People’s Gaming Dual-Core Best Router Xiaomi Redmi AC2100: Review & Tests In Different Rooms. Xiaomi Redmi AC2100 cheap popular gaming dual-core router with six antennas 2022. Is it suitable for a smart home and how interesting is it for an ordinary user? Let’s figure it out. It’s no secret that most often the toilet is the “hopper” for the Wi-Fi connection. Will it become a bunker for Xiaomi Redmi AC2100? We will look at the tests in this review.
- Wi-Fi standard: 802.11 b, a, g, n, ac
- Wi-Fi frequency range: 2.4 / 5 GHz
- Max. wireless speed: 2033Mbps
- number of LAN ports: 3
- number of non-removable antennas: 6
- simultaneous dual-band operation
- dimensions 259x184x176 mm
Buy XIAOMI REDMI AC2100 ROUTER Official store On Aliexpress
The device is delivered in a white cardboard box with red sides. On the front side of the box there is an image of the router itself and six pictograms reflecting its basic specifications.
On the back is a bunch of Chinese characters and three QR codes. Two for downloading Chinese junk, and one for installing the Mi Wi-Fi app, through which you can automatically set up a new router. But not everyone will succeed, because in some cases you will need to register the IP and other parameters yourself. I’ll talk about this further.
On one of the side edges of the box on a red background, the Redmi brand inscription is applied. On the other side, you can see the dimensions of the router, as well as an indication of support for the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. On one more edge, and I will recall four of them, the corporate red inscription is already on a white background. “Design”, in short. In the store on AliExpress, they kindly put the adapter under the English socket.
We open the box and see a cardboard backing containing the device itself, an adapter with a power cable, a LAN cable and a small one-page manual. By the way, the power adapter is produced directly by Xiaomi.
The router itself is made of a fairly thin white plastic, which is almost completely dotted with holes for ventilation of the board. On the front there are two indicators of the status of the router and the Redmi inscription. On the back there are four plastic feet and two holes for wall mounting.
On the back there are four Ethernet ports with faint markings, a power socket and a recessed reset button. The port for connecting the Internet cable is not highlighted.
There are six antennas, each of which can be turned in any direction. The two top antennas on the sides are responsible for the 5 GHz band, the rest for 2.4 GHz, respectively. The router can distribute Wi-Fi both in two bands at the same time, and in each separately. The router can support up to 128 devices connected to it. Also, according to the manufacturer, a technology is used in which the router independently determines the device currently being used and sends more network power to this point.
To automatically configure the router, the Mi Wi-Fi mobile application is usually used. In my case, I had to register the IP and subnet mask myself. To do this, we connect the router, go to the browser and type 198.168.31.1, then go to the second section from the top, then to the section with the network icon, where among the Chinese characters you can see the IP string and subsequent ones from it in the list. After entering all the parameters, click on the blue button at the bottom of the page to save.
In the Wi-Fi section, you can change the name of the network for the 2.4 and 5 GHz band. Anyone who has a smart home and, having switched from an old router, will now forever have the name of the network “ASUS” thumbs up. Fortunately, this can be done only for the 2.4 GHz band, and leave 5 GHz with a standard name.
Now let’s move on to small tests that will take place in the toilet, since this is one of the few places in my apartment where Wi-Fi picks up extremely poorly, although it is located five steps from the room with the router, but is closed by a load-bearing wall. With the new router, the result surprised me a lot, but according to reviews from other bloggers, I thought that the speed would still be higher. There were even those who showed that the router distributes the same speed to all rooms of the apartment. But in my case it is not so. To begin with, the indicators of the “Speedtest” application in the room where the router is located. For the test, we use an IPhone 11 Pro smartphone with support for 5 GHz networks.
Tests in the kitchen (the first farthest room from the room where the router is located)
Tests in the toilet (the closest room from the room where the router is located)
Tests in the hall (the second most distant room from the room where the router is located)
Tests in the farthest room (the last room in the distance from the room where the router is located)
Summing up, we can say that the router still barely breaks through two load-bearing walls, while the connection is stable and ordinary Internet tasks can be solved with this. There is a significant but slight decrease in speed in the toilet due to the load-bearing wall and the closed door. As for the kitchen and the hall, even with the door closed in the room where the router is located, the connection speed practically does not drop.
For minimal money, we get an excellent device with support for two types of frequencies and fast Wi-Fi throughout the apartment, but if the apartment is elongated, you will need to look for the optimal place for installing the router and not hide it on the table, as in my case. I think that the best place to install a router, of course, will be the corridor, but all this is very individual and does not fit in my case. The setup is also as simple as possible, and for owners of a smart home from Xiaomi, the router will be intuitive in terms of the Mi Wi-Fi application and minimal manipulations. In a word — plugged in and forgotten. That’s all. Hope you enjoyed these reviews.
Good luck and good mood to everyone. That’s all, happy shopping!
