I love the custom Android MIUI ROM. It packed with tons of features that are not available in the stock Android ROM and it is an almost-complete solution for Android devices. One of the thing I love the most is the Wi-Fi FTP Service in it’s File Explorer, which allows the computer in the same network accessing the files in the Android device – No more cable for file transfer.

However, it surprised me when I decided to try this feature out – it fails to work. The device and the computer are in the same network, and there is definitely nothing wrong with my router. I have been looking for solution online and I don’t seems to be able to find any – it is definitely not rocket science to use this feature.

How to make it work?

After some trial and error, I finally figure out the issue. The Hidden SSID is the culprit. I configured my home network in such a way that it doesn’t broadcast the SSID (I know it won’t help in preventing hijacking, but yeah), but I never know that it is the problem that causing the FTP service to failed. So making the SSID visible solve the problem instantly. It also solved the problem that puzzled me on my iPad where my iTunes Wi-Fi Sync and Shared Library is not working over the same network.

So if you have a hidden SSID and you have these problems, make it visible – problem solved. A little bit of surprise to know that these features will not work with invisible SSID, but I am glad that I figured it out. Hope this helps.