How to set the Xiaomi router's wireless relay mode? Don't throw away the old AX3000T—change it to relay to supplement the kitchen signal, and I have to mention the management IP becoming 31.39 first

Last month,

replaced the living room router with a new one. The Xiaomi AX3000T I replaced was originally planning to use Xianyu, but it was less than 200 yuan and no one asked. Later, I found the kitchen signal was only one or two bars, and my wife was constantly spinning while watching videos, so I remembered that this old unit could be switched to relay mode and continue using it. There were two pitfalls during the setup process: one was that after setting up the relay, the original 192.168.31.1 could no longer access the backend and the management IP would change to something else; the other was placing it incorrectly, causing the relay signal to be worse than not being able to open it. Today, I'll write out the complete process and pitfalls.

think clearly: the relay is about "moving" the signal over, not conjuring it out

many people misunderstand relay, thinking that adding relay speed is the same as the main router. No, that's not it. The working principle of the relay is to use half the bandwidth to receive signals from the main router, and the other half for you, speed is naturally reduced by 50% . I tested the main router location with a phone speed of 280Mbps, and AX3000T relay in the kitchen, it was just over 110Mbps.

but offering a 50% discount doesn't mean it can't be used. Watching videos, watching live streams, or shopping apps—tens of megabytes are enough. The real frustration is the relay placement is wrong—the relay router itself can't receive good signals, and what it forwards is just garbage signals. So before setting up, remember one thing: relay router should be placed at a position where the main router signal is still two or three blocks away, not at the worst signal . The weakest signal point is the endpoint you want to cover; the relay is placed in the middle, passing the signal forward.

My kitchen is at the very back of the house, separated by two walls from the living room to the kitchen. AX3000T I placed it on the corridor socket, separated from the main router by a wall, and my phone was still three slots in that spot; There was only one wall separating the hallway from the kitchen to the kitchen, and the kitchen signal changed from one or two bars to a stable four-bar signal. This is the correct way to use remedia.

Setup Process: 'Work Mode' in 192.168.31.1

Xiaomi router relay doesn't need to reset, just switch to mode in the background. Steps in the order I followed:

• first power on the router you want to change the relay on, connect your phone or computer to its WiFi (the initial name is usually the Xiaomi router initial, or a name you've changed before).
• open 192.168.31.1, enter the management password to go to the backend
• and find the " in "Settings". Internet settings." Some firmware versions are called "Working Mode," where you can see three options: routing mode, relay mode, wired relay (some models call wired access
• ). Select "Wireless Relay," which will automatically scan the surrounding WiFi. From the list, select the WiFi name of your main router, enter the password, click save
• wait one or two minutes, and after the router restarts, the relay will take effect. HTML33__

Here's a detail: if several WiFi networks with the same name appear in the scan list (for example, your main router has dual-band integration, 2.4G and 5G have the same name), choose the 5G one; the relay backend will go to 5G, which is much faster. If the 5G signal at the relay location is too weak, switch back to 2.4G. The return route is stable but the speed is low, so weigh it yourself.

Mijia app, you can switch to the router device page. On the router device page, find "Router Settings" and find "Work mode switching." The path is similar to the webpage backend. I set it up using the web backend, and after searching for the entry point in the app, I suggest setting it up directly on the webpage.

first pitfall: After the relay, 192.168.31.1 can't get in

set it up and want to change the relay channel the next day, but entering 192.168.31.1 just won't open it. At the time, I thought the router was broken and almost reset it.

later learned that in relay mode, the router is no longer a standalone router, and its management IP becomes . Because it no longer assigns addresses itself, IP addresses are assigned by the main router. There are two ways to find it:

first method: go to the main router backend and check the device list. In the main router's 192.168.31.1 backend, find this relay router (the name you gave it) in the 'Device List'. Click in and you'll see its IP, usually 192.168.31.39. Just enter this IP in your browser to access the relay backend.

second method is even easier: go to the router's device page in the Mijia app, and in the settings in the upper right corner, you can directly change some commonly used switches without needing to go to the webpage backend. But for meticulous tasks like Gaixindao, you still need the webpage backend.

remember this new IP—every time you need to adjust the relay settings, start from here. If one day you can't even find the main router, it's very likely that the relay and main router are out of contact (placed too far away). Move it closer and reconnect to power it back to get it back.

second pitfall: Which WiFi name should be used for the relay

after setting up, you'll notice two situations on your phone: one is the relay directly enlarging the main router's WiFi, with the name and password exactly the same as the main router, so the phone automatically switches seamlessly to the kitchen—this is the most comfortable; The other is to send your own WiFi name to the relay, which the phone has to manually switch over.

my phone defaults to the first mode (roaming mode with the same name), but there's a side effect: when the phone moves from the living room to the kitchen, even though the signal bar is still full, it's already connected to the repeater. If the repeater position is poor, the network feels laggy. To judge, when checking the video card in the kitchen, go into the main router backend to check the device list and see if your phone is connected to the main router or the relay.

if your home has a situation where "the main router signal is barely enough, and the relay is just a supplement," it's recommended to rename the relay WiFi to match the main router (change it in the 31.39 backend), so the phone can automatically select a good connection. If it's a "dead spot completely uncovered by the main router" (such as a loft or yard), you can name them separately. Manually connecting to the relay WiFi in the dead end won't cause the phone to stick to weak signals.

when the relay is enough, when don't mess with it

relay is not a cure-all. I have listed several situations I have helped with at home and with relatives as a judgment table:

share my specific feelings about the 50% discount. My home broadband is gigabit, with the main router running at 780Mbps and the relay at 110Mbps. It sounds scary, but the kitchen phone doesn't lag for watching videos, watching livestreams, or making video calls, since video calls only account for less than 10 megabytes. The real reveal is dragging the progress bar under the relay signal to watch movies stored on the home NAS, then dragging it out to buffer for two seconds. This kind of bandwidth demand can't be handled by the relay.

relay used a few honest words from a week

kitchen signal ranged from one or two bars to four bars. My wife was satisfied, and this 200-yuan AX3000T that no one accepted was considered a second spring. But I also clearly state its limit: during peak times (after 9 PM when the whole family is online), relay speed drops from 110 to over 70 because part of the backhaul bandwidth is taken away by other devices on the main router. This is a principle issue and cannot be solved.

if you also have a retired Xiaomi router, don't sell it yet. Find a socket and plug it in to try changing the repeater—it takes ten minutes. If your home has many rooms with weak signals and your budget allows, don't hesitate to just use Mesh. Roaming experience and relay are things from different eras. I've previously written about the complete process of Mesh networking and wired backhaul connections—you can check them out. The positioning of relays is "zero-cost remediation," and it accomplishes the task.

Finally, here's the order of decisions: first move the main route location (free), then switch the old route to a relay (free). If that doesn't work, then consider Mesh (cost). Don't buy new devices right away. I've seen too many people have three routers at home. Actually, moving them around can solve the problem.