Warning/Disclaimer: It might brick your device if you don’t understand what you’re doing. I am not responsible for any things that happened to your device or you. It will be much easier for you if you had experience with linux commands and/or flashed a router with custom firmware before.

Xiaomi Router Mini is probly one of the cheapest dual band wifi router you can get in the market and it is very powerful device for its price. Luckily for me, i purchased it for only RM60ish including shipping from china, the promotion is already expired though.

First thing i realized when i got the Xiaomi Router is, it doesn’t work with Unifi due to non customizable VLAN tags on the official firmware which is expected due to I did some research before I purchase the device. Hence, I flashed it with OpenWrt. I was expecting OpenWrt to work perfectly with Xiaomi Router Mini. However, I soon realized i was wrong. After some tinkering, I found that not only wireless AC doesn’t work (unable to get the driver working), i am unable to get Hypptv (issues with vlan tagging but only for iptv specifically, PPPoE works fine) working as well.

After I failed to get it working, I tried PandoraBox as well but PandoraBox can’t even support vlan tagging correctly.

I was almost ready to give up... until i found a promising firmware by hiboyhiboyhiboy ( http://www.right.com.cn/forum/thread-161324-1-1.html it is in chinese if you can read) . I've compiled my own version of Padavan firmware, you can check Files you need (to download) section for the link. It customized based on Padavan ( https://bitbucket.org/padavan/rt-n56u ). If you want, you can compile it from the source by following this guide ( https://bitbucket.org/padavan/rt-n56u/wiki/...wToMakeFirmware ).

Updates:
08 January 2016, I've compiled my own version of Padavan's firmware with minimum customization, with come with OpenVPN support and remapped the GPIO and some ports accordingly for Xiaomi Miwifi Mini router. It is compiled from latest commit ( ba454a7 )

Files you need (to download)
1. Breed bootloader
2. Custom Padavan firmware megablue edition v1


For those who had experience with flashing a router this is the short version or overview of the guide.
1. Gain access to the router console either telnet or ssh or web based console
2. Installing the custom bootloader - Breed
3. Boot into Breed, install the Padavan firmware
4. Do the basic configures and vlan taggings to get it to work with Unifi or Maxis broadband


Gain access to the router console either telnet or ssh or web based console
there are various ways to gain access the to console, I only show the easiest way that I found on ( https://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/xiaomi/mini )

1. Connect to your PC to your router with ethernet cable
2. Power on and setup the Xiaomi router until it reboots and gets IP address 192.168.31.1
3. Log-in into the router and grab the value of the stok URL parameter (for instance: "9c2428de4d17e2db7e5a6a337e6f57a3")
4. Replace the <STOK> placeholder and load this URL in your browser or curl, this will start telnetd on the router:

5. It should spit out some wifi error code, that is ok, don't worry.
6. Replace the <STOK> placeholder, the current password and the desired root password and load this URL in your browser or curl, this will set the router root password

It should spit out: {"code":0}
7. Telnet to the router, enter user root and NEWPASS chosen above.

Installing the custom bootloader - Breed
1. Now i assuming you have access to your router console/telnet/ssh.
2. This is the risky part, proceed with extreme caution as a broken bootloader could brick your router, the only way for you to revive the router would be 3. physically wire the TTL connection to rewrite the bootloader.
4. Download Breed for Xiaomi router mini ( http://breed.hackpascal.net/r802%20%5b2015...iaomi-mini.bin) .
5. Copy it to the root directory of a usb thumb drive (1GB free space is more than enough) with FAT/FAT32 partition.
6. Plug the thumb drive into the router.
7. at the console, type follow by you should be able to see the breed-mt7620-xiaomi-mini.bin
8. type it will list out the partitions on the router flash chip.
9. look for "Bootloader" it should be listed as mtd1: 00030000 00010000 "Bootloader"
10. now dump a backup of the partition to your usb drive with following command
11. you should also create a backup for all other partitions listed with as well, just name them accordingly.
12. now you’re ready to install the custom bootloader, type
13. it should shows rebooting when the installation is complete.

Boot into Breed, install the Padavan firmware
1. download the custom Padavan firmware megablue edition v1 and unzip it (you dont need to unzip it, it is already in the extracted form)
2. power off your router, look for a pinhole at the back of your router, press and hold it with a pin, while holding the button in the pinhole, power on your router.
3. release the pinhole button when you see orange/yellow light is blinking.
4. open your browser (preferably Chrome) and type 192.168.1.1 into the address bar.
7. you should be able to access the Breed web interface (in chinese but i will guide you!).
8. Now select the second button on the menu it should says 固件更新
9. now you should be located at http://192.168.1.1/upgrade.html select 固件 and upload the custom Padavan firmware. it should look like this https://i.imgur.com/28pq86W.png
10. wait for the progress bar to complete, it should reboots automatically.
11. you might need to boot into Breed for the second time to reset the default settings for the Padavan firmware. to reset the settings, click the 5th button on the menu, the select Config 區 (公版). It should look like this https://i.imgur.com/oFjNtBm.png
click 執行 to reset the settings,

vlan taggings to get it to work with Unifi & Hypptv
1. now the router should be flashed with the the firmware, it should be accessible at 192.168.1.1 with username: admin and password: admin.
2. now we’re going to configure the basic internet and iptv (for unifi, if you’re using maxis broadband you need to adjust the vlan accordingly) .
3. Click Advanced Settings -> WAN
4. WAN Connection type PPPoE
5. Under PPP VPN client setting key in your unifi account username and password
6. Under Ports Isolation and VLAN Filtering
7. Choose IPTV STB Port: LAN2 (last LAN port counting from left to right)
9. VLAN CPU (Internet) VID 500
8. VLAN CPU IPTV VID 600
9. VLVAN LAN2 VID 600
10. it should look something like this https://i.imgur.com/Cxmstbg.png
11. click apply
12. now you should be able to access the internet and Hypptv.


while the rest of the router functions pretty much self-explanatory. i am too lazy to continue as the guide is already extremely long for my taste, There are a lot of things you can do with the Padavan firmware (google it for details)

Now enjoy better network performance with highly affordable price

This post has been edited by I<3LYN: Jan 14 2016, 02:12 PM

Great instruction.

Anyway, how's the wireless performance on the ported Asus firmware as I know wireless performance is hit and miss on most non Xiaomi firmware.

i am yet to test both 2.4 and 5Ghz in detail.

I will report back once i did some bandwidth and stability test.

Great! Please share the wireless performance.

I am still stuck with Xiaomi stock firmware and having to use a VLAN switch for Unifi.

just did some testing

got weird results though

my router is at my living room.

the signal strength within the line of sight (few meters away) is about -40 dBm

furthest corners away from the router at 2nd floor is about -60 ~ -65 dBm

650MB within line of sight @ 3m25s (2.4G wireless mode N)
650MB within line of sight @ 2m06s (5G wireless mode N)

650MB room at 2nd floor directly above the router @ 2m50s (2.4G wireless mode N)
5G 650MB room at 2nd floor directly above the router @ 1m54s (5G wireless mode N)

the latency is stable for most places in my house (just standard double story house), except for the further corner away from the router.

I have no other comparisons, but It is much better than the router (D-Link L7-N-R2000) that TM provided though.

It is also much better than vanilla OpenWRT firmware.

This post has been edited by I<3LYN: Jan 6 2016, 10:52 PM

I calculated and it is around 41Mbit/s for 5Ghz 2m06s.

Do you have 802.11AC enabled as that's where the problem is.

there are 2 issues, i've AC enabled on router but the devices I test on don't support AC, secondly the pc that upload the file might be hit a bottleneck due to the hdd and network speed. I need to change my approach to at least try to maximize the speed of N mode

I just remember that the Xiaomi MiWiFi Mini only support Fast Ethernet.

Thanks for the great discovery anyway, I am going to try it out soon.

Check out your phone? If your phone uses qualcomm most likely it has 802.11ac in it

good suggestion... but i need another source that able to split out data at 1300mbps and also support wireless AC

Can you do a test how is the WiFi coverage and performance compared to pandorabox?
I tried the latest openwrt chaos calmer, the WiFi really sucks compared to both official firmware and pandorabox.

the signal is definitely better than openwrt.. i say it is on par with PandoraBox/official firmware.

It is compiled with the proprietary wifi driver as far as i know. hence the better performance compared with openwrt which is using generic driver.


are you using unifi? how did you get pandorabox running with unifi?

This post has been edited by I<3LYN: Jan 7 2016, 05:20 PM

I am using it just for access point. My router still using tm provided dir-615 (running dd-wrt for ultimate stability)

i see.

Personally, i think it is better to use Xiaomi for the entire setup, since it has much better hardware ( and wifi? i don't know, i was using D-Link DIR614 and it is crap) . Otherwise it is a waste of the hardware to use it just as an AP.

Yea planning to install this custom firmware soon

i am compiling my own version from the Padavan source code for security reasons

so you will get the clean version of padavan's firmware with minimum modification (without the chinese addons) for the xiaomi-mini router.

I probly can get it uploaded by tonight or so if there are no problem with the compile process and test runs.

stay tuned.


Updates:
I've compiled my own version, everything is working fine so far, make sure you select the correct Wifi country code (just select any country with 1-13 channels) /channel otherwise it could auto selecting the channel 14 which is not supported in most countries including ours.

This post has been edited by I<3LYN: Jan 8 2016, 04:49 PM

Hi,
Can I flash when my router is now stock firmware. ( xiaomi firmware )
Thanks.

yes, you can. You can flash it from any firmware as long as it is the same router.

Hi,

Mind to share your compiled version ?

already shared the first post.

You mean this link: ba454a7 ?

Custom Padavan firmware megablue edition v1

Just a TP-Link Smart Easy Switch to do the VLAN taggings.

not worth it for me to buy another equipment just to do the VLAN taggings, kind of defeat the purpose of getting a cheap and powerful router, furthermore i dont need gigabit ethernet.

The switch not even RM 100.

I prefer stock firmware.

I want to make sure that all the steps work as in your guide before I flash my Xiaomi mini router. I tested with a TP - Link TL-WDR4300 flash with openwrt. I copy the 2 files to a USB pendrive format with Fat32 and plug in to the USB of the TP Link router. SSH to the router and I issue the command cd /extdisks/sda1 , but it says cannot cd to extdisks . Is there something that I miss out ?
Thanks.

Why would you comment on this thread then, when it's a custom firmware thread ?
Also why would we to need spend extra RM100 for a switch just for vlan tagging , when we already have a hardware capable of doing so.

thanks for saying that. I was going to say something similar but kind of hold back a bit to avoid argument

if i were to buy another equipment just to have better out of the box experience, i might as well as just a router that does all that with vanilla setup rather than spending it on 2 piece of equipments.

for me choosing xiaomi mini router because it is highly hackable and cheap.

This post has been edited by I<3LYN: Jan 13 2016, 05:51 PM

because every firmware mount the drives at different locations

you can try to follow every steps with your xiaomi router prior

because it is the exact step that would cause your router to brick if you did something wrong.

anything prior this doesn't write anything to your router that could cause your router brick.

you're safe to to familiarize yourself, find out anythings that you're uncertain then you could just raise the questions in this thread.

This post has been edited by I<3LYN: Jan 13 2016, 05:50 PM

Hi,
After finish flash the ROM and refresh 192.168.1.1, but "Page No Found". When turn On the router, no yellow light, straight away the blue light up. Tried 2 times, the same problem happen. Is my flashing step wrong or anything I done it not correct?
Thanks.

which step were you at?

did you manage to boot into Breed?

are you sure it is "Page not found" instead of other error? if it is page not found make sure the url in your address bar is exactly http://192.168.1.1/ instead of being redirected. access it from incognito mode if you want to be sure.
Also try, http://my.router/


This post has been edited by I<3LYN: Jan 14 2016, 02:19 PM

I was at step 10 of your guide. I manage to boot to breed, select option no. 2 to update the firmware. It updated until the bar is complete, then at the bar, some Chinese character says if it do not reboot, you need to refresh. This is where I am stuck. After refresh, I do not get the page, it only show me a pink color page, i forgot the error written there. At the same time the routet blue light is flashing. What should I do now

dont worry, as long as you still can access to breed, most things can be recovered.

how long did you wait after the progress bar reached the end? give it 10 minutes before you reboot.

Please do the step 11 as well.




Also, you should try to access your route from incognito mode

In some cases, some cache that your previous router/firmware left behind could redirect the default page to the wrong url.

This post has been edited by I<3LYN: Jan 14 2016, 03:13 PM

Thks for the prompt reply, i waited like 25 mins after the progress bar reachef the end. Still the screen remain the same. Anyway I will try again tonight in incognito mode and keep you inform on the progress.
I was curious why the blue light kerp blinking. Normslly when ypu on the routet, it is yellow then turn to blue, but my case , it will straight go to blue blinking when i turn it on

the behavior of the LEDs got changed with the bootloader & firmware.

One more question, if i successfully reboot to breed and do srep 11,i. e reseting the configuration to default, then i rebbot. After rebooting, the gui will be in english to set the settings for unifi, cos now is in breed mode , there is no advance setting as i your guide in the last step

yes, the UI will be in English.

Thanks for all the advice, finally got it connected to unifi with iptv. Use incognito mode, then only can access the router. Thanks again, now trying out and monitor the performance of this router

Is it possible to SSH again to the router once upgraded. I just wamt to check the wireless setting /etc/config/wireless. I just cannot Ssh when i try to use putty. Thanks.

Administration -> Services -> Enable SSH server

Login as root, tried the password when i install breed , message is wrong password. tried a few password that i know , butt all to no avail. Any solution? Thanks

dude... your username is admin... why you use root to login

because this is a linux device, and historically root is the username for admin so that's why he put root

Got it, thanks

Hi there,

Thank you for compiling this.
Was running one of Padavan's previous builds but did not have Hypptv & OpenVPN support.

Installed to my router , everything works fine!
Anyway to get ipv6 working ?
and also no QoS support ?

This post has been edited by zhuoyang: Jan 19 2016, 10:21 AM

Hi, just want to ask if i install follow the instructions and install the breed bootloader and padavan's firmware... can i install OpenWrt Chaos Calmer stable version directly?

Because we flash the breed bootloader , can i revert it back to stock firmware with the normal way?

And what is the <CURRENTPASS> ?

This post has been edited by ramnkc: Jan 19 2016, 07:31 PM

yes ipv6 works fine, but you have to configure it.

I didn't play with QoS yet, the version that i had compiled doesn't have QoS enabled.

if you just want to install openwrt, there are easier way, just follow the openwrt wiki.

How to configure ? I was able to get ipv6 public ip but looks like there's something wrong with DHCPv6 because ipv6 test failed

Hi I<3LYN, I've completed the setup but for strange reasons, the LAN1 port doesn't work if I change the VLAN LAN(number) for either ports. The effect could also apply to LAN2 port.

This post has been edited by UserU: Jan 20 2016, 04:32 PM

This is my config,



ignore the DNSv6 server 1 since i am running my own DNS server.

you can use google dns if you want.

what do you mean by LAN port doesn't work? what are you trying to do with it?

can you post a screenshot for the section?

I'm connecting two PCs to the router via Ethernet cables.

Will upload the screenshots soon.

I<3LYN, here they are:



Even if I were to fill in the last field for LAN1, the error switches side (Limited Connectivity). Troubleshooting the affected client returned the ("Ethernet Doesn't Have A Valid IP Configuration") error.

For instance, PC1 Ethernet (LAN2) has the limited connectivity. If I configure the settings (add values), PC2 Ethernet (LAN1) would now have the limited connectivity, with PC1 connected to the network.

This post has been edited by UserU: Jan 20 2016, 09:11 PM

hence you're not using hypptv right? then you should just disable the STB port, by selecting Choose IPTV STB Port -> No

Not using it at all.

Thanks, it worked

i had flashed the padawan successfully, however after entering my unifi id and pw, the connection status is "waiting for ppp client connection"

I tried to put in google DNS
2001:4860:4860::8888
2001:4860:4860::8844

And tried, the system show i grab but when i tried to access to Sarawak report new portal site, its still blocking it. I turn off the ipV6 setting then its working... custom DNS for ipv6 not working?

And mine to share the source file and where you made the customization? Or you have the latest padavan firmware customize build?

This post has been edited by ramnkc: Jan 22 2016, 11:18 PM

hiya, is there a way to do this for the smaller version of xiaomi router? the youth version? that one is without USB slot, so how can i perform this flashing without the USB?

Not suite sure with the youth version.

hiya

i am using this padavan thing now, but i wanted to know, why after changing my admin password to enter the router, the section to change password now dissapears. i am able to login using the new password, but i can't seem to find back the section to change the password. I checked in the Administration page, but the only field available there is device name, then straight away System Time at the bottom. There is no change password section there anymore. Is it normal?

no, it is not normal.

you should still able to see it.

this is my interface.

hiya thanks. are you accessing it from remote? or from local, means 192.168.x.x

i think i know why already. if you access from remote, that part is missing. if you access from 192.168.x.x or locally, the section appears.. i think should be some kind of security measure. anyway, thanks.

i was asking this question because sometimes, i get the prompt that i am already logged in from other ip. but i just wait a few minutes, then i can login again. i'm pretty sure i have logged out of the other sessions, so not sure why it keep popping up. do you happen to see this behaviour on your router?

Hi,

Found this in russian forum http://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=6...0#entry41511968

I think its related to XiaoMi Mi router 5ghz EEProm pacthing which fix the low signal issue.... but no idea what should i do about it.

take a look.

alright thank you, i probly will take a look soon (sorry i am quite busy lately)

Thank You working perfectly

I have a question here,

If i turn Xiaomi Router into an access point, can I still use the USB port connected with an external HD ?

*which mean when i turned off DHCP and give this router a fixed IP.

This post has been edited by Pegasus88: Feb 18 2016, 11:38 AM

Yes, You can. I am using it that way.

I tried with beta firmware from xiaomi, it can dial to Streamyx.
But no guaranteed it will work, because in the stable firmware the default dial-up option has been predefined to China and Taiwan ISP only, no option to define phone number., strangely though if I not mistaken beta firmware can define phone no.

5GHz wifi has nothing to do with Streamyx, it depends on the device that connected supported or not.

Thank you.

Thanks for the guide I<3LYN. This is my first time trying to flash Padavan. Just want to make sure, is there anyway to flash Padavan without Breed?

got it working.. excellent firmware. thanks all

Bro I<3LYN, do you think you could build the latest commit with QOS enabled? It would be a huge help for my 2mbps connection.

HI. Just asking if I plug this modem into unifi and it won't work without the custom rom right?

It won't. You've to void the warranty to make it compatible.

I like the answer. Guess i'm going to sell it then

still, xiaomi don't sell this model locally so basically you don't have warranty anyway (except from the vendor that you bought it from if they honor it)

sell it to me cheap cheap

How much you want?

rm80. kl area pickup

People, what's the cheapest local source for the Xiaomi Mini? Thinking of getting one to play with. So cheap for dual band.

http://www.11street.my/product/ProductDeta...o?prdNo=1365177
RM99, can go lower with coupon but only for a limited period/stock


followed I<3LYN's guide, built padavan's firmware from commit 821f6cd
internet, hypptv, ipv6 works

does this work on maxis fibre bb?

Guys Please help why I cant download the http://breed.hackpascal.net/r802%20%5B2015...omi-mini.bin%29

http://breed.hackpascal.net/

soonwai irwan6179

hello guys i am selling my blue colored xiaomi mini WiFi because of this problem

https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/3893439

I ragequit and i want to buy Asus lol, if you want to buy you can PM me lol

bought last week (Friday)

This post has been edited by adix4: Mar 15 2016, 12:10 AM

Dual band router = faster internet speed? Or stability?

I don't need hypptv, stock firmware work with internet and ipv6 for unifi?

Not sure on ipv6 but Unifi should work fine.

no, unifi cant work on official firmware.

Hi ... Sorry, I m new in this ... Does this apply to Mi Router 2 1TB (The white color box) ? Same firmware ?

no, it wont work on Mi Router 2.

Anyone managed to add network printer using this firmware?