XIAOMI MI WIFI USB

Suppose you arrived at a hotel where you were guaranteed the availability of the Internet. And not fooled - the Internet is available, but the connection is by wire. Naturally, you have a laptop computer with you. However, what to do with mobile gadgets - a smartphone and a tablet? The Xiaomi Mini Wifi device will be very welcome 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 of the device from Xiaomi among analogues are a simple connection procedure and ease of use.

Wired connection available, but WiFi not? Mini Wifi easily addresses this dilemma. If you just connect it to a laptop or PC, all your mobile devices - a 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. Making PC files accessible is easier than ever with special tools, which will allow you to transfer them to another gadget.

Terabytes of memory

under your files in the "cloud" from Xiaomi

Xiaomi provides you with a terabyte of free disk space within its cloud storage for uploading data of varying degrees of importance there. You can be calm - your content will be safely stored and always available from any device with the function of connecting to the Internet.

The adapter can be used as a keychain using the special strap that comes with the kit.

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

Specifications

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

Wifi Wireless Transmission Protocols: 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 megabits);

- 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 power consumption and power management function.

Wireless technologies have firmly taken their place and continue to develop rapidly. There is no longer a desire to spread wires throughout the apartment, Wi-Fi technology is 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 could not stay away and had long released Portable USB Mini WiFi Adapter.

How does Xiaomi usually outperform its competitors? Affordable price and high-quality hardware, this statement did not pass by 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’s worth noting that the case is a little chubby, it can slightly squeeze a neighbor out of two parallel USB ports:

It is clearly seen that the A4tech wireless mouse adapter is noticeably smaller than Xiaomi Wi-Fi adapter. But at the same time, both devices will work. The laptop will not bother anyone:

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

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

I liked the black, less catchy, although it is easier to lose.

Let's see what this kid can do:

Features Xiaomi USB Wi-Fi adapter

Features are not distinguished by anything special, a simple budget adapter, neither 5 GHz, nor USB 3.0. And what can be claimed for 300 rubles?

The package includes the adapter itself, the cover and the cord. The adapter cover is very easy to lose, so it’s 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 the Windows Update Center and installed automatically, but Xiaomi needs to find and install drivers on its own. Bold minus to the manufacturer for this! The original program is also in Chinese, but we already know that Xiaomi software is far from perfect, and some schools have to be overcome. And in this case, not everything is so complicated, let's download the Russified version of drivers and applications for Windows.

We proceed to the installation, run the exe file and click the "Install" button.

After installation, the 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, the Wi-Fi distribution mode is turned on to change to the reception mode, just right-click on the application and select "Client Mode". Perhaps we will consider it first.

Client mode

In client mode, your computer will be able to connect to a Wi-Fi network. There is nothing tricky here, nor are there any additional settings. If suddenly your router gives out a 5 GHz signal, then 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.

Measurements of speed will be lower, but for now, switch to the access point mode by clicking on the only available button.

Access point mode

In the access point mode, wider 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 color of the interface can also be changed into one of the 6 available colors.

The management of already connected devices is also available. You can set a speed limit on the device, or ban. You can also allow the device to control the WiFi adapter. This is necessary to provide some additional features.

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

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

Testing MI Portable USB Mini WiFi Speed

I, like many in Russia, have a speed limit of 100 Mbps for the provider. And the plus to this is the limitation of the tariff plan (I have 60 Mbit / s). But I'm interested in speed stability, so I watched the download of a torrent file weighing about 8 GB. It took about 30 minutes with an average speed of 4.2 MB / sec. I hope everyone remembers the difference between megabyte and megabyte.

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

The stability of wi-fi speed greatly depends on the conditions in which the device is operated. The distance and obstacles to the router, the number of WiFi networks of neighbors - significantly distort the performance. According to personal observations, while surfing the Internet and watching movies online, I did not notice the difference between the cable and the Xiaomi adapter.

Speed \u200b\u200bincrease Xiaomi Mi Portable

There are some software limitations at the driver level. If you do not have enough adapter speed, then this restriction can be removed. To do this, go to the device manager, for this, right-click on the icon "This computer" and go to the tab "Device Manager". We find Xiaomi Wireless Adapter in the list of network adapters and go to the properties. In the additional parameters there is an item "Multimedia / Game Environment", it must be turned on.

Even if you don’t need a special adapter, you can order it in a load for other equipment. It can come in handy 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 a closer look.

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

What does Xiaomi wifi adapter look like?

Xiaomi produces several models of wifi adapters, a characteristic feature of which is the presence of built-in flash memory of different sizes. Our test turned out to be the most budget option that we purchased in a well-known store.

It is slightly larger in size than a ruble coin, so it won’t get in the way with parts protruding from the computer’s USB port or laptop. Our copy is branded white, although there is a whole palette on sale.

The delivery set is also very budget - it is a small packaging bag, a plug on the USB port and a cord.

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

Xiaomi WiFi adapter installation and access point mode

In order to fully use the device, I needed to do some work to find 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 already managed to work and translated some of them into Russian, some into English. I collected them in a separate archive, which you need to download from our repository, and now I’ll tell you how to properly install all this economy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here immediately available for download without registering 105 gigs of cloud storage space for documents.

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

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

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

We get into your account, where we find the downloaded files. You can delete, rename or share them right there.

The third item in the form of a folder is the exchange of files inside the home network using the built-in flash memory adapter. Download 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 issued. To download from a smartphone or tablet - QR code. In my opinion, a very cool solution for those who need to transfer files via WiFi from one computer to another, but at the same time they cannot share folders on the computers themselves.

Xiaomi WiFi adapter mode or client

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

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

Xiaomi USB adapter speed tests

In terms of speed, we did not expect anything special - after all, the budget device and technical specifications do not shine. But at the same time, the adapter copes with its tasks perfectly and, surprisingly, does not slow down the Internet speed.