Xiaomi has launched over a dozen of smart home devices, but only a few were brought to India. Their Mi Wi-Fi Repeater 2 is one such smart device available in India, which I bought for home use. Until now, I was worried about the poor WiFi coverage with my old Cisco E900 router. The new repeater has completely changed the WiFi experience and here is how I set it up.
Before we dive into setting this up, make sure you have a WiFi Hotspot/Network up and running. You may also need to find a vantage point near a power socket for placing the repeater after the setup.
How To Setup Mi Wi-Fi Repeater 2
- Place your Mi Wi-Fi Repeater and Mobile Phone near your home/office Router.
- Plugin your Wi-Fi Repeater to a USB charger, power bank or any host device.
- Get MiHome app Google Play store or iTunes for your phone.
- Connect your phone to the Home/Office Router network (ignore if already connected).
- Open the MiHome app, agree with T&C and select India (or your region).
- Sign-in or sign-up for a Mi Account, you’ll get a prompt to add the WiFi Repeater.
- Tap Wi-Fi Repeater icon, select the Home/Office network and enter the password.
- Mi Repeater will create a new “_plus” network having the same credentials of existing network.
- Finally, exit the MiHome app and connect the phone to new “_plus” network.
A blue status light on your Repeater indicates that it is ready for use. Now move the Repeater to a vantage point and power it up. Back in MiHome app, you can later change the Repeater name, new network name, password etc. You can also set the Repeater to work in roaming mode, in which network handoff occurs automatically. Since the Mi Repeater is synced with your Mi account, you can access the Repeater settings from any network. This allows you to keep an eye on the connected devices and change “_plus” network visibility even when you are away from home/office network.
Design & Tech Specification
The Mi W-Fi Repeater 2 has a streamlined design with sturdier joints. It also has a 180-degree rotatable hinge joint to improve convenience. Dual PCB antennas give you improved coverage and speed up to 300Mbps. On the Repeater, you can find a notification LED, a reset button and a USB male port. This device allows you to connect up to 16 devices and is plug-and-play. The software meant for the device, Mi Home app can detect and resolve any issues with your network. It also optimizes the Wi-Fi channels to provide a strong and stable network. Xiaomi also provides firmware updates for the Repeater to fix any known bugs or issues.
Conclusion
So as I said earlier, the Mi Wi-Fi Repeater provided a great relief from the poor network coverage in my home. More than one Repeater can be set up to make the home/office network stronger. Xiaomi is offering this small but powerful gadget at a reasonable price of Rs 899. You can buy this from Mi store, Flipkart or other channels with the additional bank and festive offers. Hope the review was useful, Peace!