How to use Xiaomi router to provide a separate network for smart devices? I moved 40 Mijia devices into the guest network, and the App still controlled them, and the main network was clean overnight.

My main network has been stuck for more than half a year, and the lag is very weird.: The speed test can reach full speed, but at night the whole family WiFi starts to spin in circles. At the end of the investigation, I found that the real culprit was not the broadband, but myself - 51 of the 62 devices at home were smart devices, with cameras, speakers, and sensors all crowded on the main network to send heartbeats. Then I did something: Moved 40 of the Mijia devices into the guest network of the Xiaomi router, giving them a separate network. The main network went smoothly that night, and Mijia App controlled one without any delay. This article clearly describes the entire moving process and the pitfalls encountered.

First some background. My main router is Xiaomi AX3000T. The customer service of Mijia App told me that "it is recommended to connect within 40 units", which is more than half of the number in my home. I'm here to talk about too many devices and overloading the router. 62 NTU weight loss article I have written about the troubleshooting actions in detail, but slimming down can only cut off duplicate equipment, and it is still crowded after cutting down to less than 40 units. The real way to solve the problem is to separate smart devices - let them have their own network without disturbing each other.

Think clearly first: The guest network is not prepared for guests, it is a ready-made second network

I first thought about buying an old router to use as an AP to feed smart devices, but later I discovered that the AX3000T in my hand already had a ready-made second network - the guest network. This thing is meant to be connected to guests, but its essence is A 2.4G network that is independent of the main network and has its own isolation ： A separate name, a separate password, and no connection with the main WiFi. The customer's picture of connecting to it was "can't touch my intranet." I asked the smart device to connect to it, and the picture of the same thing was the same thing - those 40 camera sensors that send heartbeats. From now on, my mobile phone and computer are not on the same network, and no one can harass anyone.

There are two entrances, both of which are easiest to navigate through the Mijia App.: Go to the router device page, click "Toolbox" at the bottom, and click "Guest WiFi". 31.1 The web backend also has a corresponding entrance, and the same set of things have been modified in both places. Switch details and usage of guest scenes, I am How to open guest network I’ve written about it before, so I won’t repeat it here, only the reverse usage.

The so-called reverse usage is to change "open for guests temporarily" to "open for equipment all year round". Don't use the default name. I changed it to "jia-iot". You can tell who lives on this network at a glance. Set the password to one that is easy to lose in the family group, because each device must go through it once when configuring the network. After setting up and saving, a 2.4G device-specific network will be available at zero cost.

Things to know before moving: Which equipment can be moved, and which equipment will be lost after moving?

This is the most critical step in the whole thing, and it happened here the first time I moved. Before moving, remember one criterion: Mijia devices are relayed by cloud servers and can still be controlled across networks. ； I found it through the local LAN, but lost contact after moving. .

There are two links for Mijia App to control devices. Most devices go to the cloud - you click the switch in the App, and the command goes to Xiaomi's cloud first, and then is sent to the device. This way, it doesn't matter which network the device is connected to, and the device can be controlled as long as there is an external network. The other is local discovery - mobile phones and devices find each other through broadcasts on the same network. Typical scenarios include screencasting and local control acceleration, which can lead to blindness across the network. When I moved the equipment to my parents' house, I also moved the TV box in. As a result, the box became "unreachable" in the Mijia App on my mobile phone. The remote control had to go around the cloud, and the delay changed from seconds to three to five seconds. This was the reason.

According to this standard, I divided the 51 smart devices in my home into three categories, made a list, and checked them before moving.:

The second category is explained separately. Bluetooth temperature and humidity meters, Zigbee door and window sensors, etc. are not connected to WiFi at all. They are connected to the Mijia gateway or the Bluetooth gateway that comes with the router. If you move, the gateway is used, and the sub-devices can just follow it. AX3000T has a Bluetooth gateway function, but half of Xiaomi models do not have this function at all. How can I check whether my machine has it? I am The article about Xiaomi being a Bluetooth gateway Wrote in. Whether the sub-device control is still smooth after the gateway is moved there depends on the link from the gateway back to the cloud, not where the sub-device is.

In the third category, sweepers are the worst. When it configures the network, the App allows you to select the network. If you select the wrong network, you cannot scan it. ； Moreover, the map and real-time location of the sweeper in the Mijia App use the local channel. After moving to the device network, the map can still be viewed, but the real-time refresh will be half a beat slower. My sweeping machine was not moved in the end and stayed on the main network - it works three times a week and is not a permanent device that disturbs the main network.

Hands-on moving: Move in batches, wait half a day after each batch is moved before moving the next batch

The specific moving action is very simple, which is to re-configure the network for the equipment. When configuring, select the "jia-iot" network. But the order is important. For the first time, I moved 12 cameras in one night. The next day, two cameras lost contact and one sensor went offline. It was impossible to tell which camera had the problem. The second time it was changed to Move in batches, 5 tables per batch, observe for half a day after moving , if there is a problem, you will know which batch of pot it is on the spot.

There is a prerequisite action for network distribution that needs to be done first.: Name the 2.4G and 5G of the main network separately. Xiaomi routers enable dual-band integration by default. 2.4G and 5G are combined into one name and broadcasted. You cannot accurately point to the 2.4G network on the network configuration page - smart devices only recognize 2.4G. This is a classic reason why the vacuum cleaner's network configuration is stuck. I am The article about dual frequency separation The principle and three-step operation are explained here. When you configure "jia-iot" after separation, the page will be clear and the wrong frequency band will not be assigned.

Practical rhythm of batch network distribution: First connect your phone to "jia-iot", and then enter the Mijia App to change the device's WiFi. Most cameras have to hold down the reset button to reconfigure, and sockets and light bulbs can be directly changed to the network in the App. I divided 40 units into eight batches and spent four days doing it while watching TV at night. After each batch of devices has been moved into the backend of the router, glance at the list usage - the list usage taught in the 855 frequency division article - confirm that the newly moved devices are all under the name "jia-iot" before moving to the next batch.

Don’t celebrate after moving. Line up the four pits one by one.

The main network was indeed running smoothly that night after the move. Videos on my mobile phone stopped spinning. But don’t rush to finish the work. I have been through all four pitfalls and went through them one by one.:

First, the guest network is isolated by default. Devices in this network cannot see each other. For IoT devices, this is probably a good thing - 40 devices don't broadcast to each other, and the network is cleaner. But if you have local linkage between devices, for example, some third-party gateways need to be on the same network as the controlled device, this isolation will block it. Don't move equipment that really needs to be interoperable, keep it on the main network.

Second, when health mode turns off WiFi regularly, it will also turn off the guest network. My home has been in health mode from 23:30 to 6:30. In the first week after moving the equipment, the cameras all went offline and alarmed in the early morning. I was so scared that I thought there was a burglar. After checking for a long time, I found that the scope of the scheduled WiFi coverage covers the guest network - IoT devices are on duty 24/7 and have different schedules from the network used by humans. This switch is hidden deep. I’ve written down its location and range of action. The article about turning off WiFi regularly Here, check your schedule before moving equipment. My solution is to leave only the main network in healthy mode and keep the device network open.

The third one is to bid farewell to the main network. 「"jia-iot" is 2.4G. If the main network also reserves 2.4G, the two networks in the same frequency band will interfere with each other. 2.4G has three non-overlapping channels: 1, 6, and 11. The main network occupies 1, and the device network is set to 6 or 11. Do not use automatic for manual locking - the automatic channel jumps in the middle of the night, and I am in the tragedy of collective loss of connection of IoT devices. How to choose which channel? I have written that the scene of 40 devices collectively reconnecting at night is much worse than 11 devices.

Fourth, it is necessary to identify the reasons why device control in Mijia App becomes slow. After crossing the network, the instructions bypass the cloud, and the delay changes from seconds of local direct connection to two or three seconds. This is a normal cost. But if it changes from "slow" to "offline", it's because the device is offline, not a cross-network problem - just follow the old method of troubleshooting. I'll follow the troubleshooting sequence for the camera disconnecting in the middle of the night and the speaker shouting when it shouldn't. The article about Mijia devices going offline As written in, it doesn’t matter which network the device is on. Distinguishing between "slow" and "dropped" can save you a lot of detours.

Reconciliation one month after moving: Is it worth it? The numbers speak for themselves.

I reconciled my accounts one month after the move. Mainnet side: There are 22 devices left on the main network in the list of router devices (11 devices for personal use plus sweepers, TVs, etc. that remain on the network). At night, the whole family can watch videos at the same time without dragging each other down. The load of the AX3000T can be seen with the naked eye. Device network side: There are 40 units connected to "jia-iot", and 3 units have been disconnected in a month - two were caused by the thermometer and hygrometer battery being out of power, and one was caused by the outlet reconnecting after upgrading its firmware, neither of which was caused by the network. Mijia App controls are all normal. My mother uses her mobile phone (connected to her own network) to control my equipment to water my flowers, and she is not affected in any way because the commands are sent through the cloud.

There are two unexpected gains. One is that the background of the router is refreshed.: It used to be that the list of 62 devices had to be scrolled through three screens, and you had to identify them one by one to check for scammers. Now you can see the 22 devices on the main network in one screen. You can spot unfamiliar devices at a glance when they appear. With the help of new device reminders, you can basically prevent scammers. Here is the method for device recognition Equipment list recognition article Here, the efficiency of this set of actions doubles after the separation. The other one is that the TV box is honest.: It used to be on the same network as my NAS, and it would scan devices and browse shared folders on the LAN every three days. Now, separated by the guest network's isolation wall, it can't even touch the door of the NAS.

The price is also on the table: The local linkage method of smart devices is limited (cannot be discovered across networks), the real-time refresh of the map of the sweeper is half a beat slow, and the router is actually running two networks with the same chip. In extreme cases, the two networks will still affect each other. For more complete isolation, you have to use VLAN. If you have network cables at home and have high requirements for camera privacy, you can use it. The general method is not to pick the brand. I am here How to set up too many smart devices The four roads have been compared here, and Xiaomi users are given priority to try this zero-cost road in this article.

ending: If you want to take action, follow this order

Compress the entire moving process into one sequence: First turn off the dual frequency band and separate the frequency bands → Change the guest network to always on and name the device network → Count the devices according to the three-category table. The pure cloud control type can be moved, and the local discovery type remains on the main network → Move in batches of 5 units and observe for half a day → After the move, sort out the four pitfalls (isolation, scheduled network shutdown, channel, control delay) → Reconcile the accounts after a month to see the number of disconnections and the main network experience.

Which families are suitable for this?: You have more than 30 smart devices at home, your whole family has network lag during peak hours at night, and you don’t want to spend money on additional hardware. Households with less than 20 devices should not bother. The main network can directly support it. Separating households will only add one more process. Finally, to be honest, the essence of this trick is not some advanced technology. It is just using a ready-made switch in the Xiaomi router to do the opposite of its original design intention - the guest network has been isolated for guests for ten years, and now it is the turn of your 40 camera sensors to live in it and enjoy this blessing.