Banana Pi BPI-R4-NIC-BE14 WiFi 7 module for BPI-R4 SBC launched for $74

Banana Pi BPI-R4-NIC-BE14 WiFi 7 Module

The Banana Pi BPI-R4 was introduced last year as a WiFi 7 router board with two 10GbE SFP cages and four GbE ports based on MediaTek Filogic 880 SoC. The only issue is that WiFi 7 is implemented through a dual mini PCIe module that was not available until now. The good news is that the tri-band Banana Pi BPI-R4-NIC-BE14 WiFi 7 module for the Banana Pi BPI-R4 board can now be purchased for $73.69 on Aliexpress. It is based on MediaTek MT7995AV WiFi 7 chipset, MT7976CN dual-band (2.4GHz and 5 GHz) chipset, and MT7977IAN 6GHz chipset. Banana Pi BPI-R4-NIC-BE14 specifications: MediaTek MT7995AV WiFi 7 – IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be compliant 32-bit RISC-V MCU for Wi-Fi protocols and Wi-Fi offload Embedded SRAM and ROM UART interface with hardware flow control MediaTek MT7976CN dual-band 2.4GHz 2×2 MIMO and 5GHz 3×3 MIMO MediaTek MT7977IAN 6GHz 3×3 MIMO Bandwidth 2.4 GHz – 20 and […]

WisGate Soho Pro RAK7267 LoRaWAN gateway supports LTE Cat 1 and WiFi 4 connectivity, solar battery kits

WisGate Soho Pro RAK7267 LoRaWAN gateway with solar battery kit

Designed for both indoor and outdoor deployments, RAKwireless’ WisGate Soho Pro RAK7267 is an 8-channel LoRaWAN gateway with LTE Cat 1 and WiFi 4 connectivity and support for 9V-36V DC input compatible with the company for solar battery kits. The LoRaWAN gateway is based on the MediaTek MT7628 MIPS processor with 256MB RAM and 32MB flash, runs a fork of OpenWrt with a dashboard for configuration, and integrates with WisDM cloud-based IoT management platform. WisGate Soho Pro RAK7267 specifications: SoC – MediaTek MT7628 MIPS processor at 580MHz System Memory – 256MB RAM Storage – 32MB NOR flash, microSD card socket LoRaWAN connectivity to sensors Semtech SX1303 LoRa Concentrator for up to 8 channels Frequencies 868 MHz – EU868/ IN865/ RU864 9150 MHz – US915/ AU915/ KR920/ AS923 Rx Sensitivity – At least -139 dBm Tx Power – Up to 27 dBm LoRaWAN v1.0.3 LoRa Frame filtering (node whitelisting) Buffering of […]

GL.iNet GL-B3000 “Marble” WiFi 6 router ships with a photo frame

router photo frame

GL.iNet GL-B3000 “Marble” is a typical WiFi 6 AX6000 router that ships with a photo frame acting as a stand for the router and makes it look like an office or home decoration item rather than another bland white box on the desk. The Marble router is powered by a Qualcomm IPQ5018 dual-core Cortex-A53 networking SoC coupled with 512MB RAM and 128MB NAND flash. Like other GL.iNet routers, it runs an OpenWrt fork with GL.iNet Admin Panel, OpenVPN and Wireguard VPN client/server support, Adguard Home, parental control, and other features. GL.iNet GL-B3000 specifications: SoC – Qualcomm IPQ5018 dual-core Cortex-A53 processor @ 1 GHz System Memory – 512MB DDR3L Storage – 128MB NAND flash Networking 1x Gigabit Ethernet WAN port 2x Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports Dual-band IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax WiFi 6 up to 574Mbps (2.4GHz) and 2402Mbps (5GHz) 4x internal antennas Misc – Reset button Power Supply – 12V/1.5A DC Input via […]

8devices Carambola 3 WiFi IoT module supports upstream OpenWrt, industrial temperature range

8devices Carambola3 DVK

8devices Carambola 3 is a compact System On Module (SoM) built around the Qualcomm QCA4531 WiFi 4 chipset. The module comes in two variants – the Carambola3 for commercial applications (0 to +65°C) and the Carambola3-I for industrial environments (-40 to +85°C). Additionally, 8devices offers a development kit with integrated features like a 2.4 GHz chip antenna, dual LAN ports, USB, GPIO, and much more. Notably, the development kit also supports OpenWrt Upstream, making it ideal for IoT, industrial automation, and smart home projects. The Carambola3 is a pin-to-pin compatible module with the Carambola2, but with a faster processor, more memory, and lower power consumption while the original Carambola was discontinued due to its older technology. 8devices has been developing and selling Wi-Fi modules such as the Rambutan Atheros module, Komikan 802.11ac Wave 2 Module, and recently announced Noni M.2 WiFi 7 module feel free to check those out if […]

Fibocom FG370 dual-band WiFi 7 and 5G cellular module targets 5G FWA routers

Fibocom FG730 WiFi 7 5G Cellular module

Fibocom FG370 is a compact module that combines WiFi 7 and 5G cellular connectivity designed for 5G FWA routers for the home, SMB (Small and Medium-sized Business), and industrial applications. Based on the MediaTek T830 quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 SoC, the FG370 supports 5G NR sub-6GHz, two 10Gbps USXGMII interfaces, and dual-band BE7200 WiFi 7 achieving an MLO (Multi-link operation) speed of up to 7.2Gbps. Note this is not the first “FG370 announcement” from the company, as global operators have used the 5G-only FG370 since October 2023, and the company introduced the FG370 with 5G and tri-band BE19000 WiFi 7 at MWC2024. The company has unveiled a mid-range variant of the FG370 module with 5G and BE7200 at Computex 2024. The company has yet to release a datasheet for the 5G + WiFi 7 variants, but for reference, here are the Fibocom FG370 (5G-only) specifications: (North American version) SoC – MediaTek […]

PCIe to 5G HAT+ for Raspberry Pi 5 takes SIMCom and Quectel 5G modules

Raspberry Pi 5 5G PCIe HAT+

Waveshare PCIe to 5G/4G/3G HAT+ for Raspberry Pi 5 is a PCIe Gen 2 x1 to M.2 HAT+ designed to take 5G modules from SIMCom and Quectel and a Nano SIM card. The kit ships with a 4-in-1 PCB antenna, associated cables, a heatsink, a 4cm 16-pin PCIe FPC cable, a 40-pin female header, and a fixture set for mounting. We had previously written about the SixFab 5G HAT for the Raspberry Pi 5 with a Quectel RM502Q-AE M.2 module, but this specific kit still relies on the USB 3.0 interface. The Waveshare kit is the first 5G kit using the PCIe interface from the Raspberry Pi 5 interface and it is offered with Quectel RM502Q-AE, RM530N-GL, RM520N-GL, or SIMCom SIM8262E-M2, SIM8262A-M2 M.2 3042/3052 modules. Waveshare PCIe to 5G HAT+ specifications: M.2 Key B socket for 3042/3052 5G modules with PCIe interface 16-pin PCIe FPC connector directly connected to the […]

GCT GDM7243SL is a dual-core RISC-V 5G/4G LTE modem with support for NTN, NB-IoT, LTE Cat M, Cat1bis, Cat1 and/or Cat4

GDM7243SL2 block diagram

CT Semiconductor Holding GDM7243SL is a multi-mode 5G/4G LTE IoT modem with two 400 MHz RISC-V cores capable of operating in Cat 4, Cat 1bis, Cat M1, Cat NB1/NB2 (NB-IoT) and non-terrestrial networks (NTN) in order to work anywhere on earth. If I remember correctly, one of the first commercial RISC-V SoCs I saw was a storage controller from Western Digital introduced in 2019. But since then, we’ve seen more and more RISC-V chips come to market from entry-level microcontrollers up to Linux-capable application processors, and even chips for datacenters that are out of the scope of topics covered on CNX Software. But with GDM7243SL, I think it’s the first time I’ve encountered a RISC-V modem, so let’s have a closer look. There are two models, the GDM7243SL1 and GDM7243SL2, with different memory and storage options, and the L1 lacks support for LTE Cat 4. GDM7243SL key features: CPU 400 […]

Quectel SG368Z WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2 smart module is built around Rockchip RK3568 SoC

Quectel SG368Z Smart Module

The Quectel SG368Z Smart Module is an all-in-one hardware package built around a Rockchip RK3568 AI SoC that combines computing, graphics, storage, and connectivity in a compact form factor. The  LGA module offers WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity, dual gigabit Ethernet networking, various video output options (HDMI, LVDS, RGB, MIPI, eDP), USB, PCIe, and many other features making it suitable for applications like smart homes, wearables, and industrial automation. Previously we have seen Quectel introduce various communication modules like the Quectel BG95-S5 5G, the  Quectel KG200Z LoRa the Quectel RG255G RedCap IoT Module, and the Quectel CC660D-LS IoT-NTN module, but this is the first time we have seen Quectel release a Smart Module which can be certainly be considered as a SoM in a LGA package. Quectel SG368Z Smart Module specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3568 CPU – Quad-core Cortex A55 processor at up to 2.0 GHz GPU – Mali G52 […]

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