What is the maximum number of devices a Xiaomi router can connect to? Smart devices kept disconnecting, so I made a second major slimming down of all 62 units at home

the incident started because my robot vacuum was spinning around the living room at 2 a.m. but couldn't move around, and the app reported 'device offline.' When I woke up in the morning, the camera, two speakers, and air purifier were all disconnected, except for my phone and computer. My first reaction was that the router was broken, and I was ready to order a new one. I casually clicked on the router's device list in the Mijia app—62 . I'm completely stunned. When did our family have 62 devices with internet access?

this article covers my entire process of driving these 62 devices: how many Xiaomi routers can actually carry, why disconnections occur when there are so many devices, how to check who occupies space, how to slim down, and when you really need to change devices. If you use models like AX3000T or Redmi AX6S at home, just check them out and you'll have a clear idea.

to get to the point: how many units you can connect and how many can be held steadily are two different things

research, I saw many people saying Xiaomi routers have "up to 64 units" and "up to 128 units," which confused me. Later, I figured it out myself: routers are labeled as "able to connect simultaneously," which is far from the number you can "connect without disconnecting" you're using.

my AX3000T, the backend device list shows no strict limit on the number of connections, but Mijia customer service told me "Recommended to connect up to 40 devices." In fact, I counted the makeup of my home: 4 mobile phones, 2 tablets, 3 computers, 2 TVs and boxes—these are 'for people' use, totaling 11 units; The remaining 51 devices are all smart devices—6 cameras, 4 speakers, over twenty light bulb sockets, robot vacuums, air purifiers, door locks, smoke detectors...... and what really drags down the routers are these 51 devices that rarely speak but stay idle all the time.

smart devices are different from smartphones. Once your phone connects to WiFi, it basically behaves well; if you don't open the app, it hardly transfers data; Smart devices send a heartbeat to the server every few seconds, reporting 'I'm still alive,' and the gateway periodically scans the online status. One device isn't very thoughtful; fifty stacked together, and just handling these "roll-call" tasks on routers takes up a lot of resources. So it's never the phone that disconnects, but the smart device that comes after you.

How to tell if

devices are overloaded: My three troubleshooting actions

there are many reasons for disconnections, first confirm whether it's the "carrying device" issue, don't blame the router right away. I did three actions, each simple:

first step: count the equipment. open 192.168.31.1 in the browser (you can also enter the router card from the Mi Home app), and check the total number in the 'Device List'. The app even categorizes you by category: online and offline. Here's a pitfall: offline devices also occupy the record . I have 62 units on my list, of which a dozen or so have outdated sockets and broken cameras. The machines are all thrown into drawers, but the records are still there, looking inflated. First, clear these out.

Step two: check the timing pattern of disconnections. I observed for a week: the drop was most severe at eight or nine in the evening, and during the day, there was basically no problem. This pattern speaks volumes—at night, everyone is home, phones and tablets are all back connected to the internet, and they turn on the TV to watch shows. With so many active devices, the already crowded lines become completely overwhelming. If it's random all day, the direction is different. You need to look for signal interference. Refer to my previous article on signal poor troubleshooting .

Step three: separate 2.4G and 5G data. Xiaomi backend "WiFi Settings," you can turn off dual-band integration (the switch that shares the same name for both 2.4G and 5G). After turning it off, check how many devices are connected to each band. When I turned it off, I was shocked: there were only 9 5G devices and 53 2.4G devices. Smart devices are almost all crammed into the 2.4G "slow lane"—not because they want to squeeze, but because many smart devices only support 2.4G, leaving no choice.

2. What Kind of Problems Will 4G Crowding: 12 Pitfalls per Channel

need to explain why 2.4G crashes first when there are more devices. There are basically only 13 channels in the 2.4G band in China, and only 1, 6, and 11 can be deployed without interference. Each channel has devices lined up. If your 53 devices share the same air segment with a bunch of neighbors' devices, and the router can't keep up, it shows up as: smart devices go offline, speakers don't respond, or the camera screen gets stuck and spinning.

my home also has a buff: the neighbor upstairs also has a Xiaomi router, with the channel automatically set by default, and both machines always compete for the same channel. The solution was written in the article about WiFi channel interference : install a WiFi analysis app on your phone to check the surrounding occupancy and manually pin the channel to the clean grid. After completing this step, the camera lag was improved by about 30%.

another easily overlooked point: Mi Home devices recognize gateways but not routers, saving a lot of space . If you have a Bluetooth Mesh gateway or Zigbee gateway device at home (speakers or air conditioning companions with the word "gateway" in their names), the sub-device uses the Bluetooth/Zigbee protocol and doesn't take up the WiFi slot. When buying smart devices, pay attention: prioritize the Zigbee version for the light and sensor for the gateway, not the WiFi version entirely, as this reduces the router's load from the source.

Slimming down routers: The process of cutting from 62 to 34

confirmed there were too many devices, I did a thorough cleaning. Here are the steps for you:

• Zombie Device : Delete any device in the list that has been offline for more than 30 days. Old WiFi outlets, devices left by the previous tenant, and discarded cameras—a total of 14 records were cleared. After clearing the list, the list feels much cleaner, and it's much easier to find equipment.
• Turn off idle equipment WiFi: the TV box in the guest bedroom, the printer used twice a year, which is usually cut off and only turned on when needed. Six of these "hanging devices that don't use them" have been cleared.
• old device transfer : Pulled out the retired Redmi AC2100 from the drawer, switched to AP mode connected to the living room network port, dedicated to 2.4G smart devices, with the main router only handling people's phones and computers. This diversion process took 14 channels, making it the most immediate and effective cut.
• firmware upgrade : Conveniently upgrade the firmware of both machines to the latest version. Older firmware versions really don't handle heartbeats on many devices. Don't be lazy—how to upgrade depends on the firmware upgrade article.

After the

was cut, 34 devices were permanently installed on the main router, with only 19 of them remaining at 2.4G. The effect is the opposite of the word the title mentioned— no disconnection . The robot vacuum works normally at night, the camera has never reported going offline again, and the device list in the Mijia app is completely green.

lose disconnection after slimming down, it's time to consider switching devices

if your devices are cleaned and the channels are replaced but still doesn't work, most likely the machine's specifications have reached its limit — don't force it. Here's a simple idea for choosing: by the number of smart devices at home:

when choosing a device, don't just look at the wireless speed (like 3000M, 5700M); that number doesn't really depend on the number of devices you have. What matters is CPU and memory : handling dozens of devices' heartbeats relies on chip computing power and memory, and mid-range phones generally double those of entry-level models. By the way, don't blindly believe slogan "supports 128 connections" that's the theoretical number of connections, like a seven-seater car saying it can seat seven people. It can sit well, but comfort is another matter.

my final experience can be summed up in one sentence: smart device disconnects, 90% of the time it's not the device is broken, but the router is 'overloaded' . First, count how many devices you have at home, clear zombie records, and split 2.4G data. After these three steps, consider switching devices. I myself reduced my own 62 routers to 34, and it wasn't a single cent to solve that problem. I almost spent over 400 yuan to buy a new router. With the money I saved, I replaced the side brush on the robot vacuum.