How to Set Up Xiaomi Mi 3 Router

Blog about modems, routers and gpon ont terminals.

Recently, thanks to information about the sale of one of the participants in our VKontakte group, I became the owner of the new dual-band WiFi router Xiaomi Mi3 at a very profitable sale on AliExpress. For Russia, such a device at a price of less than 2000 rubles is already a serious statement from Xiaomi, which has already won a good rating of sales of mobile phones and has now taken up routers and wireless adapters.
In a flat box that the courier brought me, I found a Spartan simple set. a router, a power supply and a booklet with instructions for quick installation in Chinese.

And the device itself is practically an example of minimalism: a small lightweight case made of nice matte plastic with one single LED. a power indicator. Nothing extra! Compared to similar models from other manufacturers, Mi3 is very miniature:

When you take the Xiaomi Mi3 router into your hands, it is surprising how its antennas do not outweigh. Apparently for this purpose, the case was made twice as long as the board, which is hidden in it.

Xiaomi Mi-WiFi Mi3 Router Features:

Ports

WiFi Wireless:

The hardware part of Xiaomi Mi3 has very good performance. Chip MediaTek MT7620A used on a fairly large number of models of good routers. ASUS RT-AC52U, TP-Link Archer C20, Linksys RE6700, Zyxel Keenetic III, etc. RAM for the eyes is enough for all his tasks. At the same time, the device does not heat up too much and passive cooling in the form of a holey bottom of the case is enough for it.
Another distinguishing feature of the Xiaomi Mi3 router is that it has only 2 LAN ports.

That is, the Chinese are already making the main bet on a wireless network, leaving copper links for various peripherals such as a printer or NAS drive. In addition, support for the 5GHz band allows you to solve all the problems with WiFi in congested wireless networks high-rise buildings.
In general, for its price. this is a great choice!

Basic setup of Xiaomi Mi3

The basis for the firmware of Xiaomi Mi3 router is taken by the free OpenWRT platform with a modified Luci user interface. The IP address used on the local network is 192.168.31.1. Mi3 is also available through the miwifi.com hostname, which the browser automatically visits when you first connect a network device to a computer. Next, the user is greeted by the Xiaomi Quick Setup Wizard:

The first step is to accept the terms of the agreement. Press the button “Agree” and go to the choice of the device:

Two options are available here:. “router” (Mode) or “repeater” (Repeater mode). Choose the first one.
Next, you need to think up and enter a password on WiFi. it will be used both in the usual 2.4 GHz band and in the extended. 5 GHz band.

Pay attention to the checkbox “Turn on penetration mode”. this is the penetration mode. That is, the signal power of the Wi-Fi module is set to maximum. If you do not need it, just uncheck and the balanced mode with medium radiation will be used.
Click on “Next”.

Now you need to think up and enter a password to enter the panel of the Web interface. After that, click on the “Set up successfully” button and wait for the Xiaomi Mi3 router to apply the settings and reboot:

If everything went well, then the following window will appear at the end of the quick setup:

Click on the “Router admin page” button and get into the full web interface of the device.

How to set up an internet connection

On the Xiaomi MiWiFi Mi3 router, the Internet connection is configured in the section Settings. Internet settings:

The default connection type is: Dynamic IP. DHCP.
If your provider uses this particular option, then nothing more needs to be done.
In those cases when your telecom operator is Beeline, then you need to create another L2TP tunnel. I’ll talk about this below.

If you need to configure PPPoE on Xiaomi Wi3 Wi-Fi router (for example, for Dom.ru or Rostelecom), then in the “Network Settings” subsection, select this protocol in the list of available ones:

Below you need to register in the appropriate fields the login and password for the connection that you received in the subscription department when concluding the contract.
Press the “App” button to apply the parameters.

To connect to the Internet from Beeline, you need to create another connection that rises above DHCP. To do this, go to the section Advanced VPN:

Click on the button “Add service”. The following window will appear:

Here we write the name of the connection, the protocol type is L2TP, the Beeline server address is tp.internet.beeline.ru. Also, for authorization, you must specify the login (usually this is the personal account number) and password received when concluding the contract. Click on the “Save” button.
The following line should appear in the table of VPN connections:

For the router to raise this connection, you must click the “Connect” button. We check access to the Internet.

WiFi wireless network

If you need to change the Wi-Fi network settings on Xiaomi Mi3, then open the section Settings. WiFi Settings:

In order to change the SSID, you need to enter a new network name in the parameters of the required range in the “Name” field. In the “Password” field, you can find out which password on WiFi is used, or enter a new one. In the “Guest WiFi” subsection, you can activate the guest access point, which is turned off by default. It will be isolated from the main network and clients will not see computers from LAN.

Xiaomi Mi-WiFi Firmware Update

Xiaomi wireless routers have an automatic system for checking for the latest firmware version. To use it, you need to open this menu in the upper right corner:

We select the item “Updating” and get here on such a page:

The device will automatically check for new firmware on the Xiaomi server and, if there is one, will offer to install it.
If necessary, the flashing of the router can be done manually by clicking on the “Update Manually” button.