The Radxa Dual 2.5G Router HAT is an expansion board adding 2.5GbE networking and an M.2 PCIe x1 socket for NVMe SSD storage to the Raspberry Pi 5 and compatible SBCs with a PCIe FFC connector.
We had previously seen Raspberry Pi 5 HATs with 2.5GbE such as the Pineberry HatNET! 2.5G, or even one with 2.5GbE and NVMe SSD (52Pi W01 U2500 HAT), but the Radxa Dual 2.5G Router HAT is the first to implement two 2.5 Gbps Ethernet ports to enable routing, and also features an NVMe SSD as a bonus.
Radxa Dual 2.5G Router HAT specifications:
- Supported SBCs – Raspberry Pi 5, Radxa ROCK 2F, Radxa ROCK 2A, Radxa ROCK 5C, the upcoming Radxa 4D (RK3576), and potentially others
- PCIe Switch – ASM2806 PCIe 3.0 switch chip with PCIe Gen3 x2 upstream and four PCIe 3.1 lanes downstream up to 8GT/s
- Storage – 1x M.2 M-Key socket supporting M.2 2230, 2242, 2260, or 2280 NVMe SSD
- Ethernet – 2x 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports via Realtek RTL8125B controllers
- PCIe
- IPEX connector using a flat cable connecting to the Raspberry Pi 5’s PCIe FFC connector
- Raspberry Pi FFC connector with PCIe 1-lane to connect an extra PCIe HAT if needed
- Power Supply
- Input (one or the other)
- 5V via GPIO header (using a USB-C adapter to power the Raspberry Pi)
- 12V 5.5/2.5mm DC jack (optional)
- Output – 2-pin 12V output for Radxa X4 (also requires an IPEX to M.2 M-Key adapter that is not provided in the current kit)
- Input (one or the other)
- Dimensions – About 85x56mm (Raspberry Pi HAT+ form factor)
The kit ships with copper standoffs and screws for securing the HAT and SSD, a 9x9x5mm heatsink for cooling the PCIe switch, and an IPEX to FPC adapter cable. I was initially confused by the IPEX connector on the board. But eventually figured out it’s because there are two PCIe interfaces. The first one is using the 16-pin PCIe FFC connector on the top of the board (as found on the Raspberry Pi 5) to connect an additional PCIe HAT, and the second one (IPEX connector) is to connect the expansion board to the Raspberry PI 5 or other SBC.
The documentation website has more details about the assembly with different boards, power supply selection (5V GPIO or 12V DC jack), OS configuration, and testing both NVMe SSD and the 2.5GbE ports. The photo below shows the Raspberry Pi 5 connected to the Radxa Dual 2.5G Router HAT through the provided FPC adapter cable, and with an M.2 2280 NVMe SSD fitted on top.
The Radxa Dual 2.5G Router HAT sells for about $40 on Arace and AliExpress (Note: you may need to disable your adblocker if you don’t see the AliExpress link). A few more details may also be found on the product page.
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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