Last week I took delivery of a Xiaomi Mi Router with 1TB of onboard storage, and dual internal antennas. It is the best piece of hardware I have bought for the home to date. Here are 5 reasons you need one. The Xiaomi Mi Router, or simply the Xiaomi Router is a small (smaller than you are imagining) black box with dual internal antennas and a 1TB hard drive. The small black package packs dual band Wifi 802.11ac, a Broadcom dual-core processor, and runs an Openwrt operating system. In China it costs around 699 Yuan, and it is now easily available through international resellers. I chose Xiaomishop.it, where it costs slightly more but you get fast delivery and a 2 year warranty.

5 reason you need a Xiaomi Mi Router

Xiaomi Router – WIFI Signal

I can go anywhere in my apartment, regardless of the number of walls between me and the Xiaomi Router and get a solid signal, but so can any half decent router. So what happens when I go further a field? Well I can head out of my home, down the stairs and sit on the corner at the local cafe and still use my own WIFI thanks to the Mi Router! In fact I can sit across the road and get a signal at the bus stop should the need arise too! A strong signal is only half of it though, the speed and stability of the signal also means I never lose WIFI and that using, Miracast, Video streaming or other similar technologies I am never left hanging.

Xiaomi Router – Router app

When setting up your Xiaomi Router you will be asked to visit the MiWifi.com website where you can download an application. The app is available for Android, Mac, Windows and other operating systems, and makes set up a breeze (although it is mostly in Chinese). The Router app allows to you check your storage, view files, see who and what is connected to your WIFI, and even allows you to download a few plugins to download video, and other useful features.

Xiaomi Router – Easy backups

One of those great plugins is a way to connect your Mi Router to your Mac’s Time Machine backup so that scheduled back ups are saved to the 1TB of memory in the little black box. You can do this with pretty much any storage solution, but the easy of set up on the Xiaomi Router makes it a really great feature even for the less technically minded.

Xiaomi Router – Connect from anywhere in the world

I’ve installed the app to my phone, tablet and Mac, and also connected my router to my Xiaomi account. This allows me to login to my router even if I am not connected to my own WIFI network. If I am out and about I can simply login over a 3G, LTE or another WIFI signal using my Xiaomi account credentials, check details, move files and make back ups. Even when I am in another country I can have quick access to my storage!

Xiaomi Router – Price

The Xiaomi router is a fully loaded piece of kit and well worth the money, but it is the application that really makes the package and makes for a very flexible piece of office equipment. Even if you buy the router at a higher price though a reseller, this flexibility and the fact you can easily access your files and backups at anytime around the globe more than make up for the higher purchase costs.

Xiaomi Router Photo Gallery

A full Xiaomi Router review is in the works and will be published very soon. Thanks again to Xiaomishop.it, and for anyone thinking to order one from them remember to use this discount code: GIZXIAOMI