OpenWrt 21.02 released with WPA3, HTTPS, TLS enabled by default

OpenWrt 21.02

OpenWrt 21.02 has just been released with higher security with WPA3, HTTPS & TLS enabled by default, as well as initial support for the Distributed Switch Architecture (DSA), the Linux standard for configurable Ethernet switches. OpenWrt is the most popular open-source Linux distribution for routers and entry-level Linux-capable embedded systems, and the latest release includes over 5800 commits since the release of OpenWrt 19.07 in January 2020. WPA3 was already supported in OpenWrt 19.07, but not enabled by default,  OpenWrt 20.02 changes that, together with TLS thanks to trusted CA certificates from Mozilla. That means LuCi interface, wget, opkg package manager can all support HTTPS out-of-the-box. Note that HTTPS redirection can be disabled for LuCI in the configuration files. Another security change is that SELinux is now supported by OpenWrt, but not enabled by default. OpenWrt 21.02’s DSA implementation replaces the current swconfig system, but not all targets have been […]

Qualcomm IPQ4019 802.11ac Wave 2 WiFi system-on-module comes with Dual Gigabit Ethernet baseboard

IPQ4019 system-on-module

Wallys Communication has introduced their lowest cost networking platform with the DR4019S board equipped with two Gigabit Ethernet ports, as well as a Qualcomm IPQ4019 802.11ac Wave 2 WiFi system-on-module. The module comes with 32MB NOR flash, and 256MB DDR memory and targets applications ranging from security surveillance to commercial radio coverage to hotel wireless applications, or even forest fire protection engineering. DR4019S board specifications: SoC – Qualcomm IPQ4019 quad-core Arm Cortex A7 at 716.8 MHz System Memory – 256MB DDR Storage – 32MB NOR flash Connectivity 2x Gigabit Ethernet ports 802.11b/g/n/ac Wave 2 WiFi 5 with 2x 5G MMCX connectors, 2x 2.4G MMCX connectors (but we can only see one or two of those on the provided photo) USB – 1x USB 3./2.0 port Misc – Debug UART header Power Supply – 12V via DC jack Power Consumption – 9.6W (max) Dimensions – 65 x 35 x 16mm Temperature […]

Review of “4G LTE WiFi Modem” hotspot

4G LTE WiFi Modem review

I’ve purchased a USB dongle acting as a WiFI & 4G cellular router with a generic name “4G LTE WiFi Modem” and listed as “4G LTE WiFi Hotspot Wireless Router USB Dongle 150Mbps Modem Stick Sim Card” on the online store (Lazada) I bought it from. 4G LTE WiFi Modem unboxing It’s a 3-in-1 device that works as a 4G USB dongle connected to a PC or laptop, a 4G USB WiFi cellular router/hotspot, and a USB flash drive when adding a MicroSD card. 4G performance is limited to 150Mbps DL, 50Mbps UL, while WiFi only supports up to 72 Mbps using 802.11n 2.4GHz WiFi. That’s perfectly fine for my use case, as the plan is to use it as a standalone WiFi hotspot with an unlimited 10 Mbps SIM card, and in locations with low population densities so 5GHz WiFi is not a must. The USB dongle ships with […]

Banana Pi BPI-M2S Amlogic A311D SBC comes with dual GbE, HDMI & MIPI interfaces

Banana Pi BPI-M2S

There’s at least one more Amlogic A311D SBC coming our way with Banana Pi BPI-M2S equipped with 4GB RAM, 16GB eMMC flash, as well as two Gigabit Ethernet ports, combines with video interfaces that include HDMI, MIPI DSI & CSI, as well as two USB ports. This news comes just a few after we wrote about Geniatech DB10 AI development board based on Amlogic A311D hexa-core Cortex-A73/A53 processor and noted there were few platforms based on the SoC, apart from Khadas VIM3 SBC, and a few others. Banana Pi BPI-M2S SBC specifications: SoC – Amlogic A311D hexa-core processor with 4x Arm Cortex-A73 cores, 2x Arm Cortex-A53 cores, Arm Mali-G52 MP4 (6EE) GPU with OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.0 and OpenCL 2.0 support, 5 TOPS NPU System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash (option up to 128GB), MicroSD card slot Video interfaces HDMI 2.1 output up to 4Kp60 […]

Realtek AP-Router SDK vulnerabilities could impact millions of routers and IoT devices

Realtek SDK vulnerabilities

The IoT Inspector Research Lab has discovered four high and critical vulnerabilities in the Realtek AP-Router “Jungle” SDK used for RTL819x SoCs that could impact millions of WiFi routers and dongles. An attacker can use a network attack, e.g. without physical access to the device, to generate a buffer or stack overflow helping him access the system and execute his own code. Realtek has released an advisory (PDF) with patchsets for all four vulnerabilities so you should upgrade the firmware if you can. Summary of the four vulnerabilities: CVE-2021-35392 – Realtek Jungle SDK version v2.x up to v3.4.14B provides a ‘WiFi Simple Config’ server called wscd or mini_upnpd that implements both UPnP and SSDP protocols. The server is vulnerable to a heap buffer overflow that is present due to unsafe crafting of SSDP NOTIFY messages from received M-SEARCH messages ST header. CVE-2021-35393 – Also impacts ‘WiFi Simple Config’ server (wscd […]

NanoPi R2C is a cheaper dual GbE mini router with YT8521S Gigabit Ethernet PHY

NanoPi R2C

FriendlyELEC’s NanoPi R2C is an updated version of NanoPi R2S dual GbE mini router that replaces Realtek RTL8211E Gigabit Ethernet transceiver with a Motorcomm YT8521S chip. NanoPi R2C mini router still comes with a Rockchip RK3328 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, 1GB DDR4 memory, and a Realtek RTL8153 USB 3.0 to Ethernet controller for the second Ethernet port. NanoPi R2C specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3328 quad-core Cortex-A53 @ 1.5 GHz with Arm Mali-450MP2 System Memory – 1GB DDR4 RAM Storage – MicroSD Slot, SPI flash footprint Connectivity 1x Gigabit Ethernet (WAN) up to 941 Mbps (measured) via MotorComm YT8521S Gigabit Ethernet transceiver 1x Gigabit Ethernet (LAN) up to 941 Mbps (measured) via Realtek RTL8153 USB 3.0 to Ethernet controller USB – 1x USB 2.0 Type-A host port, USB Type-C port Debugging – 3-pin 2.54mm pitch header for serial console Expansion – 10-pin GPIO header with GPIOs, I2C, UART, IR_Rx, 5V, 3.3V and GND […]

Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 mini router keeps cool with aluminum alloy cover

Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 mini router

There are many hardware platforms based on Raspberry Pi CM4 system-on-module, but in most instances, only the baseboard is provided, and you have to handle mounting and/or make an enclosure by yourself. One of those boards was Seeed Studio’s “Dual Gigabit Ethernet Carrier Board for Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4”, which as the name implies, offers two Gigabit Ethernet ports, as well as two USB 3.0 ports, and a micro HDMI port for video output. I say “was” because the company has now designed a PC/ABS case with an aluminum alloy cover acting as a heatsink to keep the RPi CM4 module cool. Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 mini router’s specifications: SoM – Raspberry Pi CM4 with up to 8GB RAM, 32GB eMMC flash, dual-band WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 module; replaceable by any Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Storage – MicroSD card slot (only accessible with RPi CM4Lite module) […]

Low-cost embedded router SBC offers 2.5 GbE, WiFi 6 through Qualcomm IPQ5018 SoC

IPQ5018 embedded router board- AP.MP03

Wallys Communication has been offering Qualcomm-based embedded router boards for several years, including the higher-end DR8072A with dual 2.5GbE and WiFi 6 connectivity, followed by a lower-cost WiFi 6 SBC based on IPQ6010 with Gigabit Ethernet ports. But if you’d like to benefit from the lower cost while keeping WiFi 6 and 2.5GbE, the company has now introduced a new model based on Qualcomm IPQ5018 dual-core Cortex-A53 SoC, also found in Xiaomi Mi AX6000 router, with DR5018 embedded router board. The blurry photo above reveals the board is also called AP.MP03, a name that looks like the typical name for Qualcomm reference designs. DR5018 specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Atheros IPQ5018 dual-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.0 GHz System Memory – 512MB DDR3L Storage – 4GB or 8GB eMMC flash, 4MB Nor Flash, 128MB NAND flash Networking 4x Gigabit Ethernet Ports or 1x 2.5Gbps Ethernet port 1x Gigabit Ethernet Port On-board […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC