Connecting and setting up a Wi-Fi signal amplifier from Xiaomi

Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Amplifier signal amplifier - what is it for?

The quality of communication in closed buildings and structures remains the main problem, due to which the user may be dissatisfied with the signal. The Internet connection may not provide the connection that the provider promises. Even powerful routers are unable to provide stable Internet, especially in conditions of reinforced concrete walls. In order to expand the coverage area of ​​routers, Xiaomi repeaters, or repeaters, as they are also called, are used.

Even routers with good strong signals cannot guarantee a flawless connection. This is due to signal loss due to the presence of walls and partitions in the building. At some distance the signal will be good. By testing the speed in different parts of the room, you can identify problem areas. This is where you will need to place a repeater, which is a signal repeater.

Such equipment operates as follows: after connecting to the network and carrying out the initial settings, it is connected to the router. Thus, repeaters simply duplicate the signal. There is no need to change other connection parameters. Some router models produced today by well-known brands have a repeater option. But in most cases, this is independent specialized equipment.

Peculiarities

The most popular models came to hand - Xiaomi Mi WiFi Repeater 2 and Xiaomi Amplifier 2. The difference between them is not that big. So the entire review can be considered as a single model, with the same principles.

Xiaomi Amplifier 2

When you hold other models in your hands - TP-Link or ASUS, and then you get this... the impression is ambiguous. But lately the Chinese from Xiaomi have been surprising only in the best sense of the word, and this model was no exception.

Here are the main features that, in my opinion, distinguish this model on the market:

Any consultation: 8

Xiaomi branded equipment store in Moscow. Original products and quality service at affordable prices. We work directly with the manufacturing plant.

Xiaomi's small USB-powered Wi-Fi repeater (some call it a Wi-Fi booster) is a cheap and powerful tool for extending the range of Wi-Fi networks. The downside is that (officially) it is only compatible with Xiaomi's own routers, and Xiaomi does not provide documentation to allow the WiFi repeater to work with other routers.

Features of setup with the Mi Home application

Before setting up the Xiaomi router as a repeater or as an independent equipment in the Smart Home system, you need to register a Mi account. Of course, the desired application must be installed on the gadget, and the language and region of broadcasting must be selected.

The gateway is now plugged into the home electrical outlet. The power button is pressed and held for several seconds until the yellow indicator lights up. In the Mi Home application, the user finds the equipment that he currently needs (in our case, a router).

Characteristics

According to the repeater, there is nothing to write about the person. The function itself is an extension of an already existing network. Operates on the 2.4 GHz standard. By the way, for people who still have old devices at home that work on the “b” and “g” standards, this transmitter only works with the 802.11n protocol. There is support for MIMO 2 x 2, which is why the speed in the wireless space reaches 300 Mbps. It is very compact in size and not large.

There are two antennas to amplify the signal and reception, by the way, that’s why it supports MIMO 2 x 2. For those who don’t know, this is a technology that allows you to almost double the speed by sending different packets in two streams. That is, one packet is split into two and one is sent from the first antenna, and the second from the second. But here you need to take into account that the central router must also support this technology. Otherwise, the speed will be only 150 Mbps.

Possible problems during setup

Even experienced users of the Smart Home system encounter problematic situations. As practice shows, when choosing a region, it is better to take a scenario called “China”. It is in this case that the most comprehensive and expanded functionality is guaranteed. Xiaomi equipment can be picky about local IP addresses, so you need to pay attention to how they are registered.

Among other potential errors, we highlight the following:

• in the router settings add DNS address 8.8.8.8.;
• Xiaomi Gateway update;
• the SSID must be visible and accessible in the router settings;
• disable MAC address filtering in the settings.

The normal color of the device indicator is blue. It indicates that the connection is configured and there are no errors in operation. However, the orange or red LED may be on. In this case, it is recommended to completely reboot the device by pressing the reset button. The connection will be established when the indicator lights up blue.

Speed ​​testing

Xiaomi Wi-Fi Repeater testing was carried out using smartphone applications Magic iPerf and Speedtest.net in 3 conditional situations:

• indoor use: the repeater is located in an area with a signal level of 2 divisions;
• outdoor use: the repeater lies on a glassed-in balcony. Distance to smartphone 30 meters.
• Outdoor use: the repeater is in the room, on the windowsill of the balcony. The distance to the smartphone is 30-35 meters.

The test results are shown in the table.

	Magic iPerf Mbps	Speedtest.net
		Reception Mbit/s	Upload Mbit/s
Situation No. 1	17	35	18,5
Situation No. 2	3	5,6	7
Situation No. 3	There are no results because the smartphone was lost with the repeater

Plug and pray

I don’t like any branded non-standard applications.
Life is too short to learn a separate interface for each manufacturer. And I especially don’t like people trying to gain access to all the functions of my smartphone. Naturally, this repeater was going to be configured via the web interface. I’m used to the fact that even an ESP8266 device with a brain the size of a poppy seed can create a web server for its setup. 1 act. I turned it on, saw the new network, what IP? Google didn’t help - everyone writes only through the application.

Well, for particularly brazen applications I have a hardware sandbox - an old Gnusmas tablet. SM-T311, Android 4.2.2. I go to Play - hell, it’s not compatible. Although Android for MiHome seems to need from 4.0, and Samsung seems to be a fairly well-known manufacturer...

Okay, on my Wileyfox Swift 2x Android is fresh, 7.1. I have already learned to ask permission about applications at the time of the first attempt. So I simply won’t allow you to call if anything happens. I install the application from Play. Some kind of crap, half in Chinese, half in English. Well, I choose an American server. I register some kind of MI account, I don’t need it for nothing. I can't configure the repeater. I download the application using the QR code from the packaging. The language is better, Russian appears. I still can’t configure the repeater. I take my wife’s phone, Xiaomi redme 3s - it seems to be racially correct - the same crap. I download the adapted version from 4pda to my phone again - without results.

The application requires you to log into your Mi account, then it sees the repeater, offers to configure it, asks for the name and password of the WiFi point that it will repeat, spins up to 89%, crashes due to a timeout

Screenshots of this misery

When you try to add a device manually, it asks you to reset the repeater, then sees it, then
the priest had a dog
.

That's why I don't like all these magical settings for housewives. Even from Apple.

Act 2 Okay, I'll see what's on the air. It turns out that if you carry out two connection cycles, but at the end of the second the repeater lights up the blue LED, clings to my router and creates an access point with the _plus suffix. Although he tells the application that nothing happened.

I go to the IP repeater and find neither http nor https servers to configure. Well, the dog is with him. Works.

By the way, the fact that it creates a separate SSID, and does not spit into the same one, is pleasing. We will see this in the 1st series of tests.

intermission. I smoked the topic on 4pda. I’m not the only one, there’s enough screaming that it doesn’t work. The advice boils down to changing your phone, location, gender and age and trying again.

Act 3 I put Mainland China in the same application. The position asks you to re-enter your login password. Then it completely changes the interface. Half-Russian, half-Chinese. I also renamed the hieroglyphs in Reater

But in the Chinese version, the application detects the repeater without any problems

In this mode you can even change the name of the access point

There is even a proposal to enable WiFi roaming (so that the repeater uses the same SSID that the router created). But when I try to turn it on, it doesn't work.

Well, that’s true - Xiaomi software - without any glitches?

Advantages and disadvantages

Users of Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Amplifier 2 highlight the following advantages:

1. Low price
2. Small size.
3. Easy setup.
4. Beautiful design.

Disadvantages include:

1. Setting up a Xiaomi Wi-Fi repeater is difficult without studying the instructions.
2. The MiHome application does not work correctly on smartphones with 1 GB of RAM or less.

Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Amplifier v2 is a device that significantly improves the use of Wi-Fi Internet connections in large rooms at a modest price.

Mi Wifi Repeater 2 from Xiaomi is a device for strengthening the Internet signal indoors, no matter whether it is a house, apartment or office.

Why does not it work?

There are problems with the signal amplifier. Among the main ones are:

• For some reason the official application cannot see the network;
• during installation, everything freezes at 92% - 93% and writes that the time to connect the amplifier has expired;
• The device light turns orange and blinks constantly;
• The device overheats very much.

If your gadget does not turn on or refuses to work, it is worth checking:

• the performance of your router;
• correctness of the filled in user data;
• make sure that the amplifier was installed and configured correctly;
• check the firmware for updates;
• make sure you select the correct geolocation.

In addition, you should try disabling location permission. This can be easily done in the smartphone settings. All you have to do is find the permissions for applications on your device, find the application you need and turn off permission to access your location.

• Wi-Fi signal amplifier Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Amplifier Pro. Waffle for the bathroom and toilet!

You shouldn’t write off the fact that the gadget may simply be defective. In this case, replace it with a new one, but make sure you try everything.

Inner world

I didn’t break the repeater, I found a dismemberment on w3bsit3-dns.com

The mt7628kn datasheet is visible. This is a whole router on a chip - up to a 5-port 100 Mbit switch and a PCI-E interface

What kind of memory and how much is not clear.
The J1 nickels are visible, looking very much like a serial interface. I didn’t google anything about alternative firmware. Only power comes from USB. So it was in vain that I put the car into Linux and looked at the dmesg output - there was silence. This means that the repeater negotiates with the native router via WiFi.

What settings need to be made on the laptop?

For subsequent connection, you will first need to configure the equipment on the laptop. For this purpose, you will need to download a special one. MiHome application. There is no Russified version yet, so you will have to use the existing format. To configure, you need to do the following:

1. Connect the repeater to your laptop.
2. Open the traffic network “(gadget model name) – Repeater”.
3. Check that the gadget connects automatically.

When connecting, you should carefully monitor the LED indicator. When the color changes to blue, it means the device is functioning.

Mi Wifi Repeater 2 – instructions

When performing the initial launch and setup of the Xiaomi repeater, you will need to perform the following simple steps for the user:

1. The desired region is selected and used to launch devices in the list.
2. The downloaded application requires authorization. Here you use your own social network account.
3. After redirecting the person, a special menu will appear on the screen in which the devices will be displayed.
4. Here the + Add Device button is activated, which finds the amplifier. If the required device is not found, it is entered manually.
5. The gadget connects to the traffic and the exact access point is determined.
6. You need to connect the gadget from which you plan to access the network to the newly created network.

If you strictly follow these instructions, if after all the activities you click on connect, you will be able to not only use the provided Internet, but download large amounts of information via USB.

Experience of use

Many users, according to reviews on Yandex.Market, have problems connecting the repeater to a router not made by Xiaomi. It manifests itself in the fact that the application does not “see” the device.

This problem is resolved by changing the location. To do this, go to the “Profile” menu => “Settings” => “Language and location” on the main screen and specify the location “Mainland China” or “Taiwan”. If the problem does not disappear, then choose another country.

At the end of the setup, the application may display an error message about connecting to the router. But the indicator on it will change color from yellow to blue, and a name like “signal source name_plus” will appear in the list of available Wi-Fi networks.

Users are complaining about unstable connections. This problem can be eliminated by installing it in places where the Wi-Fi signal level is 2-3 bars. The reason is the principle of operation of the device. The repeater repeats the signal received from the router, but does not amplify it.

You can improve signal reception by the repeater, and therefore increase the distance to the router, using a homemade external antenna.

It will require:

• stationery scissors;
• aluminum can of Coca-Cola, beer or other drink.

Manufacturing:

1. Cut off the top part of the jar (1-2 cm from the edge).
2. Make a rectangular slot 30x9 mm in the bottom.
3. Make 5-6 cuts at equal distances in the top of the jar.
4. Bend the resulting gaps outward.
5. Place the resulting antenna on the repeater.

Why do I need such a beast?

I thought of two usage scenarios for it, which are less convenient to execute with a second router in access point mode.
Both scenarios, no doubt, are not so vital. But I go out on my own - I have the right to be funny. First of all, I want there to be normal WiFi on the playground when I’m out with the children. And my ASUS RT-N56U perfectly covers the apartment and is even visible on the playground on one side of the house. But weakly and not at all. But on the other side the house is not visible at all. Putting two more access points on window sills is unsightly. And so, before going out for a walk, I plug the repeater into the power bank, or connect it to the charger, and throw it on the windowsill. It works, the signal on the street is radically better. If you don’t need it, you tear it out of the USB port and that’s it.

Secondly, as a traveling router and at the dacha I use the NEXX WT3220 with alternative firmware. One whose native antennas are weak and at the dacha from a hard drive connected to it cannot watch cartoons from a USB drive from anywhere. The idea is to plug in a repeater next to or directly into NEXX, rather than bother soldering external antennas to a small router.

What is it for?

Well, if you are already here, then you know exactly what it is needed for. In my case, the repeater was needed to distribute the Internet to another room after increasing the area, and so as not to move the main router.

• Recommended settings for 802.11n wireless connection

Why do you need it? I don’t know... Maybe we’ll also expand the area, maybe we’ll put it on the street. The main essence of this device is to pick up data from an existing Wi-Fi network and create a duplicate of this point at a distance. Those. Now, under the same name and password, another point will operate, which transmits a signal from the first access point. Moreover, you will not need to connect to this point manually - your phone or laptop will automatically select the network with the strongest signal and connect to it.

If the amplifier lights up orange?

In situations in which the device refuses to work and lights up orange, you need to do the following:

• reboot the amplifier by pressing the Reset button inside the device with a needle (from the kit) - this will help reset the settings;
• reinstall the program on your smartphone by doing the installation again;
• change your location (preferably, put China);
• install the Russian version of the software.

In operating condition, orange flashing may occur during the initial setup of the amplifier connection and will not last more than a minute. After a successful connection, the LED will change to solid blue, indicating a successful connection.

It wouldn't hurt to install WPA2-PSK on the router. To do this, you need to go to the settings of your wi-fi router. Just open the browser and write the following in the address bar: “192.168.0.1” in the login/nickname field write “admin”, password - “admin”. The settings window will open automatically, go to “Wireless mode”, then “Wireless protection”. We find the name WPA/WPA2 and set the above-mentioned WPA2-PSK with AES encryption and a password that you set yourself.

Now you know how to install, connect and configure Mi WiFi Repeater 2. As you can see, setting up Xiaomi WiFi Repeater 2 should not take much time, but if the red light is on / orange is flashing and the device does not work, try rebooting using the algorithms suggested above - should help.

Greetings, dear reader! Quite recently I wrote about signal amplifiers and noted an interesting example from Xiaomi, and now it came to me for review. Not just one, but several. So, let's look at Xiaomi repeaters, their features, basic setup, features and benefits. Begin!

Content