Xiaomi Mi Mini WIFi router test

What's in the box

The small Xiaomi Mi Mini Router is delivered in a well-known cardboard box with no frills. A power supply was included, but it comes with a Chinese connector. Most dealers often include an EU adapter. There is also an operating manual, but it is entirely in Chinese.

Overview of the Xiaomi router

The Xiaomi router has two LAN and one WAN port, as well as a USB port. In addition to the power connection, there is also a reset button. A power button is completely missing. Unfortunately the LAN ports and the WAN port only deliver 100 Mbit / s. Xiaomi also used the old USB 2.0 standard and not USB 3.0 for the USB port.

Many are now probably wondering what should be so great about the small Xiaomi Mi router. Well, the small part contains the MT7620A chip for the frequency band of 2.4 GHz and the MT7612E for the 5 GHz band. These high-quality chips can usually only be found in far more expensive routers. In addition, the Xiaomi Mini Router can use the new AC protocol, which ensures a higher data rate and range.

Startup procedure

Once the Xiaomi router is connected, you just have to set it up via the web interface. The Chinese operating instructions can be found in the router's default LAN address, but everything else is in Chinese.

If you surf the Xiaomi Mi Mini, the surface is completely in Chinese. Here, however, the Google translator will help us. With it, the entire web interface can be translated into any language. If you have no internet at the beginning and the translator does not work, you should use a smartphone and translate it!

Once you have made the most important settings, I advise the router to update. Updates come out about every two weeks and can be directly on the surface, or manually import.

Web interface

 Overview page 
Here you can see which devices are connected, how much traffic they generate and how the router is busy (CPU and RAM). It also contains information about the MAC address and the current firmware.

 Home-Cloud 
On Mi router can connect a USB disk, which allows you to operate the mini as your own small home cloud. This allows you to stream movies and music, among other things. You can also move and save data within the network.

 settings: 
Here you can make the settings for the 2.4 and 5 GHz WLAN. You can change the signal strength, freely choose the encryption and the channels and even set up your own WLAN visitor.
In addition, you can make many other settings, as synonymous with standard routers.

 Advanced Settings... 
Here you can choose the transmission rate of the individual devices, so-called QoS. QoS is particularly suitable for shared flats, where disputes can quickly ensue if the WG partner takes full advantage of the line. With QoS you could solve the problem.
In addition to DHCP, DDNS, UPnP and port forwarding, VPN services can also be entered. However, only PPTP or L2TP is possible.

OpenWrt

The highlight of the Xiaomi Mi router is that it OpenWrt capable. Anyone who is a bit tech savvy can easily install a fully functional OpenWrt on this little router. For those who do not know what OpenWrt is: OpenWrt is an open Linux distribution, which replaces the Xiaomi web interface.

I myself recommend installing a modified OpenWrt version that is used on comparable ASUS router models. The so-called “Padavan firmware” is compatible with the Mi Mini Router and can be compiled via git. As a result, the functions of the router are expanded a lot and you get a clean user interface because the source code is open. In addition, this firmware is extremely stable and is constantly being expanded by a large community.