Some users prefer to get solutions for more open networkswith which to control or configure more transparent your communications. For this, some companies offer their products with open source software, such as the Banana Pi’s new router, the BPI-R4 which has options for 5G and Wi-Fi 7.
Being Open Source does not mean that you have to give up the latest and fastest technology in networks. This BPI-R4 features two 10 Gbps SFP portsalthough it is also possible to add one 10 Gbps SFP and one 2.5 Gbps Eth. A daughter board can also be added via 2 mPCI offering Tri-band WiFi 7 connection with up to 36 Gbpsyou can also add the 5G module through an M.2 B-Key connector that is located above the 3 microsim card slots it has.
It has a processor MediaTek Filogic 880 of 4 Cortex A-73 cores at 1.8 GHz, along with 8GB of DDR4 RAM and an 8 GB eMMC module. The main board has 3 Gigabit RJ45 connectors to which you canadd a PoE connector, 12-volt power input, and a 20-volt USB PD Type-C connector. It also has a microSD reader, USB Type-A, and GPIO connectors. This router works with linux distributions Debian and OpenWRT that will be available on their website.
For now no known recommended price, although following the line of the previous version, an approximate price of $100 is expected, which will be complemented with the different modules. Its release is scheduled for beginning of 2024.
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Juan Antonio Soto
I am a Computer Engineer and my specialty is automation and robotics. My passion for hardware began at the age of 14 when I gutted my first computer: a 386 DX 40 with 4MB of RAM and a 210MB hard drive. I continue to give free rein to my passion in the technical articles that I write at Geeknetic. I spend most of my free time playing video games, contemporary and retro, on the 20+ consoles I own, in addition to the PC.
