router News - Page 26 of 34 - CNX Software

November 30, 2017November 30, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

ZeroShell Firewall/Router Linux Distribution Works on x86 Hardware, Raspberry Pi 2/3, & (Some) Orange Pi Boards

We’ve just seen pfSense is now available for Arm via firewall appliances such as Netgate SG-3100, but AFAIK there’s no pfSense community Arm firmware images yet. Several Arm SoCs & boards are now supported by FreeBSD, so in theory pfSense could be ported to those, but the page on FreeBSD does not seem to have been updated for a while. If you want a firewall distributions with an easy-to-user web interface like pfSense, but that also works on cheaper Arm hardware, Linux based ZeroShell distribution could be worth a try, as beside working on Intel & AMD x86 platforms, the developers also provides images for Raspberry Pi 2 & 3 boards, and several Orange Pi boards, namely Orange Pi R1, Orange Pi Zero, Orange Pi PC, and Orange Pi Plus/Plus2. The latter is the only supported Arm board with Gigabit Ethernet. Some of ZeroShell features include: Load Balancing and Failover of […]

November 30, 2017December 1, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

Netgate SG-3100 is an ARM based pfSense Firewall Appliance

pfSense software is a popular open source firewall distribution based on FreeBSD operating system that is entirely managed via a web interface. Up until recently, FreeBSD (see comments section) pfSense would only support x86-64 (Intel or AMD hardware). But progress has been made with pfSense (and FreeBSD) for ARM, and Netgate, the company behind pfSense, is now selling two ARM based firewall appliances with SG-1000 microFirewall powered by Texas Instruments AM3352 Cortex A8 SoC, and sine a little over of month, SG-3100 firewall appliance based on a more suitable Marvell dual core Cortex A9 processor. Netgate SG-3100 hardware specifications: Processor – Marvell ARMADA 38x 88F6820 dual core ARM Cortex-A9 @ 1.6 GHz with NEON SIMD and FPU System Memory – 2GB DDR4L Non ECC Storage – 8GB eMMC Flash Network Interfaces 2x Gigabit Ethernet configured as dual WAN or one WAN one LAN 4x ports Gigabit Marvell 88E6141 switch, uplinked […]

October 13, 2017October 13, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments

UniElec U7621-06 MediaTek MT7621 Router Supports OpenWrt, Padavan, and PandoraBox Firmware

UniElec U7621-06 is a router / gateway based on Mediatek MT7621 dual core/Quad Thread processor, and offered either as a board only or complete system with optional WiFi and/or LTE PCIe modules. While the board is said to run OpenWrt or firmware based on Mediatek Linux SDK , the company also mentions the board runs Breed bootloader that can be used to upgrade the firmware through a web interface. UniElec claims the router supports alternative firmware such as Padavan or PandoraBox. UniElec U7621-06 specifications: SoC – Mediatek MT7621 dual-core, quad-thread MIPS1004K processor @ up to 880MHz System Memory – 256MB DDR3 (optional 512 MB) Storage – 16MB NOR Flash (optional 8/32/64MB), 1x SATA 3.0 port, 1x micro SD card slot Connectivity – 5x Gigabit Ports (4x LAN, 1x WAN) USB – 1x USB 3.0 port Expansion 2x “normal” mPCIe for 802.11ac or 802.11n WiFi module 1x mPCIe connector for LTE […]

August 26, 2017August 26, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Broadcom Introduces Three 802.11ax “Max WiFi” Chips: BCM43684, BCM43694 & BCM4375

We’ve already written about the new 802.11ax WiFi standard that promises up to 10 Gbps data rates, support for 2.4 & 5 GHz bands, up to 4x longer range, and better handling of high density scenarios. It appears 802.11ax we’ll be known as Max WiFi to the masses, and Broadcom has unveiled Max WiFi solutions for home and enterprise routers, as well as a smartphones. There are currently three Max WiFi solutions from Broadcom: BCM43684 & BCM43694 4×4 802.11ax chips, respectively optimized for residential and enterprise access points, share the same key features: Support for four streams of 802.11ax 4.8 Gbps PHY rate 160 MHz channel bandwidth 1024 QAM modulation Uplink & downlink OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) MU-MIMO ZeroWait DFS (Dynamic Frequency Selection) AirIQ interference identification Full compliance to IEEE and WFA 802.11ax specifications BCM4375 smartphone combo chip: Support for 2-streams of 802.11ax Bluetooth 5 including Low-Energy Long […]

August 11, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

A Look at Some USB 3.0 WiFi 802.11ac Adapters with Multiple High Gain Antennas

When last week I reviewed Rock64 board I noticed they sold a “USB 3.0 Dual Band 1200Mbps WIFI 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (RTL8812AU) adapter” for $19.99. So far I had only seen USB dongles with internal antennas or a single external antenna, but in the case of development boards, which may be used as routers or gateways, it makes perfect sense to get such adapter for higher performance and longer range. The only problem is that it “ships together with ROCK64 fulfillment”, meaning you can’t purchase it separately if you already have some other board to use, so I went to look for alternatives. One of the first I’ve come across was COMFAST CF-926AC with the following specifications: Chipset – Mediatek MT7612U Interface – USB 3.0 rotatable port WiFi – Dual band 2T2R WiFi 802.11ac, 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n up to “1200” Mbps (867 Mbps @ 5.8 GHz + 300 Mbps @ 2.4 […]

June 1, 2017November 27, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

MediaTek MT7622 SoC with WiFi Network Accelerator Supports 4×4 802.11n WiFi & Bluetooth 5

MediaTek has launched a new ARM SoC for routers, home automation gateways, wireless audio and storage, with MT7622 equipped with a dual core ARM Cortex A53 processor, a dedicated network accelerator, 4×4 802.11n and Bluetooth 5 connectivity. Two models with be available: MT7622A with all features, and MT7622B with router features only, which probably mean no Bluetooth, and possibly less I/Os. MediaTek MT7622 specifications: Processor – Dual core ARM Cortex A53 @ up to 1.36 GHz Storage – eMMC and SDXC interfaces; storage accelerator (SATA 3.0/eSATA Gen2) Connectivity 802.11b/g/n WiFi @ 2.4GHz, 4T4R antenna; 802.11ac can be added through MT7615 SoC Bluetooth 5 Fast Ethernet Switch, RGMII and SGMII Network Accelerator – APT+HQoS, MediaTek Wi-Fi Warp Accelerator Audio – Audio Amplifier, I2S, TDM, S/PDIF USB – USB 2.0 host/device, USB 3.0 host Other Peripheral Interfaces – PCIe Gen 2.0, ADC, GPIO, I2C, IR, PMIC I/F, PWM, SPI, UART Misc – RTC The specs on the product […]

May 30, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Qualcomm Unveils Mesh Networking WiFi Router / Gateway Reference Design Powered by IPQ40x8/9 NSoC

Qualcomm has just announced the Qualcomm Mesh Networking Platform for OEM and broadband providers to design home WiFi routers/gateways capable of providing “robust and consistent connectivity”, and feature voice control capabilities, centralized management and security, and a range of mesh system features. In order to speed up adoption the the platform, the company introduced the Qualcomm Mesh Networking Reference Design with the following key features & benefits: Network System-on-Chip (NSoC) – Qualcomm IPQ40x8/9 network system-on-chip with four Cortex A7 cores, 802.11ac WiFi 2×2+2×2, network and crypto accelerators Qualcomm Wi-Fi Self-Organizing (SON) feature suite will ensure corner-to-corner Wi-Fi coverage, easy set-up, automatic management and traffic optimization, as well as additional security safeguards. Carrier-Grade features with Wi-Fi SON APIs, cloud-based diagnostics Integrated voice capabilities thanks to built-in microphone array and speaker, voice recognition software, and APIs support for popular cloud-based assistant applications. Variety of backhaul options to be used to maximize the […]

April 25, 2017April 28, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

SDMC DV8230-AP LTE is an Android 7.0 TV Box with a 4G LTE Router Module

Shenzhen SDMC Technology launched DV8219-LTE Android TV box with 4G modem powered by Amlogic S905X processor a while ago, and the company is back with a new model called DV8230-AP LTE with the same processor, but running Android 7.0, and what they call a “4G LTE router function”. SDMC DV8230-AP LTE specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905X quad core Cortex A53 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz with a Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 RAM Storage – 8GB eMMC flash (4 to 64GB as option) + micro SD card slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0a, 3.5mm AV port Audio Output – HDMI, AV, optical S/PDIF Connectivity 10/100M Ethernet port 802.11 b/g/n WiFi (Dual band optional) Optional Bluetooth 4.0 Built-in 4G Module + SIM card slot 2x dBi external antennas USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports Misc – IR receiver; LEDs; standby key; reset button; WPS button Power Supply – […]