Xiaomi R1D review: powerful router and home server in one device

Appearance and delivery set

Xiaomi R1D has an unusual design in the style of sci-fi movies: a matte black body with a small indicator is adorned with a flat glossy panel with the Mi logo. The power supply and patch cord will have to be hidden. They are the most common and spoil the appearance of the device.

This model does not have the usual antennas. They, like the NFC tag, are hidden under the top cover. On the upper part of the case there is a ventilation grill, under which there is a cooler. A multi-color status LED is installed at the bottom of the front panel.

The router can only be installed vertically. There are no wall mounts.

The rear panel houses a USB 2.0 port, two LAN ports and a WAN port, a reset button and a power supply connector.

At the bottom of the router there is another ventilation grill and four removable rubber feet. There are four screws underneath, which can be removed by unscrewing the lower part. Behind this cover is a 2.5-inch SATA hard drive.

Technical features

Xiaomi R1D is based on the popular and powerful dual-core ARM-chip Broadcom BCM4709 with a frequency of 1 GHz. The amount of RAM is 256 MB, built-in - 16 MB.

The Xiaomi R1D router received two independent radio units. One operates on the 802.11b / g / n protocols in the 2.4 GHz band with a transmission rate of 300 Mbps. The second provides a connection according to the 802.11a / n / ac standards in the 5 GHz band at speeds up to 867 Mbps. The MIMO 2 × 2 standard is supported - each of the communication bands (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) uses its own pair of antennas. All wired ports support speeds up to 1Gbps.

The Samsung 1TB hard drive is connected using an additional SATA controller installed in the PCI Express port. This explains the lack of a USB 3.0 port. Firmware is stored on the hard disk, since 16 MB of internal memory is not enough to accommodate it. Therefore, the router should not be unplugged.

Device operation

The actual data transfer rate (without using the built-in storage), according to the results of independent tests, differs from the passport one by 5-15%, which is within the permissible error.

The router copes with all the tasks assigned to it. We managed to simultaneously:

share files via BitTorrent at the provider's maximum speed;
play a 4K movie using DLNA;
upload photos from four smartphones to another DLNA device.

The router copes with most of the household tasks. But for office use it will not be enough: in most regions of Russia, the speed is limited by the provider. Since there is only one WAN port, and LAN reassignment for this purpose is impossible, without a separate high-speed line for a fast connection with a large number of connected devices, it will not work.

The second limitation is the built-in hard drive. It provides a write speed of about 60 MB / s and a read speed of 30-40 MB / s.

However, if you actively use the router as a home media storage device or simultaneously save backups from several devices, it is better to replace the disk with an SSD. So, when installing a test copy of KingDian S120, we managed to achieve a write speed of about 200 MB / s. In addition, the hard drive heats up decently: up to 40 degrees without direct download and up to 58 degrees when watching pre-loaded movies.

The official firmware and client from Xiaomi limit the transfer rate over Wi-Fi to the built-in drive of the router to 10-15 MB / s.

The company introduced such restrictions for simple and stable operation of the router without preliminary configuration. Sharing resources allows you to evenly use the channel for all connected devices. To get more speed, you need to use a Samba or FTP connection or third-party firmware.

Firmware

The Xiaomi R1D firmware is based on the OpenWRT project. In addition to two versions of the official firmware (stable and developer with additional functions), there are many custom ones.

Stable firmware - standard functionality, no support for printers, MFPs and 3G / LTE cellular modems.
Development firmware - the ability to install the Russian language, the implementation of multicast connections (required to view the channels of some IP providers), the ability to configure SSH in more detail, the ability to obtain root access.
Tomato-ARM - fine tuning of all software and hardware functions of the router up to the number of revolutions of the cooling system and the implementation of a web server with access via
DD-WRT is a laconic system from D-Link routers, installation on internal memory is possible (size less than 16 MB).

Additional features worth mentioning are the ability to organize an AirPlay server and Time Machine with full support for the Apple ecosystem.

Web Based Management

Working with the router and setting it up are possible in three ways: through the start page at the IP address 192.168.31.1, at miwifi.com or using the application. The interface is exclusively in English or Chinese, additional Russification is required.

The router detects the network itself, picks up the IP address and sets the necessary parameters. In the first window, you enter the name and password for PPPoE access or check the box that this is not required. In the second window, specify the password that will be used for wireless networks and access to the router itself.

The main page displays information about the device, including the firmware version, hard disk size, graphical display of the current traffic exchange and processor load, distribution of downloaded data by clients.

To back up your settings to the cloud, install additional packages and manage smart home devices from Xiaomi, you need a Mi account.

L2TP and PPTP are configured in the VPN tab. For a stable connection, you need to change the firmware to a third-party one.

Some of the most useful features are the ability to automatically forward ports using UPnP and traffic control and management for devices and individual applications.

There is also a built-in utility that reports data on the current load, fullness and state of the hard disk.

Mobile app control

Since Xiaomi R1D is part of the smart home as the main control device, you can work with it using the proprietary Mi Home application. It independently recognizes the router and downloads the additional Mi Router application.

Previously, the application was exclusively in Chinese, but now it has an English translation. The functionality of the application does not differ from the web version, but it is more convenient.

In addition, the built-in disk can be accessed from the web version using third-party file managers and DLNA protocol. And the application has a built-in file client that allows you to carry out any operations with the hard drive.

The undisputed leader among budget NAS

For $ 105, the Xiaomi R1D can replace a ton of services and individual devices:

Router.
NAS is a 1 TB home file server.
AirPlay server.
Time Machine server or backup disk.
Set-top box (third-party firmware required).
The central device of the Xiaomi smart home.
Automation center with fast NFC connectivity.

Xiaomi R1D has a fairly large Russian-speaking community. This allows you to find any setup instructions in the public domain and bypass the existing software limitations of the official firmware.

A serious drawback of the device is an outdated USB 2.0 port with a low data transfer rate. Also, one WAN port and two LAN ports may not be enough.

On the other hand, the device has enough capabilities for home use. Replacement will be required no earlier than 4–5 years after the widespread introduction of more modern Wi-Fi standards. Until then, the Xiaomi R1D can be a great home router.