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

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 2×2 MU-MIMO 802.11b/g/n/ac/ax WiFi 6
- 2x M.2 Key-E socket with mini PCIe 2.0 for additional QCN90xx WiFi Module(s)
- Bluetooth BT5.1
- 2x IPEX connectors for antennas
USB /header 1x USB 3.0 Port
Misc – LED header for power, WiFi strength indicators; serial port support
Power Supply – 12V via DC jack
Dimension – N/A (the company probably ran out of rulers, and since times are tough could not purchase a caliper)

The top photo of the board is even more blurry, but I guess that’s OK as we can see the main connector. As usual, Wallys did not provide any information about software on the product page, so we had to ask and this time did not mention the old OpenWrt 14.04, but only the Qualcomm SDK, namely QSDK 11.4.

DR5018 samples are available now for $130, instead of $150 for the DR6018-S board (IPQ6010 based) mentioned above. The product page does not really have much other information, but at least, you could always contact the company for additional information there.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.