Xiaomi portable mini usb wireless router. Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Mini wireless router. What does a Xiaomi wifi adapter look like?

Wireless technologies have firmly occupied their niche and continue to actively develop. There is no longer any desire to scatter wires throughout the apartment; Wi-Fi technology is available in almost every home. And if laptops, tablets and phones are already equipped with Wi-Fi receivers, then what to do with a desktop computer? Of course, you need to connect a Wi-Fi adapter, of which there are a great many on the market. Of course, Xiomi couldn’t stand aside and released it a long time ago Portable USB Mini WiFi Adapter.

How does Xiaomi usually beat its competitors? Affordable price and high-quality hardware, this statement is not lost on this WiFi adapter. The price of 300 rubles makes it one of the most affordable on the market, and the length of the device is less than 3 centimeters. But it is worth noting that the case is a little plump; with two parallel USB ports, it can slightly squeeze out its neighbor:

It is clearly visible that the adapter wireless mouse A4tech is noticeably smaller than the Xiaomi Wi-Fi adapter. But both devices will work. The laptop will no longer disturb anyone:

Why insert the adapter into a laptop, it also has built-in Wi-FI? The fact is that this device can also work in access point mode - receiving the Internet from a computer, distributing a separate Wi-Fi network. This may come in handy if, for example, you go out of town and use a 4G usb modem.

If you care about appearance, you can choose from 6 available colors:

I liked the black one better, less flashy, although easier to lose.

Let's see what this little guy can do:

Characteristics of Xiaomi USB Wi-Fi adapter

The characteristics do not stand out as anything special, a simple budget adapter, neither 5GHz, nor USB 3.0. And what can you demand for 300 rubles?

The delivery set includes the adapter itself, a cover and a cord. The adapter cover is very easy to lose, so it is better to immediately put it in a safe place.

Let's move on to connecting the adapter.

Xiaomi MI Portable USB Mini WiFi Driver

For most competitors, drivers are pulled from Windows Update and installed automatically, but for Xiaomi you need to find and install drivers yourself. Big minus to the manufacturer for this! Also an original program on Chinese, but we already know that Xiaomi software is far from perfect, and some problems have to be overcome. And in this case, not everything is so complicated, let's download the Russian version of the drivers and applications for Windows.

Let's proceed to the installation, run the exe file and click the "Install" button.

After installation, a program icon appears in the tray and a notification about the need to connect the adapter to the computer.

If after connecting the adapter the message “Unable to connect” appears, you need to right-click on the application icon and select “Restart Wi-FI”, after which the device should work. By default, Wi-Fi distribution mode is turned on; to change it to receiving mode, also right-click on the application and select “Client Mode”. Perhaps we’ll consider it first.

Client mode

In client mode, your computer has the ability to connect to a Wi-Fi network. There is nothing tricky here, just as there are no additional settings. If suddenly your router emits a 5GHz signal, the adapter will not find your WiFi network. Mi Portable Wi-Fi will only work with a computer; if you plug it into a TV, you won’t be able to configure it.

Speed ​​measurements will be lower, but for now let’s switch to access point mode by pressing the only available button.

Access Point Mode

In access point mode, more functionality is available. In the main settings window, you can select the name and security of the network being created, as well as additional properties. The interface color can also be changed to one of 6 available colors.

Management of already connected devices is also available. You can set a speed limit for the device, or ban it. You can also allow the device to control the WiFi adapter. This is necessary to provide some additional functionality.

The application is entirely in Russian, divided into 3 pages by function:

All functions work great, but only a network drive will be in demand.

MI Portable USB Mini WiFi Speed ​​Test

I, like many in Russia, have speed limits from the provider of 100 Mbit/sec. And the advantage of this is the limitation of the tariff plan (I have 60 Mbit/sec). But I am interested in the stability of the speed, so I watched the download of a torrent file weighing about 8 GB. This took about 30 minutes from average speed 4.2 MB/sec. I hope everyone remembers the difference between a megabit and a megabyte.

During loading, slight fluctuations in speed were observed, but no critical drops were detected:

Stability wi-fi speed strongly depends on the conditions in which the device is operated. Distance and obstacles to the router, the number of WiFi networks of neighbors - noticeably distort the indicators. According to personal observations, while surfing the Internet and watching movies online, I did not notice any difference between the cable and the Xiaomi adapter.

Increase the speed of Xiaomi Mi Portable

There are some software restrictions at the driver level. If the adapter speed is not enough for you, then this limitation can be removed. To do this, go to the device manager, to do this, right-click on the “This PC” icon and go to the “Device Manager” tab. Find Xiaomi Wireless Adapter in the list of network adapters and go to properties. In the additional parameters there is an item "Multimedia/Game environment", it must be enabled.

Even if you don’t specifically need an adapter, you can order it to complement other equipment. It can be useful at any time, for example, as an IT specialist, I often have to share Wi-Fi from my phone and connect users’ PCs. In general, the device is not bad, it’s worth taking a closer look.

With a Xiaomi wireless router. This Chinese manufacturer is interesting because it offers modern and high-quality products for affordable price. At the same time, in its catalog you can find both smartphones and tablets, as well as numerous accessories, as well as “smart” home devices. Unfortunately, most products are officially supplied only to the local market and have only a Chinese interface and documentation, which makes it very difficult for domestic users to get to know them.

The model discussed in this article is positioned as budget solution- it has only two wired ports, the speed of which is 100 Mbit/s. At the same time, the device has support for two Wi-Fi bands and the 802.11ac standard, is equipped with a USB 2.0 port for storage devices and can be controlled via a proprietary mobile application. In addition, the router is relatively small and has an original case design, for which several options are offered color design.

Contents of delivery

The router comes in a compact box made of regular cardboard. From the sticker on it you can recognize some specifications device, as well as its serial number and production date. But most of the information on it is in Chinese. The packaging was not very strong and was slightly wrinkled during delivery, but this did not affect the condition of the router.

The router is supplied with a 12 V 1 A power supply and brief instructions in Chinese. Note that the power supply uses a foreign plug format and to work with our network you will need to use an adapter.

The instructions have one useful page - with a QR code for downloading a mobile application for Android and iOS. It is interesting to note that versions of the program for mobile devices have an official translation into English, although not complete. Note that for Android on the Internet you can find a version in Russian, created by enthusiasts.

Appearance

The device is available in several color options, including traditional white and black. In this case, the power supply is in any case black and partially glossy. But the body of the router, at least in our case, is matte, for which we can give it a plus. Despite the presence of the word “mini” in the name, the dimensions of the device can hardly be called compact. In reality, it is noticeably larger than one might imagine from photographs - 136x151x30 mm. This assessment is probably due to the design of the model, which is similar to the keyboards and touchpad of the famous company from Cupertino, which are noticeably more elegant.

To the left and right of the main platform are the antennas of the wireless modules, which have one degree of freedom and can be rotated approximately 180 degrees in a hinge at the ends of the round thickening at the rear of the case. Here we also see aluminum inserts, slightly diluting the monochromatic plastic of the case.

A single service multi-color indicator is installed in the center of the front end. Note that the previously mentioned height of three centimeters refers specifically to the back of the case, while in other places it is significantly thinner.

At the bottom of the device we see a ventilation grille, two almost invisible protrusions in the front part and two large rubber inserts. There is also a sticker with information about the router. There is only one option for placing the device - on a table or other horizontal surface. Gives enough additional stability heavy weight models - more than 250 g. There is no standard possibility of mounting on the wall.

On the beveled part at the back there is a hidden reset button, USB port 2.0, WAN port, two LAN ports and power supply input. Note that the device has 100 Mbps wired ports, and the connectors have connection indicators.

In any case, by its design, the device stands out from the numerous “building blocks” of mass-produced router models, but it is still strange to consider this a significant advantage for this class of devices.

Hardware configuration

The router does not have the ability to be easily disassembled, so information from the Internet and access to the device console were used to describe the configuration. The central processor of the model in question is MediaTek MT7620A, operating at a frequency of 580 MHz. This is a fairly popular choice today for inexpensive devices. It has a built-in 2.4 GHz radio unit with a maximum connection speed of 300 Mbps, a USB 2.0 controller and a network switch. So, of the large chips in the router, there is only MediaTek MT7612, which is responsible for Wi-Fi 802.11a/n/ac in the 5 GHz band with a maximum connection speed of 867 Mbit/s. There is 16 MB of flash memory installed for the firmware, and the amount of DDR2-800 RAM is 128 MB. The cooling system of the device uses traditional solutions with screens and gaskets, as well as a massive metal plate at the bottom. It is this that gives such noticeable weight to the router. During tests temperature regime devices did not cause concern.

In general, the router has a completely standard configuration, with the exception of the installation of a second radio unit with support for 802.11ac, a fairly large amount of RAM, and the presence of only two LAN ports. From the point of view of a balanced configuration, there is a question about the combination of fast Wi-Fi in the 5 GHz band and 100 Mbit/s wired ports. On the other side, this model is positioned as an inexpensive solution, and the implementation of 802.11ac can be considered a “free bonus” compared to routers with the 100+300+300 scheme.

The device supports automatic firmware updates via the Internet from the manufacturer's website. In addition, the user can download them as files and install them into the router themselves. As with some other devices, Xiaomi simultaneously offers two branches of firmware - “regular” and “for developers”. The latter usually has a newer version, new features, and the ability to access the router console via ssh. For the main testing of the device, we used just such a version with the number 2.3.51, released on July 9. Note that the site also provides detailed information about the version history (in Chinese, of course).

The procedure for gaining access via ssh is similar to the model discussed earlier. You must have a Xiaomi account and a router registered in it. After this, you install the firmware for developers, on a separate page of the official website you confirm your agreement with the terms of provision of this function (including the possible refusal warranty service), download a small update file, write it to a USB drive and install it into the firmware using a special procedure using the reset button. There are no difficulties with this procedure, with the exception of the Chinese language. Please note that the password and update file are individual for each device.

Let's say a few words here about alternative firmware. The relatively low cost of the device attracts trained users who have experience in selecting, assembling and installing third-party versions software. Information on these issues can be found online. Among the advantages of this option, we note - English or Russian translation of the interface, advanced capabilities, higher speed in some configurations, support for additional functions and services (for example, IPTV or USB modems). The most significant disadvantage, besides the more complex installation process, is the loss of all Xiaomi branded services, in particular work with mobile utilities. In this material we will not touch upon this issue further, since a router with alternative firmware is a completely different device, and similar versions of the software can be installed on many other (including more affordable) models. As a result, there are too many options, and their evaluation practical application will largely depend on the user's level of training.

Settings and features

Setting up a router with standard firmware is made difficult by using only Chinese. However, if we are talking about setting basic parameters with an Internet connection via IPoE or PPPoE, it is quite possible to cope with this. In addition, there are other options - you can find illustrated manuals on the Internet, use a translator, use a special browser script with translation of router interface pages, or a mobile application. Please note that due to this feature, we may have missed or misunderstood some of the device's capabilities in the following description.

During the setup process, at a minimum, you will need to set a password for wireless networks, which will also serve as protection for the device’s web interface (later it can be changed regardless of the Wi-Fi key). For illustrations below, the built-in Google Chrome translation function. Note that the interface is designed for a minimum screen width of 1280 pixels.

At the top of the window we see four main menu items - status, drive management, basic settings and advanced settings, as well as a context menu with items for changing the device name, updating the firmware, going to the download page, rebooting and exiting. And at the end of the page there are links to online resources with information about the device.

The first thing the user sees after logging in is useful page with device status. Here you can find information about the model, firmware and MAC address of the router, its serial number, current download and upload speeds of the WAN port, Internet traffic statistics for clients, processor and RAM usage.

If you have problems connecting to the network, you can use the built-in diagnostic service. The second page of this group contains data for connected clients, grouped by connection type. Here you can block Internet access for selected devices. The third page shows the status of the connection to the provider, as well as access speeds measured by the router itself, which can be used to operate the QoS traffic management service.

Standard Internet connection capabilities include IPoE modes with a fixed or automatic address and a PPPoE client. If you need to work using other protocols, you can use the PPTP/L2TP client module, but this option is not very convenient. In addition, questions remain about the correct operation of the traffic monitoring and control system in this mode.

Additionally, there are options for selecting the speed and MAC address of the WAN port. It has a router and a built-in DDNS client with support for four services, including DynDNS and No-IP.

The basic settings for wireless access points are standard and duplicated for two ranges - network name, option to hide network name broadcast, encryption mode ( open network, WPA/WPA2, WPA2), password, channel number. Note that the standard is selected here, and the channel width can only be changed if manual installation channel numbers. There is also no choice of region. However, it is possible to select the transmitter power from three options. In the 5 GHz band, the router supports channels 36-64 and 149-165.

Don’t forget about the MAC address filter for wireless clients, which can operate in “white” or “black” mode. Additionally, it is possible to create a guest network with its own name and protection. It is organized in the 2.4 GHz band. Guest network users are placed on a separate subnet and have access only to the Internet.

Settings for the local network segment include selecting the router's own address, a range of client addresses, and a lease time for the DHCP server. Advanced options provide reservation of IP addresses for clients via MAC.

To provide remote access to services on clients from the Internet, there is support for DMZ and port translation rules. In this case, you can either use rules for single port numbers with the ability to change the internal number, or broadcast a range at once, but with the same external and internal ports.

The device also supports the UPnP protocol to automatically open ports to compatible programs. It’s convenient that in the interface you can view all the rules configured in this way, as well as disable this protocol.

The firmware includes a QoS traffic management system. For it to work, you must first determine or independently set the current maximum parameters of the Internet channel. Next, you can select one of the modes - automatic installation priorities, selecting a priority for each client from three values, or setting maximum download and transfer speeds for them. In practice, using QoS results in the processor being completely occupied by this task and reducing routing speed. In addition, other services and access to the router's web interface may not be available.

In system options, you can update the firmware, reset settings, make a backup copy, or restore the router from it. There is also a log download option, probably here we are talking about sending it to a cloud service for further communication with the manufacturer’s technical support in case of problems with the operation of the router, but there is no way to view the log locally. We couldn’t find a setting for the built-in clock, so you may have to recalculate the time from Chinese yourself when using schedules.

In addition to the traditional router mode, the device can operate in wireless network expansion and access point scenarios.

Working with a USB drive

The router has one USB 2.0 port located on the rear panel. It can only be used to connect storage devices, although operation via a USB hub is acceptable. If you plan to use a large-capacity hard drive or SSD, you should take care of additional external power supply. Disks can have multiple partitions; file systems can be FAT32, NTFS and exFAT (ext2/3/4 are not supported). Note that to increase the efficiency of working with the disk, the commercial Tuxera driver is integrated into the firmware. We did not notice an option for safely disconnecting devices in the web interface.

Partitions are presented as network folders accessible via the SMB protocol. Depending on the settings, the user (more precisely, a specific client device) has access to either selected folders (two in the first section with names in Chinese, which can be translated as Download and Share, as well as any additional ones that are configured by the user) or all disks completely under the names XiaoMi-usbN, where N is the partition number.

We did not find support for the FTP and AFP protocols. When connecting the drive, the router selects one of the partitions, downloads it from the Internet and installs a software package for its maintenance and additional services on it. So it is advisable not to turn off this device during operation. Besides, this process initialization takes some time.

We did not find any special settings for managing drives in the web interface. On the Storage Status page there is only an icon for the connected disk (one), information about the total and available capacity, a brief description of the capabilities and a link to the download page for special clients that are available for Windows, OS X, Android and iOS.

When a drive is connected, the router can be used to offline download files via http, ftp and magnet links, as well as torrent files. To control it, proprietary software is used. In tests, we saw a maximum speed of 1.5 MB/s, while the processor load was 70% or more. Apparently only one task can be active. Once all data has been received, the job stops. We did not find user-accessible settings, but you can try changing some options in the configuration file accessible through the shared resource.

Branded utilities

On the page with information about the connected drive in the router interface there is a link to the manufacturer’s website, where several proprietary programs are presented. In particular, these are clients for Windows and OS X, Android and iOS. Moreover, for Android there are two versions of the utility - for stable and development firmware, and for iOS a link to the iTunes store is indicated. Please note that to use them you must have a Xiaomi account.

The PC utility has the function of mounting drives in Explorer operating system and managing the offline file download module. The program interface is only in Chinese, so understanding it will not be easy. Integration with popular browsers is provided for convenient transfer of links, but we have not tested this feature. Note that managing downloads via links also works with remote access.

The mobile program is more interesting, and can also work not only with a direct connection to the router, but also remotely. In particular, it allows you to change some of the router’s settings, including those that are not accessible through its web interface, manage downloads, and access files (including operations such as uploading, downloading, copying, deleting, and others).

The most interesting thing is the support for plugins for the mobile utility, however, the Chinese language is also found here, which significantly reduces the usability. Among the useful modules, we mention the service Reserve copy photos, optimization of wireless networks (scanning airwaves and selecting channels), setting a schedule for Wi-Fi work, setting a router reboot schedule, managing bandwidth.

Performance

It was possible to set up a connection to the Beeline Home Internet service via L2TP, but not the first time. Real speed according to the resource www.speedtest.net was about 50 Mbit/s for downloading and 10 Mbit/s for sending, which is significantly lower than the indicators of the tariff used. During this test, communication with the router via the web interface and ssh was lost, but Internet access continued to work. A similar effect was observed when the router was loaded in the p2p client, when on ten tasks the total download speed was about 5 MB/s. After disconnecting the client, the device was restored, but access to the Internet was unstable. Please note that the device does not support IPTV broadcasts in multicast mode.

In terms of its hardware configuration, the router belongs rather to the middle segment due to the presence of two Wi-Fi bands and 100 Mbit/s ports. Previously in tests we saw the capabilities of the used Mediatek platform, but in some cases they will significantly depend on the firmware. The first graph shows the results of testing routing speed in various connection modes using synthetic tests.

As we can see, in the common IPoE and PPPoE modes, which have hardware support, the device performance is maximum for its configuration. In PPTP and L2TP everything is significantly worse. The manufacturer's focus on the local market, where these technologies are probably not widespread, led to a formal approach for their implementation. The actual data download speed in these modes does not exceed 55 Mbit/s, and transmission speed is even less - about 13 Mbit/s. On the other hand, one of the largest domestic providers is already abandoning L2TP, so this feature devices may not play a significant role.

In the case of working through the operator’s access server, access to local network provider. The speed of simultaneous downloading of data from this network and from the Internet is shown in the following graph.

The device has two access points in the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, supporting connection speeds of 300 and 867 Mbit/s, respectively. The main test of their speed was carried out with Asus PCE-AC68 and TP-Link TL-WDN4800 adapters. The client was located at a distance of about four meters from the router. The latter's settings ensured maximum connection speeds. The test was carried out in one/two and eight threads.

As you would expect, in such almost ideal conditions, the speed of wireless clients is limited by the wired 100-Mbit ports of the router. Considering that the formal 867 Mbit/s is significantly higher than this value, we conducted an additional test with two simultaneously connected clients with Asus PCE-AC68 cards. They were also located about four meters from the router, and the distance between them was about two meters.

Indeed, in this scenario, one can notice a significant increase in overall wireless communication performance. In addition, do not forget that both clients work through an access point, so gigabit ports on the router would help achieve even more high results with one client. So in many cases, using a dual antenna configuration for 802.11ac in this device will not provide a significant advantage over models with a single antenna and 433 Mbps connection speed.

Third test wireless communication was carried out with a Zopo ZP920 smartphone equipped with a Wi-Fi adapter supporting 802.11ac. Since this model has one antenna, its maximum connection speeds are 150 and 433 Mbit/s, respectively, for the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. In addition, we additionally checked two more points with it - at a distance of four meters from the router through one wall and eight meters from the router through two walls. At the last point, operation at 2.4 GHz was very unstable due to large number interference from neighboring networks, so these results are not shown in the graph.

Considering the use of a smartphone with a built-in compact antenna, the results can be called quite good. The absence of other networks on the air in the 5 GHz range has a noticeable positive influence on the quality of work.

As we remember, the router provides for setting the transmitter power; all of the above tests were carried out in the “Standard” mode. An attempt to change the situation with the smartphone at the second and third points by increasing power was not successful. Checking the signal level of the router showed that in the 2.4 GHz range there is a noticeable effect only at a close distance from switching on maximum power, and for 5 GHz this setting consistently increases the signal at all tested points.

The last test of the device is the speed of reading and writing files over the network from a storage device connected to the router. The latter was an SSD drive with a USB 2.0 adapter. Note that we had to use a model with additional power, since without it, work with the disk was unstable. For testing we used file systems NTFS, FAT32 and exFAT and three standard templates in the Intel NASPT program - HDVideo_1Play, HDVideo_1Record and HDVideo_1Play_1Record. Additionally, the graph shows the results for NTFS obtained on a client connected via 802.11ac.

When working via cable in this case The limitation is again the 100 Mbps wired ports. I'm not even sure that it was worth using the Tuxera driver in this device. Maximum speeds reads are around 11 MB/s and writes are around 10 MB/s. The use of wireless communication provides a noticeable advantage in the scenario of simultaneous reading and writing of files, while the two main patterns have almost no response to changing connection options.

conclusions

Xiaomi Mi Mini Wi-Fi can be found in foreign online stores for about $30 free shipping. Even taking into account the current exchange rate dynamics, this can be considered quite interesting offer for entry-level routers supporting 802.11ac from a well-known brand. But it is very difficult to give an unambiguous assessment of this model and this is mainly due to the presence of standard firmware and software only in Chinese, as well as the lack of services in demand on the domestic market.

The router itself has interesting design And high quality manufacturing, including a sophisticated cooling system. At the same time, the hardware configuration based on the Mediatek SoC, which is often used today, boasts two Wi-Fi bands, support for 802.11ac and USB. The only thing that spoils the picture is the 100 Mbps wired ports, which, as we saw in tests, clearly limit the speed in some usage scenarios. Note also that there are only two LAN ports.

In addition, the stated connection speed of 867 Mbps in 802.11ac is effective only in data exchange scenarios between wireless clients that support this standard. In terms of performance, the device is quite consistent with its specifications, with the exception of working with the PPTP and L2TP protocols.

If the issue with purchase and delivery is resolved quite effectively today by known methods, then with built-in standard software everything is much more complicated. Of course, if you need a simple, reliable model with support basic functions to work with a provider via IPoE or PPPoE, then figuring out the setup will be easy. In reality, the firmware offers many interesting additional services (including support for mobile applications), but due to the use of Chinese, most domestic users cannot use them. In this case, the installation alternative versions software is not so simple, but everything branded services in this case they are lost.

The model may be interesting as an entry-level wireless router for mobile devices, taking into account the above technical limitations on firmware functions, as well as an additional access point. In addition, the router is suitable for trained users who are able to solve installation and configuration issues on their own alternative firmware, although in this case it will probably be more profitable for them to choose a more affordable or more powerful device.

XIAOMI MI WIFI USB

Suppose you arrived at a hotel where they guaranteed you the availability of the Internet. And they didn’t deceive us - the Internet is available, but the connection is wired. Naturally, you have a laptop computer with you. However, what to do with mobile gadgets - smartphones and tablets? The Xiaomi Mini Wifi device will come in handy here. Thanks to the function of connecting to an existing wired connection on a PC or laptop, you can organize a wireless WiFi access point to which all your devices will connect.

Distinctive features devices from Xiaomi among analogues - simple procedure connections and ease of use.

Wired connection available but WiFi not? Mini Wifi easily solves this dilemma. As soon as you connect it to a laptop or PC, all your mobile devices - tablet or smartphone - will be able to access the Internet at high speed.

Through an integrated program called "Shared Folder" you can access the contents of your PC's hard drives directly from your mobile gadget. To do this, you just need to move the necessary files to a specific folder. Make PC files accessible more easily simple means special utilities that will allow you to transfer them to another gadget.

Terabyte of memory

for your files in the cloud from Xiaomi

Xiaomi company gives you access to a terabyte of free disk space within your cloud storage to load data of varying degrees of importance there. You can rest assured - your content will be securely stored and always accessible from any device with an Internet connection.

The adapter can be used as a keychain using a special strap included in the kit.

Imagine a 5-ruble coin. The dimensions of the Mi WiFi device do not exceed its size!

Characteristics

Supported OS: Windows OS line (32 and 64-bit versions): XP, Vista, 7, 8.

Protocols wireless transmission Wifi: IEEE 802.11n / IEEE 802.11g / IEEE 802.11b

(11n: maximum 150 megabits per second with the function of identifying network types in automatic mode and switching between available connections; 11b: 1/2/5.5/11 megabits; 11g: 6/9/12/18/24/36/48/54 megabit);

- Bandwidth 20 MHz and 40 MHz;

Antenna with radiation pattern type 1T1R;
- Technology Group 2.4G - Technologies QoS-WMM / WMM-PS
- Infrastructure - control mode from a single center Peer mode (i.e. Ad-Hoc)
- Low energy consumption and power management function.

Another small but very proud device, which you cannot do without if you want to connect your desktop computer To wireless internet. Xiaomi WiFi the adapter - also called Mi Portable - competes with the most inexpensive devices of this type, while providing a little more options than others.

What does Xiaomi wifi adapter look like?

Xiaomi releases several models wifi adapter ov, characteristic which have built-in flash memory of different sizes. Our test turned out to be the most a budget option which we purchased from a well-known store.

It is slightly larger in size than a ruble coin, so it will not interfere with parts protruding from the USB port of a computer or laptop. Our copy of the branded white, although there is a whole palette on sale.

The delivery set is also very inexpensive - it is a small packaging bag, a plug for the USB port and a lanyard.

The adapter supports operation at a frequency of 2.4 GHz, Wi-Fi 802.11N, up to 150 Mb/s - this is the most First level, but it is enough for everyday work with the Internet.

Installing Xiaomi WiFi adapter and access point mode

In order to fully use the device, I needed to make certain work for searching for drivers and software. This is due to the fact that the Xiaomi Mi WiFi Adapter is made exclusively for the domestic market and all programs for it are in Chinese. But of course, skilled programmers have already managed to work and translated some of them into Russian, some into English. I collected them in a separate archive, which needs to be downloaded from our repository, and now I’ll tell you how to install this whole thing correctly.

First of all, install the file “1-miwifi_setup_2.3.759.exe” on the computer - this is the Chinese original program with drivers. Then we copy the two remaining files “MiWiFi.exe” and “uninstall.exe” and the “kuaipan” folder into the folder where we installed the program - and replace the originals with them. These are substitutes for the standard package translated into understandable language. We launch the installed MiWiFi program - it will ask you to insert the adapter into the PC.

We connect the adapter to the USB connector of the computer - it is automatically recognized and starts working in access point mode, generating a network SSID and password for the connection.

After connecting to this point on the smartphone, a new window opened informing about this, and in the main program window the number “1” appeared for the number of connected devices.

If you click on this number, a list of connections will open and the ability to manage them - limit the speed or ban them.

There are three main menu items in the main program window - let's take a closer look at them. The first one is a call to the same netlist, so we'll skip it.

The second is the launch of the Kuaipan cloud service, with which you can exchange files via the Internet between gadgets and computers.

105 gigabytes of cloud space for storing documents is immediately available for download without registration.

This is, in principle, more than enough for everyday needs, but it’s even better to have account, then the space will immediately increase to 1 terabyte. To do this, go to the “Not Login” menu, section “Synchronization Settings”.

After which the program changes color to green - now you can upload files here and then download them when you log in to the service on another computer.

If the MiWiFi program is not installed on another computer, then you can access the service through the website kuaipan.cn - the site is in Chinese, using a translator plug-in in the browser we translate into Russian. Here, either again, log in through your Kuaipan account, or, like me, select authorization through Xiaomi at the bottom of the list.

We get into our account, where we find the downloaded files. Here you can delete, rename or share them.

The third item in the form of a folder is the exchange of files inside home network using the flash memory built into the adapter. Upload the file here, after which it will appear in the list.

Now to download it from another computer, click on the link “How to open the disk?”. For access from a PC or laptop, a link to the IP address will be provided. For downloading from a smartphone or tablet - QR code. In my opinion, this is a very cool solution for those who need to transfer files from one computer to another via WiFi, but at the same time do not know how to share folders on the computers themselves.

Xiaomi WiFi adapter or client mode

Now let's try to switch the Mi Pocket Adapter to the mode of receiving a signal to the computer from the router. To do this, select “Client Mode” from the menu.

After the reboot, we select an access point through the standard Windows application, connect and the information appears in the program window.

Xiaomi USB adapter speed tests

We didn’t expect anything special in terms of operating speed - after all, the device is a budget device and the technical characteristics do not shine. But at the same time, the adapter copes with its tasks perfectly and, surprisingly, does not slow down the Internet speed.