DR6018 V2 Embedded WiFi 6 Router Board Adds Support for WiFi 6E and 5G IoT M.2 Cards

DR6018 V2 WiFi 6E & 5G IoT Embedded Board

A few months ago we covered DR6018 (aka CP01) WiFi 6 Embedded SBC powered by Qualcomm IPQ6018 processor and offering six Ethernet ports including five Gigabit interfaces and one 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port. Wallys Communications has now informed CNX Software they had a new version of the board called DR6018 V2 with a more compact form factor, support for PoE, as well as optional WiFi 6E and 5G IoT M.2 modules. DR6018 V2 board specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Atheros IPQ6010 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.8 GHz System Memory – 1GB (2x 512MB) DDR3L 16-bit interface with 32-bit memory bus design Storage – 256MB NAND Flash, 32MB NOR flash, SD card slot Networking Wired 3x Gigabit Ethernet ports (one less compared to DR6018) 1x Gigabit Ethernet port with PoE support 1x 2.5Gbps Ethernet port Wireless WiFi 2×2 2.4GHz MU-MIMO OFDMA 802.11b/g/n/ax WiFi 6, max 23dBm per chain 2×2 5GHz MU-MIMO […]

Qualcomm IPQ8074 Embedded Board Offers 802.11ax WiFI 6 12×12 MIMO DBDC Connectivity

Qualcomm IPQ8074 Reference Board

Qualcomm IPQ8074 802.11ax WiFi 6 SoC was first unveiled in 2017 and designed for high-end routers, gateways, and access points supporting up 12×12 MIMO configuration (8×8 5GHz + 4×4 2.4 GHz) using Dual-Band Dual Concurrency (DBDC). I was just informed about a Qualcomm IPQ8074 embedded board going under the names DR8074A or HK01 depending on the company promoting it, respectively Wallys Communication and Compex. Qualcomm IPQ8074 embedded board (AP.HK01) specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Atheros IPQ8074A quad-core Arm Cortex A53 processor 2.2GHz CPU System Memory – 1GB (2x 512MB) DDR3L RAM (Option for up to 4GB) Storage – 8GB eMMC flash, 32MB NOR Flash, 256MB NAND flash, 1x micro SD Card socket Connectivity Wired 5x Gigabit Ethernet (1GbE) RJ45 ports 1x 10Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) RJ45 port 1x SFP+ Port WiFi On-board 4×4 2.4GHz MU-MIMO 802.11b/g/n/ax WiFi 6 up to 1147Mbps On-board 2x(4×4) or 8×8 5GHz MU-MIMO 802.11a/n/ac/ax WiFI 6 up to […]

Most Affordable WiFi 6 Router Yet: $60 Xiaomi Mi Router AX1800

Most Affordable WiFi 6 Router-Xiaomi Mi Router AX1800

[Update May 20, 2020: It did not last long, as Xiaomi Mi Router AX1800 is not the most affordable WiFi 6 router anymore with the launch of Honor Router 3 (XD20) AX3000 router for 219 RMB in China, or about $31 US] When Xiaomi AIoT router AX3600 launched in April for around $135, we noted that while it was the most affordable WiFi 6 router we’d seen so far, the other 802.11ax WiFi 6 routers had also come down in price significantly. But now the company has come up with a really inexpensive router: Xiaomi Mi Router AX1800 which I first discovered on Gearbest for just $67.50, but also available on Aliexpress for about $60 shipped. If you are in China, you should be able to get it for 329 RMB (around $46). Xiaomi Mi Router AX1800 specifications: SoC – Qualcomm IPQ6000 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 @ 1.2GHz with single-core network […]

WiFi 6 Embedded SBC Features Qualcomm IPQ6018 Processor, Gigabit & 2.5Gbps Ethernet Ports

Qualcomm IPQ6018 Networking SBC

Last year, we covered Dakota DR40x9 Wave-2 AC router board powered by Qualcomm IPQ4019 or IPQ4029 quad-core Cortex-A7 WiSoC, but there’s now a new Qualcomm based embedded SBC supporting WiFi 6. DR6018 (aka AP.CP01 or just CP01) is powered by Qualcomm IPQ6018 quad-core Cortex-A53 WiSoC with 802.11ax WiFi 6, six Ethernet ports including five Gigabit Ethernet, and one 2.5 GbE port, as well an M.2 expansion socket. Specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Atheros IPQ6018 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.8 GHz apparently part of Qualcomm Networking Pro 400 platform; 14nm FinFET process System Memory – 1GB (2x 512MB) DDR3L 16-bit interface with 32-bit memory bus design Storage – 256MB NAND Flash, 32MB NOR flash, SD card slot Networking Wired 5x Gigabit Ethernet ports 1x 2.5Gbps Ethernet port Wireless WiFi 2×2 2.4GHz MU-MIMO OFDMA 802.11b/g/n/ax WiFi 6, max 23dBm per chain 2×2 5GHz MU-MIMO OFDMA 802.11a/n/ac/ax WiFi 6, max 20dBm per chain […]

Xiaomi AIoT Router AX3600 WiFi 6 Router Sells for $135

Xiaomi AIoT Router AX3600

The first 802.11ax routers were unveiled a Computex 2018, before the WiFi Alliance decided to use a new consumer-friendly naming scheme and rename 802.11n to WiFi 4, 802.11ac to WiFi 5, and 802.11ax to WiFi 6, and then WiFi 6 routers launched later that year from companies such as ASUS and TP-Link with price starting at $350. Prices have now come down with for example TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000 smart WiFi router going for $142.99 plus shipping on Amazon, and Xiaomi has now launched their own WiFi 6 router with Xiaomi AIoT Router AX3600 offered for $135 including shipping on Aliexpress. Price may soon come down further as the router is sold for just 599 CNY,  or about $86 US, in China excluding shipping. Note that with the Coronavirus outbreak, shipping may be delayed. Xiaomi AIoT Router AX3600 specifications: SoC – Qualcomm IPQ8071A quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 @ 1.0 GHz CPU […]

MikroTik wAP LoRa8/LoRa9 LoRa Gateway Kits Launched for $169

MikroTik wAP LoRa8 Kit

Last year, MikroTik announced they had worked on several LoRa products including R11e-LoRa8EU mini PCIe LoRaWAN Gateway/concentrator card, wAP LoRa8 kit (LoRa & WiFi gateway) with the mini PCIe card, as well as a 6.5 dBi Omni antenna kit to extend the range provided by the 2 dBi internal antenna. All three products are now available with R11e-LoRa8EU mini PCIe selling for $89, wAP LoRa8 kit going for $169, and the optional antenna kit adding $49. The company also introduced wAP LoRa9 kit with R11e-LoRa9 mini PCIe card geared towards markets (like the USA) using the 902-928 MHz frequency band and selling for the same price. MikroTik wAP LoRa8 kit (RBwAPR-2nD&R11e-LoRa8) specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Atheros QCA9531 MIPSBE (Big Endian) processor @ 650 MHz System Memory – 64 MB RAN Storage – 16 MB flash Connectivity Wired – 10/100M Fast Ethernet WLAN – 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 @ up […]

LibreRouter is an Open-Source Hardware Router for Community Networks

Battlemesh (aka the Wireless Battle of the Mesh) is an event that aims at bringing together people from across the world to test the performance of different routing protocols for ad-hoc networks. While BattleMesh v12 took place in Paris in July 2019, I’ve just been informed that presentation videos were now out. There are talks about OpenWrt, mesh networks, and communities, but one talk brought a project I had not looked into details yet. Originated from Argentina, LibreRouter is described as an open-source hardware router designed for community networks that are organized by a group of people such as neighbors in order to share local and other content without a profit motive. LibreRouter LR1 specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Atheros QCA9558 MIPS processor @ 750 MHz System Memory – 128 MB DDR RAM Storage – 16 MB Flash MCU – Microchip ATTiny13 8-bitAVR MCU used as hardware watchdog to handle failed […]

Hisense A5 5.84″ e-Paper Android Smartphone Promises Up to 10-Day Battery Life

Hisense A5

We’ve previously covered smartphones with a black and white e-Paper display usually placed on the back of the phone, while a traditional full-color display is placed at the front. Some models include Yotaphone 2 and Hisense A2, and the advantage of the e-Ink display is that you can extend battery life, quickly check notifications without unlocking your phone, reads book even in bright lights, etc.. but the cost goes up quite a bit since the manufacturers have to integrate two displays in their devices. Hisense A5 does completely away with the traditional color display and replaces it with a 5.84″ e-Paper display with 1440×720 resolution. The display is black and white, and the slow refresh rate of such display will make it impractical to watch videos and play most games, but if all you do is check emails, browsing the web, reading e-books, accessing social networks, and making phone calls […]