terrace house.
So do this router gives a good signal for me on upstairs since I like to dll movie and playing online games.
I would recommend the RT-AC55UHP as the signal is stronger.
Hi, can you suggest me a non AC router which provide decent signal that able to cover 3 storey buiding. I am now using TPLINK C5 which provided by Unifi and it’s now having the 2.4GHz connectivity issue, anyone facing the problem i mentioned?
You need more than a router to cover 3 stories. Consider getting a powerline extender.
can asus rt-ac68p suppot unifi? what is different between ac68u and ac68p? and also ac87u is better or ac68p is better?
RT-AC68P is not available in Malaysia. I prefer the AC68 series.
Hi Blacktubi,
I’m planning to sign up for unifi 30mb. I’m just wondering if HyppTV will work on a range extender like Asus EA-AC87 or not. I’m planning to install the ONU and router in my study room and put the EA-AC87 in the living room.
Thanks!
In that case, you need a wireless bridge setup if you want to place your HyppTV away. Have you considered a powerline setup?
I need a recommended routers. I found a Tenda AC1900 and a TPLink Archer C7 from a local shop, selling at the same price. Any Tenda users? Is it a better pick compare to the C7 which is only at AC1750?
I will prefer the C7 due to the better support and Unifi support.
hi mr blacktubi,
i m running alot of those dlink ip camera ( about 15 ) and also 3 pcs and phones. i m using unifi 30 mb and sometimes i got like a “phase out” time. i m using this setup currently
stock unifi tplink c1200 router
asus rt n14uhp to extend my range connected thru ap mode to the tplink
dlink dsl 2750 e – all ip camera is connected to this router.
what upgrade/suggestion that i need to do to get stable internet connection.. thanks
The C1200 shouldn’t have any issues supporting this amount of clients. Maybe you need a better router.
Last Saturday Unifi was installed in my house. I received a TP Link Archer C1200 router, which I understand is not a bad router at all. Would I gain a lot of signal strength if I invest in an RT-AC55UHP? Or which model would I need to buy to get a noticeable improvement?
Maybe you can consider a powerline range extender if all you need is wireless coverage
hi…seems like my TM unifi router need to change..can you help to suggest me for my budgest below rm 400. my speed is 50mbp and connection used in my house was about to 5 device.
Asus RT-AC1200G+
Recently I found my Unifi very unstable and keep disconnected, i am not sure due to Unifi connection or my stock router issue which more than 3 years old.
Any best recommendation for home user with UnifiPackage 50Mbps (max wifi connection 3 devices)?
Thank you.
It depends on your budget. Maybe you can consider TP-LINK Archer C5 or Asus C1200G+.
Hi Archer C7 V2 good enough for double storey house?
It depends how big is your house.
Hello blacktubi,
Currently im using unifi 30mbps but the speedtest shows download speed of 2-3mbps. Router is huawei hg8240w. Is it problem with my router causing the download speed not reaching 30mbps?
HG8240W is the modem and not a router. Most likely you need a new router.
i need recommended routers for unifi now office used around 60 people
currently using ASUS RT66U with 50 people connect wifi became slow and ping timeout
Before using TPLINK and not good with many people when more than 30 ppl connect router became hang
You need Asus BRT-AC828, it is releasing in Malaysia soon and priced around RM2000. It is a proper semi-enterprise grade router.