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December 17, 2024December 18, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

iKOOLCORE R2 Max review – Part 2: 10GbE on an Intel N100 mini PC with OpenWrt (QWRT), Proxmox VE, Ubuntu 24.04 and pfSense 2.7.2

iKOOLCORE R2 Max Review Proxmox VE Ubuntu 22.04

I’ve already checked out iKOOLCORE R2 Max hardware in the first part of the review with an unboxing and a teardown of the Intel N100 system with two 10GbE ports and two 2.5GbE ports. I’ve now had more time to test it with an OpenWrt fork, Proxmox VE, Ubuntu 24.04, and pfSense, so I’ll report my experience in the second and final part of the review. As a reminder, since I didn’t have any 10GbE gear so far, iKOOLCORE sent me two R2 Max devices, a fanless model and an actively-cooled model. I was told the fanless one was based on Intel N100 SoC, and the actively-cooled one was powered by an Intel Core i3-N305 CPU, but I ended up with two Intel N100 devices. The fanless model will be an OpenWrt 23.05 (QWRT) server, and the actively cooled variant be the device under test/client with Proxmox VE 8.3 server […]

December 13, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

HUNSN RJ42 and RJ43 Intel N150 fanless network appliances and mini PCs come with four 2.5GbE ports, four video outputs

We’ve previously seen the new Intel N150 “Twin Lake” processor in mini PCs such as Beelink EQ14 and ASUS NUC 14 Essential among others, but the new quad-core CPU is now also found in HUNSN RJ42 and RJ43 fanless network appliances with four 2.5GbE RJ45 ports. They also double as mini PCs with multiple video outputs and USB ports. The mini PCs ship with up to 32GB RAM and 512GB of storage, support four independent displays through HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C interfaces, and offer five USB Type-A ports for expansion. The HUNSN RJ42 and RJ43 offer a similar set of features as previous Intel N100 network appliances with 2.5GbE ports such as the iKOOLCORE R2 and INCTEL N100, but with a slightly faster Intel N150 “Alder Lake-N Refresh” or “Twin Lake” processor thanks to higher clock speeds, and extra interfaces. HUNSN RJ42/RJ43 specifications: SoC – Intel Processor N150 quad-core “Twin […]

November 10, 2024November 12, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 369 Comments

Giveaway Week 2024 – iKOOLCORE R2 Core i3-N300 mini PC and quad 2.5GbE router

Let’s end CNX Software’s Giveaway Week 2024 with a bang! The last prize is an iKOOLCORE R2 mini PC and router powered by an Intel Core i3-N300 Alder Lake-N CPU, equipped with 8GB RAM and a 512GB NVMe SSD, and featuring four 2.5GbE ports. The tiny PC also comes with HDMI and USB-C ports for dual 4K video output, an M.2 E-Key socket to install a wireless module for WiFi and Bluetooth, two USB 3.1 Gen 2 (5 Gbps) Type-A ports, a USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) Type-C port with DisplayPort Alt. mode, and a not-so-useful USB-C audio port using Realtek ALC987 codec. My review of the iKOOLCORE R2 last year was a learning experience as it was the first time I used Proxmox VE and pfSense, and since I wanted to use the system both as a mini PC running Ubuntu 22.04 desktop and a router/firewall running pfSense […]

November 7, 2024December 18, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

iKOOLCORE R2 Max 10GbE mini PC review – Part 1: Unboxing, teardown, and first boot

Dual 10GbE Dual 2.5GbE Intel N100 mini PC soft router

iKOOLCORE R2 Max is an Alder Lake-N mini PC, server, and soft router equipped with two 10GbE and two 2.5GbE ports and offered with either an Intel Processor N100 quad-core CPU, or a more powerful Intel Core i3-N305 octa-core processor. When iKOOLCORE offered me an R2 Max sample for review, I explained I did not own any 10GbE networking gear. So the company decided to send me two samples for testing 10 Gbps Ethernet networking: a fanless Intel N100 model and an actively-cooled Core i3-N305 model. Since we’ve already gone through the specifications in the first article, I’ll start the iKOOLCORE R2 Max review with an unboxing, a teardown, and a first boot. In the second part of the review, I’ll use Proxmox, OpenWrt, Ubuntu, and/or other operating systems to test the devices using one as a DUT (Device Under Test) and the other as a 10GbE server. iKOOLCORE R2 […]

April 9, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Maiyunda M1 Alder Lake-N mini PC comes with four quick-release M.2 NVMe SSD slots, four 2.5GbE ports

Maiyunda M1 is an unusual Intel N100 or Core i3-N305 Alder Lake-N mini PC and soft router equipped with four M.2 NVMe SSD slots so users can replace storage devices without having to open the enclosure, as well as four 2.5GbE ports for networking applications. The mini PC also supports up to 32GB DDR5 memory, wireless connectivity through an internal M.2 socket (that can also be used as a fifth NVMe SSD socket), dual 4K display setups through HDMI and DisplayPort connectors, and offers five USB Type-A ports for expansion. Maiyunda M1 specifications: Alder Lake-N SoC Intel Processor N100 quad-core processor @ up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD graphics; TDP: 6W Intel Core i3-N305 octa-core processor @ up to 3.8 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 32EU Intel UHD Graphics; TDP: 15W System Memory – 16GB LPDDR5 4800 MHz upgradeable to 32GB Storage 4x M.2 M-key […]

April 3, 2024 by Debashis Das - 5 Comments

$101+ CWWK X86-P1 fanless SBC and mini PC is powered by Intel N3050, N3160, or N3700 Braswell SoC

X86-P1 Development Board Version and Standard Edition

In a previous post, we wrote about the CWWK X86-P5, a $219 fanless mini PC powered by the Alder Lake N-series N100 SoC. However, during a recent search on AliExpress, I stumbled upon the CWWK X86-P1 fanless mini PC and SBC. This compact device offers three variants (N3050, N3160, and N3700) with a TDP of only 6W. It features dual GbE Ethernet, dual USB 3.0, HDMI, and a GPIO header. Additionally, it includes a built-in fan header for improved cooling. It supports Windows 11, Ubuntu 22.04, and networking OS options like pfSense or OpenWrt along with all major x86-based operating systems. CWWK X86-P1 Fanless Mini PC Specification SoC options Intel Celeron N3050 – Dual core Braswell processor @ up to 2.16 GHz with Intel HD Graphics Gen8 – 6W TDP Intel Celeron N3160 – Quad-core Braswell processor @ up to 2.24 GHz with 12EU Intel HD graphics 400 – 4W […]

March 30, 2024March 30, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

INCTEL N100 fanless mini PC and micro firewall appliance comes with four 2.5GbE ports using Intel i226V controllers

INCTEL N100, also sold under the Partaker brand, is a fanless mini PC and “micro firewall appliance” powered by an Intel Processor N100 CPU and equipped with four 2.5GbE ports all using Intel i226V. It has features similar to the tiny, actively cooled iKOOLCORE R2 Alder Lake-N mini PC that combines Intel and RealTek controllers, but the INCTEL model has a larger yet thinner design. The device supports up to 16GB DDR5 memory, can take an M.2 NVMe SSD and/or a 2.5-inch SATA drive for storage, and also provides two video outputs through HDMI and DisplayPort, as well as a few USB ports, an RJ45 console port, and optional support for WiFi and 4G LTE connectivity. INCTEL N100 specifications: SoC- Intel Processor N100 quad-core Alder Lake N-series processor @ up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD graphics @ up to 750 MHz; TDP: 6W System Memory […]

January 3, 2024January 2, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Fanless Intel N100 mini PC supports PoE power input, provides four 2.5GbE ports

‎NEOSMAY is selling a fanless Intel Processor N100 mini PC with support for PoE power input, four 2.5GbE ports, HDMI and DisplayPort video outputs, and a choice of USB ports for $249 (after ticking the $150 coupon code) on Amazon with 8GB RAM and a 128GB SATA SSD. The mini PC also supports 12V DC power input if you don’t use PoE power input, and comes with an additional RJ45 port acting as an RS232 console. There’s no built-in wireless, but the mini PC can take a WiFi and Bluetooth module, as well as a 4G LTE or 5G module, and features a SIM card slot for the latter. Specifications: SoC – Intel Processor N100 quad-core Alder Lake-N processor @ up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel HD graphics @ 750 MHz; TDP: 6W System Memory – 8GB DDDR4-3200, upgradable to 32GB Storage 128GB M.2 SATA SSD, […]