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.
Hi would you know how to set up net gear ac3200 router with unifi
Hi, Netgear does not come with easy Unifi configuration. You need to manually input the VLANs.
hi blacktubi,
is tenda fh1202 compatible with unifi… i want to replace my old router.. this is the cheapest ac1200 in the market, can get below rm200.
please advise.
thanks..
No.
Hi Blacktubi, I just bought the TP Link AC 3200 with the Unifi label but I could not connect to the internet. Appreciate any tips from you. This.
Hi, please refer to my TP-LINK AC3200 article.
Dlink dsl2750e support unifi tak? How to setup?
No.
Hi blacktubi
Archer c20 support iptv?plan to buy this model. Any suggestion
Yes, it supports IPTV.
Do Xiaomi mi 3 wifi routers support unifi ?? I plan to switch to the router. Tq for ur help.
No.
Hi Blacktubi,
I bought Linksys E8350 AC2400 router. Does it support Unifi? Do I need to install the configuration CD? I’m new to this.
I acknowledge Asus is an excellent router but the price is over my budget. However, I already bought the above Linksys router at a good deal. How do you rate this router?
Ong
It may be compatible but you have to do it manually. There are no guide available.
Hi Blacktubi,
Just want to have your opinion. it’s ok to use ASUS AC1200G+ and it’s compatibale with Unifi.
Yes, it is compatible.
Hi, despite the device cost, for unifi 30mb plan, between Asus RT-N56U, TP-Link Archer C5 & DLink Dir-850L router, which one would you recommend and why? Pls advice, thanks
N56U is obsolete as it only comes with Wireless N. Archer C5 is better than the DIR-850L.
Hi, is there any special reason/feature on why you would suggest Archer C5 over DIR-850L? Thank you
They are not of the same range. The C5 is a more expensive router. A better comparison to the C5 will be the DIR-868L
Hi, i’m puzzled, as far as I know both Archer C5 & DIR- 850L are AC1200 class (Dual band, 300mbps+867mbps)? How come you say they are not in the same range? Whereas the DIR-868L were AC1750 class
The hardware capability is not the full story. The Asus RT-AC55UHP support AC1200 as well but it is much better than the duo signal wise and stability wise.
Hi Blacktubi,
I just bought the Asus RT-AC55UHP as recommended but after setting up the ipv6 based on KLSeet’s guide here https://klseet.com/index.php/5-tm-unifi/unifi-general/258-unifi-ipv6, I was not able to speed test the ipv6. According to his guide, it seems that this router’s LAN is not able to get the ipv6. Is there any way to fix this? Thanks!
Use manual DNS for IPV6.
Hi Blacktubi,
Saya dah pakai D-Link DIR65 selama hampir 5 tahun. Saya juga pernah beli Asus RT-N12 (D1) tapi tak boleh guna untuk hypptv. Semua setting rasanya macam dah betul. Saya bercadang untuk beli new router RT-AC68U atau RT-AC55UHP (jika tak cukup bajet) macam yang Blacktubi cadangkan. Adakah RT-AC55UHP takde masalah untuk connect dengan Hypptv STB setting
Yes, you will not have any problems if you configure it according to my article.
Hello Blacktubi, Unifi offer me free upgrade from 5 Mbps to 10 Mbps but I dont
see any changes in speed. I am still using the initial installed modem by TM
( Black color, Huawei EchoLife HG850a ) and my TP Link Unifi Router
( TL-WR841N , N300 ).
I have tried to disable the built in TP Link Router Wifi and connect it to Apple Airport Extreme, only feel a bit stable but not faster.
Please advise me is there anything else I should change to get the real speed of
10 Mbps broadband ?
Thanks
You should contact them as they may capped your account wrongly.