Xiaomi mi wifi router 3 printer connection. Basic device information

Over the past year, manufacturers have "riveted" a huge number of various Wi-Fi routers with support for the ac standard, but most of the new products are prohibitively expensive. Of course, you have to pay for quality, or stable Wi-Fi, but in the case of the Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Router 3, everything is completely different. This tool for distributing Internet to surrounding devices costs only $ 25, making it one of the cheapest router with native Wi-Fi 802.11ac support.

Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Router 3 is available for purchase in two versions - international and Chinese. The differences between them are extremely simple - the inscriptions and firmware in the appropriate language, as well as the plug, sharpened for Europe or China. You can set a goal and buy an international version, but it is extremely difficult to find it in Russia, and it will cost a little more.

In our case, the Wi-Fi router was purchased in the Chinese version, so all the labels on the box have the appropriate language. In addition, it is not possible to select English in the admin panel, so you should use the Mi Wi-Fi application or simply reflash the router for international firmware. Fortunately, this is very easy and simple to do.

The Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Router 3 comes in a white package, which is quite large in size, but incredibly light in weight. It may even seem like there is nothing inside the box. There are dozens of inscriptions on the back cover, among which you can find understandable information - bandwidth, amount of RAM, speed of LAN ports, etc.

Directly under the router, inside the box, there is a power supply unit with a Chinese plug. It delivers a current of 12V or 1A. In theory, if you get the right adapter, then Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Router 3 will work even from a portable battery. This can be relevant in cases where the electrical network is unstable and may disappear from time to time. And so, if you power the router from the Power Bank, and insert a 3G / 4G modem into the USB 2.0 connector (only firmware from Padavan), you will get a stand-alone device for distributing the Internet.

Inside the package is the Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Router 3 itself, wrapped in a matte plastic wrap. All four antennas are already attached to the router, which is why the box is so large. Accordingly, it is impossible to detach the antennas, but they easily twist and turn in all directions, thereby allowing Wi-Fi to be “directed” in the desired direction.

The third item that can be found in the box is a very brief instruction on how to use the router, entirely in Chinese. There is nothing else in the package.

The entire body of the router is made of matte plastic, but the MI logo on the front has a glossy perforation, which makes it stand out at certain angles. Let's be honest, the router is incredibly lightweight, so it feels like a toy. Good or bad, everyone must decide for himself.

On the back of the Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Router 3 there are special holes in the case through which it is cooled. One of the main disappointments in this router for us was the lack of a special wall mount. Now you have to look for a stand on the Internet, if it exists at all, or find a flat surface and put the router there.

At the front there is one single LED indicator that can glow red, blue and green. It shows the current state of the router and allows you to promptly notify the owner of all faults and problems. It shines very weakly and “softly”, but the indicator can be easily turned off in the settings via the web panel or the iOS and Android application.

At the rear there are two LAN connectors with speeds up to 100 Mbit / s and one WAN port (blue), into which a cable with the Internet is plugged. In addition, here you can find one USB 2.0 port for connecting storage devices. To the left of it there is a small hole in which the reset button is hidden.

The length of the Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Router 3 is comparable to the height of the iPhone SE, and the width is approximately one and a half "apple" 4-inch smartphones. In other words, it is a very compact router that fits easily on a closet, desk, or any other flat surface.

The Wi-Fi router from Xiaomi turns on immediately after connecting to the electrical network and after 1-2 minutes two networks start up: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. It is enough to connect to any of them and then go to 192.168.31.1 in your web browser. If everything is done correctly, a quick setup page will appear, which you should go through using the translator from the Chinese language in Google Chrome.

Then, if desired and necessary, you can install an international firmware on the Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Router 3, which is in English. To do it or not is a personal choice of everyone, but we did it, since this should not affect the stability and speed of data transfer in any way, and the convenience of setting will increase at the same time.

When connected to a 5G network, all 802.11ac Wi-Fi devices deliver 100x100 Mbps. In practice, this means a 12.5 MB / s limit for downloading files from the Internet. This is a good speed, which is more than enough to watch even live streaming in 4K resolution.

In our case, the Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Router 3 was purchased as an inexpensive signal amplifier for the advanced ASUS RT-AC87U. A router from Xiaomi is easily configured in the repeater mode on the official firmware and becomes a device that expands the already existing Wi-Fi zone. By the way, for 4 days of constant continuous work, the router has never hung up and nothing happened to it, so we can talk about its complete and absolute stability.

As for the "range", here the Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Router 3 is doing very well. For comparison, the ASUS RT-AC87U router, which costs about $ 160, has a similar range. The 5G network with line of sight finishes up to 10-12 meters, but as soon as concrete or thick wooden floors appear in the way, the Wi-Fi signal jumps between 1 and 2 divisions in the next room. In the case of 2.4 GHz, everything is slightly better, but there is nothing surprising here.

The 5 GHz network is designed to achieve maximum throughput within the network over short distances, and the standard 2.4 GHz is something of a universal solution that provides stable access to the Internet at a distance of up to 25 meters.

Who is the Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Router 3 for?

Even with all its shortcomings, which are quite few, the Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Router 3 is the most productive and reliable in the class of ultra-budget models. Yes, the biggest limitation of this model is the lack of WAN and LAN support at 1000 Mbps.

Nevertheless, this router is definitely very relevant. For 90% of people, its speed will be more than enough, since not even all large cities of Russia and other countries have high-speed Internet access at a speed of 100 Mbit / s. If you want to buy a good router with stable firmware and stylish looks, then this model will be an excellent choice.

Another very interesting way to use one or more Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Router 3 is to expand an existing Wi-Fi network. So, by connecting all routers in series using an Ethernet cable, you can achieve a multiple increase in the coverage area. The low cost of the router facilitates its placement every 10-15 meters.

For the money Xiaomi is asking for the Mi Wi-Fi Router 3, this is the cheapest and most reliable router that can handle the 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard. If you install the domestic firmware from Padavan on it, then its functionality and capabilities will become even richer, and the interface will be localized into Russian. We recommend to purchase!

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A few months ago I ordered myself the third version of a router from Xiaomi. And only now the time has appeared to make a full review of Xiaomi Mi Router 3. I must say right away that I really liked the device. Easy installation and configuration, decent functionality, its own buns and bells and whistles. And most importantly, it is inexpensive.

Equipment

From the photographs it seems that the device is quite miniature. However, the box in which he came to me surprised me. When unpacking, it turned out that the antennas of the router are non-removable, and therefore the box has grown to a very impressive size.

Inside there is a short initial setup manual (in Chinese), the router itself and the power supply for it. The length of the last wire is about a meter and this, admittedly, is not enough. I want to say right away that the device was created by the Chinese and for the Chinese, respectively, in advance, take care of an adapter from a flat plug for ours. Alternatively, ask the seller to include the correct adapter in the package.

Appearance

The main feature of this device is four antennas, which are designed to improve the signal quality and bring the Internet to the most remote areas of the apartment. I will say right away that I compared it in terms of range with my 2012 Apple AirPort Express and, I must admit, I did not feel the difference. In the most distant room of the apartment (on the way there are three average walls in thickness and about 5 meters distance), the signal is below average. "Apple" device finished off in the same place with exactly the same signal strength.

Antennas can be tilted in almost all directions, thereby correcting signal propagation. Again, I did not notice the difference.

The body of the device is entirely plastic, matte and white. The latter is rather a plus, because the color itself is neutral, but most importantly, dust is not visible on the surface.

There is an LED on the front that glows blue if the router is operating normally. The LED indication, if necessary, can be turned off via the app or the web interface. But we'll come back to this later.

On the back side there are connection ports:

• full USB port for flash drives and hard drives
• two LAN ports
• one Ethernet connector for connecting the Internet itself to our hero (blue frame)

The connectors have their own LEDs to indicate their operation (normal), and in addition, there is also a tiny hole for a forced reset. I will say right away that it has never come in handy for me.

On the bottom there are perforations for air circulation and a sticker with various information about the product. Here, too, everything is in Chinese, so we will not focus on this.

It is impossible to fix the gadget on the wall. No special holes were provided for this. Exactly like the rubberized legs.

In other words, the gadget may slide on some surfaces.

Before studying the operation of a router, it will be useful to familiarize yourself with what it actually can do. To do this, look at the "specs" below:

• MediaTek MT7620A processor with an operating frequency of up to 580 GHz
• RAM 128MB DDR2
• Flash memory 128 MB (SLC Nand type)
• Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz IEEE 802.11 n (speed up to 300 Mbps)
• Wi-Fi 5 GHz IEEE 802.11 ac (speed up to 867 Mbps)
• maximum speed up to 1167 Mbps (simultaneous, parallel operation of two bands)
• protocols: 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac, 802.3 / 3u
• signal transmission power up to 6 dBi at 5 GHz frequency
• passive cooling
• ports: 2x LAN (up to 100 Mbps), USB 2.0, Ethernet or WAN, power connector 12V, 1A
• encryption: WPA-PSK / WPA2-PSK
• OS support: Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, Android
• languages: Chinese (mainly) and English
• dimensions: 195 x 177.3 (antenna height) x 131 x 23.5 (device height) mm
• weight 220 grams

Additionally, I note that you will not be able to connect the printer via USB.

This functionality is not provided. Only flash drives and hard drives will do.

Customization

Internet connection and configuration is almost completely automatic. However, you still need to do something.

For starters, it's worth downloading the Mi Router or MiWiFi Router app from the Google Play Store. There is a client for iOS. Moreover, there are applications for both Windows and Mac OS X.

I installed the latter, however it is all in Chinese so it cannot be used.

There is another alternative way to control the parameters of our hero - through the web interface. To do this, you need to drive miwifi.com or 192.168.31.1 into the address bar of your browser (I used Chrome).

The main screen will be all in Chinese, but it doesn't matter. It is enough to use the built-in translator and everything will immediately become clear.

To go to the settings, the first thing you need to do is create a mi-account. There are plenty of instructions on how to do this on the Internet, so I won't give a specific link.

After logging into your account, you will need to add a router (link to your account) and only then the initial setting will become available. It looks complicated, in fact, everything is simpler than simple. Especially if you already have an account from Xiaomi.

In general, I have not configured anything special. The router independently determined the network settings and connected to the Internet

The interface will ask for a username and password where needed, and if something goes wrong, there is a built-in error correction system that works great.

In general, despite the fact that the gadget is entirely and completely Chinese, it is on friendly terms with our providers with a bang. Everything starts up with half a turn, and this is the most important thing.

Control

I preferred to delve into the settings through the proprietary MiWiFi Router app for Android. At the moment, the latest version is 2.2.30, and the actual software of the device itself is 2.14.6.

The most important thing is the presence of English on the menu. 90% of the interface has been translated, and places where hieroglyphs are present, as a rule, are associated with purely "local" services and are not interesting to us.

The welcome screen displays devices that are currently or were previously connected to the router. There can be up to 126 of them. This is really a lot and will be enough even for a large family and the smartest apartment.

Interestingly, the router is able to create a separate, guest network at 2.4 GHz, and provide access to it either in the usual mode (with a password, and so on), or through the WeChat or Dianping application. These services are, of course, not very popular with us, but the functionality itself is quite interesting.

For each device, you can see all the statistics, moreover, in the form of a graph.

Various useful tools were also found in the parameters. For example, you can audit the operation of a router and find out how you can speed up its operation and signal transmission speed. Of course, the tool is not the smartest, but extraneous Chinese services can be disabled through it.

In addition, it also has a built-in firewall, blacklist of connected devices, anti-hacking, and so on. Also, from the menu, you can artificially limit the signal transmission speed over Wi-Fi, if, for example, different devices use the same Internet channel, including over a wire.

For some reason, they put a cleaner and an anti-virus for the smartphone itself here. It turns out that Kaspersky is not needed either. On the other hand, I would not trust such outside customers.

Of course, such standard options for any similar gadget are supported as:

• installation of two networks (2.4 and 5 GHz)
• data transmission protection (WPA / WPA2)
• setting up a VPN connection
• built-in file manager
• backup of all settings to a file
• remote control via smartphone app

Concerning the latter. You can set up a kind of home server by connecting some USB flash drive or hard drive to Mi Router 3, and have access to it via the Internet or Wi-Fi network from different devices. The trick is useful, but all this is configured through the desktop client, which is ... in Chinese. At least for Mac OS X.

Nevertheless, simple file operations can be performed through the application on the smartphone. It's not a problem.

Outcome

I bought a Xiaomi Mi Router 3 to replace my AirPort Express. The latter did not suit me too much with its range, I wanted something more interesting. And since Xiaomi products are quite close to me (especially in terms of price!), The choice was unambiguous. It turned out that Mi Router 3 beats the Wi-Fi signal in about the same way. No, everything works well and within an average apartment and even higher (up to 150 m2) the signal will be good. If not, then blame the receiving device.

I'm talking about something else. You won't be able to buy anything like that for your money (about $ 30). You can take something like a USB access point, but nothing serious. And our router has a pliable character, a convenient application for managing it, high-quality implementation and very extensive functionality.

The official price in China is 149 yuan or $ 22. It is clear that this is only true for holders of a real Chinese address and a card issued by a bank from China. We have neither one nor the other, so it is worth looking in the direction of resellers. I ordered my device from here. It cost me $ 32, now they give it a little cheaper. I think this is a good offer for those who want to change their old access point and migrate to the modern 802.11 ac standard.

A fairly important topic is setting up a Xiaomi router. What every owner should do after purchasing and connecting the device. MI WI-FI 3, which will be discussed, is quite stable in operation, the main thing is to set the most necessary things in the device's web interface, and then you most likely won't have to look there anymore.

I am always amazed at the special "sharpening" of the products of this Chinese brand on the domestic Chinese market. The router is originally installed in Chinese and during setup, maybe someone will have to do this for the first and only time, it is almost impossible to intuitively figure out which hieroglyph that offers. And even the transition to alternative English is impossible without the appropriate prompting.

The very first entrance to the interface located at 192.168.31.1 or miwifi.com is puzzling.

Well at least there is a Google translator who translated this gibberish. It is proposed here to agree with the policy of the company and to join it, just. Check the box and move on.

Xiaomi Router 3 is practically a twin of the previous version of Xiaomi Mini, but it is equipped with four powerful antennas, which, however, does not give it any advantages in terms of the wi-fi signal level. The Chinese are too clever in this regard, and everyone who is not satisfied with the power of the transmitter will have to make upgrades at the software level. These are cardinal methods associated with changing the firmware or patching the stock, when the changes affect only this element.

In fairness, it should be noted that the radius of reliable signal reception from the router is 50 meters. But in a modern city, saturated in terms of the frequency range with various signals and waves, interference of all stripes and simply mechanical obstacles, this indicator is significantly reduced. In practice, going down from the third floor of my house, at the bottom of the entrance, I can no longer catch the signal.

The body of the router is lengthened as opposed to long antennas so as not to outweigh it. In this case, the device board takes up a little more than half of the internal space. But, in general, there are no comments on the appearance, everything is functional and pleasant visually and to the touch. As always, the company did its best and made a device that was quite decent in terms of build quality. Numerous photos clearly show that the router is not assembled on a knee in Uncle Liao's basement.

Completeness shows the Chinese "ears" of the device. If we look into the box, we will not see the LAN cable, and the power adapter plug will be under the Chinese socket with flat holes.

The router is urban and similar, as always with Xiaomi, to the products of its main American competitor.

There are not many parameters for evaluating the operation of the router, the main thing is that it does not pass or "lose" IP packets, is sufficiently stable and does not "break" the Internet connection. This was for me the biggest plus in his work, which is why I completely switched to this unit. Let's take, however, a specific consideration of the filling of the device.

Specifications Xiaomi Router 3

The heart of the router is the MediaTek MT7620A processor, which is good news. This chip has proven itself well on such common models as Zyxel Keenetic II (my former router), ASUS RT-AC52U, TP-Link and a number of other devices with good characteristics.

Ports: 2 LAN and 1 WAN, with bandwidth up to 100 Mbps.

So the difference is obvious. It is more of a wireless router, which is reflected in its second name - Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Router.

WI-FI is distributed at two frequencies: 2.4 Ghz up to 300 Mbps and 5 Ghz up to 867 Mbps.

Extremely important! In conditions of saturation of the air at a frequency of 2.4 Ghz, where today the available networks are like flies in the garden, the transition to a new unloaded frequency is more relevant than ever.

Which I immediately took advantage of. The quality of the connection has improved significantly, there are much fewer freezes, and the response speed has increased.

Compared to its predecessor, Xiaomi Mini, up to 128 MB of RAM (DDR-2) has been added. There is no built-in hard drive, but you can plug an external drive into the usb connector.

Perhaps this is where we can finish. The characteristics show a quite decent device, with a fast processor, sufficient RAM and an increased frequency range for distributing wireless Internet. What else is needed for a device with a price of 1,500 rubles.

Configuring the router

We got to the main point. Those who have come across Xiaomi Mini, there are almost no differences. Xiaomi Router 3 differs purely externally, the settings have not undergone changes, with the exception of a possible transition to English.

Connecting to a router from a PC or laptop

So, we turn on the device, then add the Internet port from the provider to the WAN port and wait.

A network from Xiaomi will appear on the laptop, which means that the router is ready to be configured via Wi-Fi. The address 192.168.31.1 is indicated on the box, we drive it into the address bar of your browser and we get to the page of the Web interface of the device.

After confirming the agreement, we get to the page of the wireless connection settings.

I must emphasize that the router itself will determine what type of connection you need. Since we're talking about a laptop with Wi-Fi enabled, we come up with a login and password for the wireless network. Password must not be less than 8 characters.

This page will appear twice, the second time you need to enter the password and login of the router itself, the so-called admin panel, after merging the router will reboot.

For setting in case of a stationary computer, the following picture will appear.

Where you will need to enter the data received from the provider, namely the login and password from the PPPoE connection. That is, in this case, we proceed directly to setting up the actual Internet connection, and only after that we prescribe the wireless network by the already described method, setting the login and password to enter one by one, first into the admin panel, then to the page of the wireless network itself.

Changing the firmware language of the router

You need the Internet to download the English version of the Xiaomi router software. The first steps are clear: we enter the admin panel under our previously invented password. You can directly from miwifi.com.

Checking Wi-Fi Settings

There is English, it is easier to navigate. It's time to start checking all the settings of the router for the distribution of Wi-Fi. The operation of the router depends on whether they are correctly set or not.

First you need to go into the settings and check the status of the 2.4 GHz band, whether it is on or not. If you are annoyed by neighbors, then you can switch exclusively to 5 GHz and forget about the crush in the common range. Take advantage of the fact that not all routers can still operate at 5 GHz, but everyone has 2.4.

Check the settings related to encryption of networks, or you can enable the guest wireless network. This will protect your computer from unwanted intrusion of possible viruses located in the devices of those who looked at you for a light. In this case, access to the external Internet will be provided, but with isolation from your local system.

If for some reason you need to change the name of the network and the password for it, then we are looking for English strings called: SSID and Password. No obstacles, we change and exit the admin panel.

Last thing. We expose Europe as a place of deployment.

As you can see, it is sparse. In general, there are too many complaints and questions about the stock firmware. Due to their limited and inconvenient orientation for a simple user, many are switching to more advanced systems, one of which I will present to you a little later.

Setting up a local network

In general, it is easier than the lungs. You just need to turn off Internet access. Whoever is unsure of his router and thinks that he will "dive" into the network by himself, then pull out the cord. Only not power supply, but the provider, which is inserted into the blue WAN port.

• enter the settings;
• LAN settings;
• turn on DHCP.

If you do not do this, then for confident distribution you will need to manually configure the allowed IP addresses on each gadget connected to the router. For TVs of the new formation, the inclusion of DHCP is almost mandatory.

I also advise you to change the main IP address of the router from 192.168.31.1 to the more familiar 192.168.1.1

Setting up network sharing

In principle, this has already been discussed separately in different parts of the article. Let's summarize and connect everything you need to get access to the network.

So, your provider (be sure to check what type of Internet is suitable for you) distributes to dynamic addresses, you only need to activate DHCP, see above for how to do this. To activate a PPPoE connection, when you have a login and password from, say, Rostelecom (for example, a dedicated fiber-optic line is connected), then the algorithm for setting up an access to the network is as follows:

Be sure to enable DNS autoselect function. This will instruct the router to turn on as soon as power is supplied. Auto-pickup will give you a comfortable state of the always-on Internet.

Check the Mac address. Perhaps the provider indicated a different one in the contract, and then you will definitely not have access to the network. Change it urgently in the settings. This completes the sharing settings for the Xiaomi router.

Additional security options

In the age of cybercrime and internet hacking, it is never superfluous to take care of your own security. Especially if you spend enough time online. Easily check who is on the internet using your wireless network. After all, this means that the attacker somehow found out the password.

For neutralization:

• go to settings;
• from there to safety;
• then access via Wi-Fi;
• block all suspicious MAC addresses, there is a block list for this, you just need to add a hostile device to it.

Well, no one forbade the good old way to change the password. Change it periodically, like in online banking.

Resetting the router settings

It will be needed to reset all settings and return to the state "from the factory", that is, the initial one. This procedure is performed occasionally when they want to get rid of the incorrect operation of the router, freezes, bugs and other errors that appear more and more often. To check what is the root cause of all these troubles, a factory reset is applied.

Everything just go to the settings, then the status (the rightmost option). A page appears in which the reset option is present and the function of saving and returning to the past state is prudently enabled. Since with a full reset and return to the factory state, the English language will definitely disappear. You can play it safe and make a copy of the system so that you can use it at the right time. But if there is no return, then we press reset and then re-roll the English language, as described above.

As you can see, it is quite easy to reset the settings of the router to the factory settings, if only you do not regret it later. Indeed, by that time, your native firmware on your router may have been replaced with a custom one, and God knows how much work it cost you.

Features of alternative firmware

Actually, she is alone. But what a! ASUS Padavan rules and leaves no chance for any other, including the native Chinese. As soon as I bought this router, from the very beginning I did not want to bother picking at Chinese characters, endless translations and settings. When every action is associated with a mistake and you are like a blind man poking around in a dark room. I knew about this firmware from the beginning and got ready for a flashing ahead of time. Instructions posted on YouTube on the transition to this firmware as detailed and specific as possible. It worked the first time, despite some difficulties.

And what did I get in return? I received a completely unfamiliar device with many new functions that were not even mentioned in the written article. The benefits are enormous:

• Russian interface language, this circumstance alone eliminates all doubts;
• the presence of a huge number of additional settings, you can clearly see the statistics of processes, memory and processor load;
• there is IPTV, if your provider broadcasts TV channels, it is easy to set up their viewing using a router;
• torrent client, download whatever you want to the external drive connected to the router;
• you can create a cloud or vpn network;
• The settings are all at hand, the interface is much more convenient, you won't get lost;
• All those "goodies" with which the stock firmware pleased, are also present here.

You can still describe all the advantages of this firmware for a long time, I will only add that according to the results of a survey on the w3bsit3-dns.com site, this firmware is far ahead of all the others. She is a leader and that says it all. It was she who revealed all the advantages of the Mi 3 router.

Installing! Do not be afraid of the difficulties that will immediately catch your eye, all this will pay off in the future. You will not regret.

Working with external drives on a router

I already mentioned that the Padavan firmware has the ability to control hard drives connected to the usb connector of the router. Full access to the drive is carried out directly from the new office. There is no such possibility on the stock firmware. You will not be able to see what is on your drive through the web interface, much less manage this content.

The only way is to install the MI WI-FI Router mobile client. After installing the version for Android, you need to register at miwifi.com and then launch the application.

We are looking for the "Storage" tab and rejoice. The connected drive will be displayed in full, with all your folders and files. The router will help you copy, move, delete this data. Anything you want. The application on the phone will send commands to the router.

This is the fee for using the stock firmware, whether you have a third-party one, these difficulties can be avoided.

The settings for a Xiaomi router are inherently straightforward. If not for the Chinese language. But even this circumstance will not prevent you from achieving uninterrupted operation from your device, you need to take everything into account and finally configure it once.

Good day to everyone, dear friends, acquaintances, readers, admirers and other joys.

I decided to put, how to say it, a little sideways on the antennas, so that, again, you can estimate the dimensions:

Here is a full view of this device, as they say, from the back:

Total we see (from left to right):

• A feeding hole (in the sense of a power input);
• WAN port;
• Two LAN-port
• USB-connector.

The slot above (in the photo below) of the connectors is for ventilation, i.e. cooling. Here, in fact, is how it is generally implemented:

In principle, yes, it works, I was never able to warm up the router to some inadequate values ​​with freezes, reboots and other horrors of life. However, the attentive reader will notice that there are no holes for mounting on the wall and this is depressing.

On the other hand, on the table the device looks like a premium-class device and, in general, will nicely fit into any interior .. Considering that you can hide wires, etc.

As for the configuration, it is very meager (although more is not needed):

• The router itself;
• Power supply device;
• Instruction.

Okay, on the sim, perhaps, with the photos finished and let's move on to the technical characteristics and use.

Specifications, use and impressions

Let's start with the tactical and technical characteristics of the router. I will omit any marketing nuances there, because I think that the reader will be much more interested in the bare facts.

The very first launch (taking into account that you traditionally plugged the router through the cable) will greet us with a large number of hieroglyphs and a complete misunderstanding of what they want from us, but they will want to ask us a name and password to access the router. By the way, the web interface does not live here according to the standard 192.168.1.1 , and at the address 192.168.31.1 and does not even have English (not to mention Russian) with him, but only Chinese (Japanese?).

And here (and further in general) you can get scared, but act intuitively (like the author), or you can not suffer and download the cool official application MiWiFi Router on the phone, say, in or, which will automatically find and configure the router from the phone and without a web interface, avoiding a bunch of hieroglyphs and other difficulties.

Unfortunately, we will not consider the setup process from scratch, because a lot depends on the type of connection provided by your provider and will generally take an entire article (I think, if you ask, we will do it later), but now we still have an overview. And yes, that's why, in the first screenshot above (and all that will follow), an option for a configured router is already presented.

As mentioned above, the most ambush is that it is not yet possible to change the language, even by specifying the region (as is the case with younger brothers Xiaomi routers) and you first have to do everything at your own peril and risk.

This is how the main page looks like. Graphs of load, speed, connected devices via Wi-fi, consumed traffic, etc. Everything is available and happy (clickable):

The problem is solved by auto-translation, say, from Google, that is, in the web interface, on the desired page, right-click and select the item " Translate to Russian", after which we get the Russian language on this particular page:

And repeat this every time you need to receive a translation (of course, provided that you have already managed to set up the Internet on your router) .. Well, or use the aforementioned application for your phone. Here is an example of the same page with translation (clickable):

As mentioned above, there is even a display of the degree of processor and memory load. At the very least, it is pleasant, and if you know how to use it, it is sometimes useful.

The setup process in the standard firmware is not something phenomenal, there are all the necessary items from Wi-Fi to detailed Internet settings, port forwarding, black-and-white lists, DHCP and other details (clickable):

For some reason, the truth is absent, as I understand it, such a wonderful thing as a firewall, a ban on responding to pings from the WAN and other security things. This is depressing. I hope that they will do it in the future, or at least it will be in alternative firmware.

By the way, little has been heard about alternative firmware, apparently this is due to the novelty of the router. On my beloved W3bsit3-dns.com while there is information about what you can try to hoist ASUS (Padavan), but I would not recommend (specifically for this model, that is), because there are chances that the device will turn into a brick. It is better to wait a little, or use what is, since, in general, all the settings for an ordinary user, as a rule, are needed according to the principle "set it up and forget it once".

As mentioned in the specifications (and not only) the device supports 2,4 and 5 GHz frequencies for Wi-Fi... The latter is very good, because 2,4 long and tightly crammed everywhere and everywhere, which affects stability, speed and what the hell knows what else.

What's nice is that you can configure each network separately, that is, give it your own name-password, as well as the type of encryption, etc. Enable one and turn off the other. In short, plus everything, it can work in the "double unity" mode (c), and speaking reasonably, in fact, in a dual-range, that is, switch from 2.4 GHz on the 5 GHz and vice versa, depending on what is needed and when.

As for the speeds, the power is not cut off. Here's an example for a wired connection:

Here is an example of speed Wi-Fi from a laptop (at this moment the router "hangs" about 6-7 devices in different ranges):

Hope the reader understands that the speed Wi-Fi is determined not only by the power-speed of the router, but also by the speed-power of the device, that is, in this case Wi-Fi the transmitter on the router.

Okay, we've figured out the synthetic tests. Then began multi-day strength testing .. And here the most ambush began. Even with an average load in terms of the number of connections per one (and the downloads and distributions themselves in the torrent):

The processor with memory makes a sharp jump to the maximum and generally does not get out of there anymore:

The "normal" (surfing the pages) Internet begins to choke, Wi-Fi and everything in the world. The problem is partially solved by enabling QoS, but in order to turn it on, you need to get into the router interface, and to get there you need, in fact, to break through there, because instead of it we see an error:

In general, the capacity is clearly not enough, it chokes and can hardly breathe. Although we must give it its due - the connection does not break or overheat. If you reduce the load intensity and all that jazz, then you can live and breathe:

But somehow it already becomes insulting and sad, because you have to wait longer and do more all kinds of gestures.

Well .. Here it is probably worth stopping and moving on to conclusions that will help you make a purchase.

Conclusions and summaries

Let's summarize.

• Stylish router that looks like a premium device;
• Support 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz ranges;
• Excellent, despite the dollar rate, the price;
• Excellent coverage due to 4 powerful antennas;
• Availability USB and mobile applications for interacting with the router via Wi-Fi;
• Does not cut connection speed, does not overheat;
• Has acceptable power.

• Does not have (at the time of writing the review) firmware with support for at least English;
• Under heavy load (torrents at speed 100 Mb) begins to choke;
• Lack of gigabit ports;
• No wall mount.

My impression is strictly pleasant (I would buy;)), and therefore, let's say this:

• If you need a router that looks good, costs good, has support 5 GHz range and has excellent coverage, this is definitely a good choice. Although, it is likely that you should wait for the new official (or better, alternative firmware).

Well, and traditionally an afterword.

Afterword, discounts, coupons and where to buy

Such are the pies.

The device is carefully provided by a quite good Chinese online store. GearBest... By the way, they have a Russian version of the site, which can be found, and therefore, if you decide to take it there, then there will be a direct link to the router (by the way, it works now, and not only to this router).

As always, if you have any questions, thoughts, additions and all that stuff, then welcome to the comments on this post. As they say, in hot pursuit and free hands;)