Xiaomi Mi Router 3G v2 vs 4A Gigabit Edition

himi · December 1, 2021, 9:30am

Hello guys, I'm new here.
I have Xiaomi Mi Router 4A Gigabit Edition, at least this is what it says on the box and the label at the back of the router. I flashed it about 3 months ago, using hoody's wonderful guide. It was without a problem. The router is running fine on all devices but one. It's my work laptop, it loses connection very often (lots of lost packets). Nothing other than router reboot helps, than it's ok for a day or two

I was under impression that I have Xiaomi Mi Router 4A Gigabit Edition, that's the info I used when flashing it. The router is currently running
openwrt-19.07 branch (git-21.029.68283-bf8b0bb)] / OpenWrt 19.07-SNAPSHOT r11295-365d573af4

and on the status page it shows:
Model: Xiaomi Mi Router 3G v2
Architecture: MediaTek MT7621 ver:1 eco:3
Firmware Version: OpenWrt 19.07-SNAPSHOT r11295-365d573af4 / LuCI openwrt-19.07 branch git-21.029.68283-bf8b0bb
Kernel Version: 4.14.218

I would like to upgrade to the latest build, 21.02.1 but really unsure which one to use.

4A Gigabit
https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/?version=21.02.1&target=ramips%2Fmt7621&id=xiaomi_mi-router-4a-gigabit

or 3G v2
https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/?version=21.02.1&target=ramips%2Fmt7621&id=xiaomi_mi-router-3g-v2

I would do the a clean install, not keeping current settings.

Is there a way to identify which router version I really have? (like ssh or something)
Thank you!

frollic · December 1, 2021, 9:44am

according to https://openwrt.org/inbox/toh/xiaomi/xiaomi_mi_router_4a_gigabit_edition the hardware is identical, but boot loaders differ.

use the sysupgrade link in the page above.

hecatae · December 1, 2021, 11:53pm

Does your work laptop connect over 5ghz or 2.4ghz WiFi?

himi · December 2, 2021, 7:16am

The work laptop is connected over 2.4GHz. Tried both actually, no change.

himi · December 2, 2021, 7:20am

Now looking into OpenWRT system log I can see this:

Thu Dec  2 07:56:46 2021 daemon.info hostapd: wlan1: STA 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx IEEE 802.11: authenticated
Thu Dec  2 07:56:46 2021 daemon.info hostapd: wlan1: STA 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx IEEE 802.11: associated (aid 2)
Thu Dec  2 07:56:46 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan1: AP-STA-CONNECTED 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx
Thu Dec  2 07:56:46 2021 daemon.info hostapd: wlan1: STA 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx WPA: pairwise key handshake completed (RSN)
Thu Dec  2 07:56:46 2021 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[2191]: DHCPREQUEST(br-lan) 192.168.1.208 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx
Thu Dec  2 07:56:46 2021 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[2191]: DHCPACK(br-lan) 192.168.1.208 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx WIN-HOSTNAME
Thu Dec  2 07:56:46 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan1: AP-STA-DISCONNECTED 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx
Thu Dec  2 07:56:46 2021 daemon.info hostapd: wlan1: STA 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx IEEE 802.11: authenticated
Thu Dec  2 07:56:46 2021 daemon.info hostapd: wlan1: STA 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx IEEE 802.11: associated (aid 2)
Thu Dec  2 07:56:46 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan1: AP-STA-CONNECTED 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx
Thu Dec  2 07:56:46 2021 daemon.info hostapd: wlan1: STA 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx WPA: pairwise key handshake completed (RSN)
Thu Dec  2 07:56:46 2021 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[2191]: DHCPREQUEST(br-lan) 192.168.1.208 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx
Thu Dec  2 07:56:46 2021 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[2191]: DHCPACK(br-lan) 192.168.1.208 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx WIN-HOSTNAME
Thu Dec  2 07:56:46 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan1: AP-STA-DISCONNECTED 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx

The only solution I have at the moment is to reboot router every day. Sometimes connection drops anyway during the day. I did not update to latest version of OpenWRT yet, still running on OpenWrt 19.07-SNAPSHOT r11295-365d573af4

himi · December 2, 2021, 11:30am

Looking into OpenWRT logs now, it is flooded with following.
48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx is my work laptop.
And this fill the system log all day long.

Thu Dec  2 12:20:45 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0: STA-OPMODE-SMPS-MODE-CHANGED 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx static
Thu Dec  2 12:20:46 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0: STA-OPMODE-SMPS-MODE-CHANGED 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx off
Thu Dec  2 12:20:47 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0: STA-OPMODE-SMPS-MODE-CHANGED 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx static
Thu Dec  2 12:20:47 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0: STA-OPMODE-SMPS-MODE-CHANGED 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx off
Thu Dec  2 12:20:48 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0: STA-OPMODE-SMPS-MODE-CHANGED 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx static
Thu Dec  2 12:20:48 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0: STA-OPMODE-SMPS-MODE-CHANGED 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx off
Thu Dec  2 12:20:49 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0: STA-OPMODE-SMPS-MODE-CHANGED 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx static
Thu Dec  2 12:20:49 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0: STA-OPMODE-SMPS-MODE-CHANGED 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx off
Thu Dec  2 12:20:51 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0: STA-OPMODE-SMPS-MODE-CHANGED 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx static
Thu Dec  2 12:20:51 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0: STA-OPMODE-SMPS-MODE-CHANGED 48:f1:xx:xx:xx:xx off

himi · December 2, 2021, 3:26pm

Thanks. Yes, I noticed that too, that's why I asked my original question if I should use install file from
xiaomi_mi_router_4a_gbit or xiaomi_miwifi_3g_v2?
Or it does not matter (4A or 3Gv2?

frollic · December 2, 2021, 4:38pm

That's why I told you to use the link from the correct device page, to play it safe.

himi · December 2, 2021, 6:49pm

So, assuming xiaomi_miwifi_3g_v2 as OpenWrt admin overview says Xiaomi Mi Router 3G v2?
Really don't wanna mess it up, hence better ask twice .. Hope you don't mind.

openwrt

hecatae · December 2, 2021, 7:04pm

I'm not sure what you are asking, which of my four 4a gigabit edition do you want me to test which sysupgrade or factory image on?

himi · December 2, 2021, 8:19pm

Sorry .. I am probably just confused. Let me explain.
There are two versions of Xiaomi Mi Router with identical hardware, 4A Gigabit Edition and 3Gv2.
The difference is in bootloader.

I was under impression I have 4A Gigabit Edition, at least according to the label at the back of the router. After I flashed OpenWrt, System status page says Xiaomi Mi Router 3G v2.

Since I am running 19.07-SNAPSHOT and having some issues I wanted to upgrade to the latest version. I just don't know which one is the correct one.

xiaomi_mi-router-4a-gigabit
or
xiaomi_mi-router-3g-v2

Or are the files the same? (not according to checksum)
Thanks.

frollic · December 2, 2021, 9:09pm

hecatae · December 2, 2021, 9:53pm

Your confusion is because you're using a custom build of openwrt, the 4a gigabit edition was not official until 21.02.

People were adapting the other device builds to boot on the 4a gigabit.

Please freshly flash the correct version for the 4a gigabit edition.

himi · December 3, 2021, 3:34am

Thank you. I successfully flashed 21.02.1 for 4A Gigabit version.

Unfortunately I cannot get the ethernet working. I did a fresh install, not keeping any settings.
Now when I try to set it up it does not work.
I can log in to LuCI via browser (192.168.1.1) but when I configure the network (static IP address from ISP, DNS etc, same as before) I have no connection.
For WAN Interface settings the original value for "Device" was "wan". Did not work so I changed it to "eth0" but that does not work either.
192.168.1.237 DNS in LAN is AdGuard running on raspberry pi. Tried with or without, no luck.

Really don't know where's the problem.

Here is the screenshot of router current network settings (/etc/config/network) and the backup I created before flashing.

What am I doing wrong? (I did not set up wifi yet)

frollic · December 3, 2021, 4:16am

Have no connection from where.

himi · December 3, 2021, 4:21am

There's no internet connection. I also tried Network > Diagnostics, no luck.
I have my desktop PC connected via cable to the router. I can access LuCI but no internet.

frollic · December 3, 2021, 4:23am

Can you ping the ISPs gateway?

himi · December 3, 2021, 4:25am

no ping to ISPs gateway

frollic · December 3, 2021, 7:24am

and what does ifconfig say about your interfaces ?

pavelgl · December 3, 2021, 8:07am

The correct device is wan, so set it back to wan.

Some ISPs map the static IP address to the last know MAC address. Run

ip link show dev wan | grep link | awk '{print $2}'

and check if the MAC is the same as the one in the device section of your old network configuration.