Banana Pi BPI-R4 Pro Wi-Fi 7 Router Board with 8GB DDR4, 36Gbps I/O

Banana Pi BPI-R4Pro Router board

Based on the MediaTek MT7988A (Filogic 880) quad-core ARM Corex-A73 SoC, the Banana Pi BPI-R4 Pro is a new router development board that facilitates 4G/5G expansion, possesses two 10GbE SFP+ cages/RJ45 port combos, four 2.5GbE RJ45 ports, two Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, and additionally supports Wi-Fi 7 connectivity by using the Banana Pi BPI-R4-MIC-BE14 dual mini PCIe module. The fastest and most dependable connectivity is offered by the MediaTek Filogic 880 platform, which offers a 36 Gbps Wi-Fi 7 access point/router/gateway network solution.

It is, as its name signifies, a Pro/upgraded version of the Banana Pi BPI-R4 board, which initially hit the market in 2023. It doubles the memory to 8GB DDR4, doubles the capacity of the SPI flash to 256MB, and adds a few networking ports and M.2 expansion slots for a total of six. Two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, four PCIe interfaces, and two USXGMII interfaces are among its extensive array of connectivity interfaces. The Banana Pi BPI-R4 board delivers premium-level offloading capabilities and optimizes networking performance with a finely tuned ISA of MediaTek TOPS to meet the evolving needs of constantly evolving tunneling applications.

Banana Pi BPI-R4Pro Router board top and bottom view

Banana Pi BPI-R4Pro Router board Specifications:

• SoC:  MediaTek MT7988A (Filogic 880) Quad-core Arm Corex-A73 processor @ 1.8GHz incorporated with the AI-powered packet accelerator called TOPS (Tunnel Offload Processor System)
• System Memory: 8GB DDR4
• Storage:
  • 8GB eMMC flash
  • 256MB SPI-NAND Flash
  • MicroSD card slot
  • 2x M.2 M-KEY slots with PCIe3.0 1lane interface for NVME SSDs
• Networking:
  • 2x 10GbE SFP+ cages multiplexed with adjacent 10GbE RJ45 jacks. Implemented through Aeonsemi AS21010P controllers
  • 4x 2.5 Gbps Ethernet RJ45 LAN ports [MaxLinear MxL86252C switch used]
  • 1x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 LAN port
  • 1x Gigabit Ethernet LAN port via FPC connector
• USB: USB 3.2 port, USB 2.0 port
• Expansion:
  • 3x M.2 B-Key slots with USB 3.2 interface for 5G or 4G LTE connectivity, plus three nanoSIM slots, and an external SIM card slot connector
  • 2x M.2 M-Key slots with 1-lane PCIe 3.0 for NVMe SSDs (PCIe signal multiplexed with M.2 B-Key slots)
  • 2x mini PCIe slots with 2-lane PCIe 3.0 for Wi-Fi 7 NIC (Network Interface Card)
  • 26-pin GPIO header for expansion
• Debugging: USB Type-C debug console
• Misc:
  • Reset button, WPS button
  • Cellular module LEDs, 8x LEDs, external LED FPC connector
  • Bootstrap switch
  • RTC battery connector
  • 4-pin 12V PWM fan connector
• Power Supply:
  • 12V or 24V via 5.5/2.1mm DC jack
  • 20V DC input via header or USB Type-C port
  • Optional PoE module (RT5400)
  • 4-pin 5V/12V output connector
  • 2-pin 20V output connector
• Dimensions: 194 x 134 mm

Banana Pi BPI-R4 Pro interface

On the software side, the Banana Pi BPI-R4 Pro board supports “OpenWrt MTK”, Debian 12,  and eventually mainline OpenWrt.

The Banana Pi BPI-R4 Pro board can be purchased on the BPI shop for $165. As a side note, the Banana Pi BPI-R4 is now available as a complete router called “Banana Pi BPI-R4 Finished Set” for about $118.42 with the board itself on AliExpress.

Images used courtesy of banana-pi