Banana Pi BPI-WiFi6 Mini is an inexpensive WiFi 6 and dual Gigabit Ethernet router board with an M.2 Key-B socket and Nano SIM card slot to add 4G LTE or 5G cellular connectivity.
It’s a smaller version of the Banana Pi BPI-WiFi 6 router board based on the Triductor TR6560 dual-core Arm Cortex-A9 processor and Triductor TR5220 WiFi 6 chipset that follows the form factor of the Banana BPI-R3 Mini low-profile router board based on MediaTek Filogic 830 processor.
Banana Pi BPI-WiFi6 Mini specifications:
- SoC – Triductor TR6560 dual-core Arm Cortex-A9 processor @ 1.2 GHz with LSW (Line-Card Switching) and hardware NAT up to 5 Gbps
- WiFi chipset – Triductor TR5220 WiFi 6 chipset
- System Memory – 128MB DDR3
- Storage – 128MB SPI NAND flash
- Networking
- 2x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports
- WiFi
- WiFi 6 with 2×2 MIMO @ 2.4 GHz, 2×2 MIMO @ 5GHz
- Antennas – 2.4GHz antenna connector, 2.4GHz/5GHz antenna connector, 5GHz antenna connector
- Optional 4G LTE or 5G cellular connectivity via M.2 Key-B socket (USB) and nano SIM card slot; tested with Quectel RM500U 5G module and Quectel EM05 4G LTE module
- USB – 1x USB 3.0 port
- Debugging – 3-pin debug UART header
- Misc
- Reset button
- Fan connector
- Power Supply – 12V DC via USB-C port
- Dimensions – 65 x 65mm
Banana Pi provides an OpenWrt image (fork) for the board which can be found on the wiki. But note the board will likely never be part of upstream OpenWrt.
Since the form factor is the same as the more powerful (and expensive) Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini, the cases for the latter can be reused with the Banana Pi BPI-WiFi6 Mini SBC.
The Banana BPI-WiFi 6 Mini board is sold on AliExpress for $29.60 plus shipping, a price that is somehow about the same as the Banana BPI-WiFi6 router with five GbE ports. The main advantages of the Mini board are the USB 3.0 port and the M.2 B-Key socket for 4G LTE/5G cellular connectivity. You can buy the case above from third-party sellers for about $21 and up which makes it much less attractive as a complete router… A complete set with the board and enclosure can be found on Amazon for $69.
Via Liliputing
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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