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.
Hello, A10 or C2300 if range matters? Thank you very much for spending the time and effort to share all the information we see on the site.
The WiFi coverage of the Archer C2300 is better than the Archer A10.
Thank you for the information.
Hi Alvyn, how are you? im currently using the DIR-842, thinking to upgrade the router for my house.
consider to dlink ac1900 dir-878 or ac2600 dir-882? i also see u recommend tplink A9. Can you kindly recommend which router is a better choice?
my current house is terrace double storey, coverage is ok, some part of the house has weak coverage. speed for G and 5G is 100mb+ and 180mb+
I suggest the Archer A9 as the firmware is more updated than the D-Link router. Both models you mentioned are already discontinued actually.
First of all, thx for the reply n inform me that the dlink model has been discontinued.
I also saw there is a10 & c2300, will it be a better choice although im only at 500mbps unifi?
I would suggest the Archer C2300. The performance is actually better than the Archer A10
Thx u,im a bit confused, c2300 is only a ac2300 and 3×3 antenna , but the dlink exo dir882 and tplink a10 is ac2600 n 4×4, but i see ac2300 give a better performance on wireless.
Most devices in the market are 2×2 only. Under 2×2 and 3×3 testing condition, the C2300 is better than the TP-Link A10 and D-Link DIR-882. Both TP-Link A10 and D-Link DIR-882 are actually powered by a same chipset.
Hi Alvyn,
I’m not sure should i change my wireless router.. I’m currently in Unifi Turbo 800 mbps but still using the router provided by TM – D-Link DIR- 850L. My connection is weak when I’m at downstairs and the connection will lag sometimes.
Which wireless router that you would recommend which is good value for money?
Hope to max out the speed i have.
Maxing out 800Mbps on WiFi is really so hard with Wireless AC even on really expensive routers. I recommend the TP-Link Archer A9 for a budget choice.
Bought the Deco M4. Set up was easy and all my devices are connecting to it well. With the big exception of Astro. Tried a few methods, but there’s always a DNS error trying to connect Astro to it. Is there a fix?
Unfortunately, no third party router can support Astro IPTV if I am not mistaken.
Hi. UNIFI Plan is 500mbps Turbo. Currently using TP-Link AC 1200 for my double storey house. The router located in the living hall ground floor for Hype TV. Wifi speed and connectivity seems very bad upstairs and frequently facing no internet connection. Wifi speed through out the house can’t even go beyond 100mbps. Im thinking of getting D-Link 878 (AC 1900) to replace current router. Hope to achieve greater speed. Is my choice is wrong?
I would suggest the TP-Link Archer A9 which is much better than D-Link’s DIR-878.
Hi Alvyn, what’s your thoughts on Unifi Air. I plan to get it but only the sim card. What’s a good alternative to their modem (Huawei 4g router b618)?
The only option with full B5 and B40 support is TP-Link TL-MR6400.
my plan 800mbps and using linksys ea9500 but maximum speed with lan just can get 200++mbps even latest version installed， what can i do now？
I never use this router before, maybe check if the hardware actually support 800Mbps.
Is AC88u good enough for 800mbps?
RT-AC88U maximum speed is up to 930Mbps.
Hi, I’m using 500mbps unifi. My house is double story and around 7-10 devices will connecting WiFi. May I know which router more suitable for me. Currently I’m using tplink ac 1200 dual band
I think the TP-Link Archer A9 or Archer C2300 will be a good choice.
Hi, i just bought d link Dir 825+ ac1200 router for my unifi 300mbps, however i test the speed, the maximum i get is 106mbps download speed. Some time its only drop to 30mbps++.
Anyone had this experience?
Hi bro. I’ve been using the TP Link Archer C 3200 for some time now and always had problems with slow speed even though it’s unifi 500mbps. Speed fluctuates a lot and even goes down to 20mbps. Is it compatible or would I need to get a new router eg to link A9, C9,A10 etc? Would greatly appreciate your advice.
Thanks in advance, Andrew
Get a better router, the Archer C2300 is a very good upgrade actually.
Hi,
Was planning to get the TP-link AC4000 or AC5400 as their prices are becoming cheaper where the AC4000 is around RM688 and AC5400 around RM899. But saw an advert for a 2nd hand Dlink DIR-895l at less than RM500 which still has about 2 yrs warranty. What is ur opinion?
Thanks
I would avoid the DIR-895L as the firmware is no longer updated by D-Link. I figure you can either go for the C2300 or C5400. The C4000 is basically the C2300 with another 5Ghz band.
Thanks