I first noticed the MediaTek MT7986 WiFi router processor in Linux 5.17 changelog. MT7986 is the codename for MediaTek Filogic 830 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor designed for Wi-Fi 6/6E routers with up to 6 Gbps bandwidth, and two 2.5Gbps Ethernet interfaces.
Banana Pi BPI-R3 is a router board based on Filogic 830/MT7986A that offers an upgrade to the company’s Banana Pi BPI-R2 board powered by a MediaTek MT7623A quad-core Cortex-A7 processor or even the Banana Pi BPI-R64 board based on a MediaTek MT7622 dual-core Arm Cortex-A53 SoC.
Banana Pi BPI-R3 specifications:
- SoC – MediaTek MT7986A (Filogic 830) quad-core Arm Cortex A53 processor with hardware acceleration engines for Wi-Fi offloading and networking
- System Memory – 2GB DDR RAM
- Storage – 8GB eMMC flash, MicroSD card socket, support for M.2 NVMe SSD
- Networking
- 2x 2.5GbE SFP cages, 5x Gigabit Ethernet ports (1x WAN + 4x LAN) via MT7531AE 7-port switch
- WiFi 6 4×4 2.4GHz WiFi via MT7975N
- WiFi 6 4×4 5GHz Wifi via MT7975P
- 8x u.FL antenna connectors
- USB – 1x USB 3.0 Type-A ports, 2x USB 2.0 headers
- Expansion
- Mini PCIe slot with USB signals only + MicroSIM card slot
- M.2 KEY-M PCIe interface (2-lane PCIe 2.0)
- 26-pin GPIO header
- Debugging – Debug UART header for serial console
- Misc – Reset and WPS buttons, fan header, boot switch
- Power Supply – Via DC jack or 2-pin header
- Dimensions – 100.5 x 148mm
- Weight – 200 grams
Banana Pi says the board can be used as an “internet service router”, a wireless router, a repeater, a home security gateway, an home automation gateway, a NAS device (using an M.2 to 5x SATA adapter), as well as other network and communication applications. Banana PI provides an OpenWrt 21.02 image with Linux 5.4 for the board which you can find, together with the source code and other technical information, on the wiki.
Besides the OpenWrt image provided by Banana Pi, the BPI-R3 board has also very recently been added to mainline OpenWrt as noted in the comments section.
You’ll also notice an SFP to RJ45 adapter in the thumbnail or video above. Note while there are many of those available online, they may not all work as expected, and the ones most likely to work can be pricey (around $500). The good news is that Banana Pi BPI-R3 apparently works with a cheaper SFP to RJ45 adapter sold for under $30 on Aliexpress.
Banana Pi BPI-R3 board can be purchased for $94 on Aliexpress. Additional information may be found on the product page.
[Updated: The post was initially published on March 21, 2022, and updated following the launch on Aliexpress]
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Not sure why they’ve made the two 2.5G on SFP. One could be understandable for fiber modules, but that complicates the connection of the second one to the LAN. Also 2.5G modules are not that common and are at least as expensive if not more than 10/25G ones.
I am pretty sure the MT7531AE only has 5x gigabit PHY integrated, the extra two ports are intended to be SFP. I’m not even sure if they support SGMII, but SGMII PHYs were relatively expensive compared to RGMII or GMII last time I checked, so it’s probably just cost reduction by avoiding having the extra RJ45s.
Could be, indeed. SFP cages are very inexpensive so that could be an explanation.
The main SoC has a pair of HSGMII MAC interfaces. The matching PHY’s are less than $2 each, guaranteed.
Who feels like playing early adopter for a new board that (1) is by Sinovoip and (2) is based on a Mediatek SoC and (3) has – and will likely have for quite a while – a driver support and documentation up to the “standard” for either (1) or (2), let alone a constellation like this here combining both? I mean, on a purely empirical level: what could possibly go wrong eh?
If anyone does, please post a link to the video of your experience (including install,config,tests) here in the comments.
Its not a mobile soc, it’s coming from the networking group (ex ralink) those SOCs are usually better supported via openwrt, but obviously not yet now…
The rest about bananaware sounds reasonable 😸
They are supported now! In the vanilla openwrt version.
This would be perfect if they added some SFP28 ports. Optics are finally affordable but there’s not reasonably priced hardware to use them with
This looks like it’s based on the feature reduced MT7986B, not the MT7986A, as it had native SATA support, plus ADC, RTC and IR support.
@CNXSoft said: “You’ll also notice an SFP to RJ45 adapter in the thumbnail or video above. Note while there are many of those available online, they may not all work as expected, and the ones most likely to work can be pricey (around $500).”
Huh? $500 for an SFP/RJ45 ethernet module? Am I missing something? The modules below are the ubiquitous 1.25G type, but I think they’ll plug into a 2.5G slot and work. Right?
Here’s one SFP/RJ45 module on Amazon for $20.99 with 4.7 out of 5 stars across 630 ratings:
* 1.25G SFP-T, 1000BASE-T Copper SFP, SFP to RJ45 SFP, for Cisco GLC-T/SFP-GE-T, Meraki MA-SFP-1GB-TX, Fortinet, Ubiquiti UniFi UF-RJ45-1G, D-Link, Supermicro, Netgear, TP-Link, Broadcom and More. 4.7 out of 5 stars 630 ratings $20.99 and FREE Returns
https://amzn.to/3wB2xaR
Another version, same price:
* 10/100/1000Base-T Copper SFP, Auto-Negotiation SFP to RJ45 Mini-GBIC Transceiver, for Cisco GLC-T(10/100/1000)/SFP-GE-T(10/100/1000) 4.7 out of 5 stars 630 ratings $20.99 and FREE Returns
https://amzn.to/36OA32F
Here’s a pack of FOUR SFP/RJ45 modules on Amazon for $57.41 ($14.35 each):
* 4PCS 1000BASE-T Gigabit SFP to RJ45 Copper Ethernet Modular Transceiver for Cisco,Meraki,Ubiquiti,D/TP Link,Supermicro,Netgear,Broadcom, 1.25G SFP-T CAT5E/CAT6 up to 100m Mikrotik S-RJ01 4.4 out of 5 stars 13 ratings $57.41 and FREE Returns
https://amzn.to/3tDCZrL
Please click on the link in the post and read the comments about 802.3bz support.
The R3 should be considered an upgrade to the BananaPi R64, which is based on MT7622 (2x Cortex-A53) rather than being an upgrade for the BananaPi R2 (which btw. is not based on MT7621 dual-core MIPS1004Kc, but rather based on MT7623, a quad-core Cortex-A7 SoC stuck somehow half-way between a smartphone and a router).
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) maybe want to fix the first sentence in this article.
Openwrt has added support for the board 5 days ago in master repo[1], snapshot firmware[2] available too.
[1]https://git.openwrt.org/?p=openwrt/openwrt.git;a=commit;h=a96382c1bb204698cd43e82193877c10e4b63027
[2]https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/mediatek/filogic/
Is it tested with mikrotik os?
How would that work?
I think it’s a great router with so much potential and speed!
Of course it’s not for everyone, but for hackers / developers who like to play around with hardware.. Like me 😊