Between single-board computer the most famous name of all is certainly Raspberry Pi. Yet, over time, many other manufacturers have entered the same market segment. This is the case with products Banana Pidesigned to serve as devices for i makerdevelopment tools, devices for “do it yourself” projects and for use in teaching computer science.
While waiting for it to also arrive on Amazon Europe, where many Banana Pi brand products can be found, today’s announcement is made of the availability of a real router WiFi 6 super cheap.
Next to single-board computerthe Banana Pi WiFi 6 router arrives
Banana Pi devices can be used for a wide range of applications, including home servers, media centers, IoT (Internet of Things) devices, home automation projects, control systems, and much more. Their versatility and affordable price have made them popular among electronics and computer enthusiasts.
However, the notable news is the presentation of a WiFi 6 router based on the custom OpenWRT firmware. Built around a dual core Triductor TR6560 ARM Cortex-A9 SoC (1.2 GHz), it seems to promise performance very interesting considering the cost.
In fact, it takes just over 35 euros for a device capable of managing up to 5 Gbps of data traffic on the local network, with one Gigabit Ethernet WAN port and three Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports. Optional PoE (Power over Ethernet) support can be activated on the WAN port. However, you need to add a module to solder onto the board.
On the slope wireless, the device supports WiFi 6 (802.11ax) and is dual band: on 5 GHz 2×2 MIMO up to 2402 Mbps; on 2.4 GHz 2×2 MIMO up to 573 Mbps. Supports all the latest standards, including the WPA3 for WiFi network protection.
On board the Banana Pi WiFi 6 router uses 512MB of DDR3 memory alongside 128MB of NAND flash memory.
OpenWRT firmware already preloaded on the router
Banana Pi engineers have confirmed that the router comes with OpenWRT already pre-installed. Certainly, however, instructions for carrying out the procedure will be provided flashing from scratch using the code published on the official OpenWRT website.
In the technical details of the router (detailed information on the design of the card and the functionality of the device can be found on the site) it is noted that the signal coverage on the 2.4 GHz band it can reach up to 40 meters; in the case of frequencies around 5 GHz, it is possible to reach up to 160 meters.
For their part, the developers of custom firmware, often used to recover old devices or to activate features blocked by the original manufacturer, have also announced the imminent arrival of OpenWRT One, a router that will cost around 100 dollars and will integrate a MediaTek SoC.