2.5GbE News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

June 10, 2025June 10, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

GL.iNet Flint 3 (GL-BE9300) is an affordable tri-band WiFi 7 router with 5 2.5GbE ports

The GL.iNet Flint 3 (codenamed GL-BE9300) is an affordable tri-band WiFi 7 BE9300 router with five 2.5GbE RJ45 ports supporting 10Gbps aggregation, and now available for pre-order for $119 to $159. It follows the lower-end GL.iNet Slate 7 (GL-BE3600) WiFi 7 dual-band travel router introduced a few months ago. The tri-band WiFi 7 router is powered by a 1.5 GHz quad-core Qualcomm processor coupled with 1GB RAM and 8GB eMMC flash for the OS, features a USB 3.0 port for smartphone tethering or cellular dongle, and supports up to 680 Mbps VPN throughput using WireGuard or OpenVPN. Other features include AdGuard Home, failover, load balancing, and more. GL.iNet Flint 3 specifications: CPU – Qualcomm quad-core @1.5 GHz; unamed, but likely Qualcomm IPQ5332 Memory – 1 GB DDR4 Storage – 8 GB eMMC flash Networking WiFi 7 Protocol – IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be Wi-Fi Speed – 688Mbps (2.4GHz), 2882Mbps (5GHz), 5765Mbps (6GHz) […]

June 8, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

ZimaBoard 2 Review – Part 2: An Intel N150 micro server and mini PC tested with ZimaOS, Ubuntu 24.04

We’ve already checked out the hardware of the ZimaBoard 2 micro server in the first part of the review with an unboxing and a teardown of the Intel N150 mini PC, followed by a first boot to ZimaOS and a walk-through of the web dashboard to see what features it had to offer. I’ve now connected two SATA drives to the ZimaBoard 2 and done further testing with ZimaOS, notably checking system information and testing storage and networking performance. I also installed Ubuntu 24.04 on the ZimaBoard 2 for further testing for people preferring to use the system as a mini PC with SATA storage. ZimaOS v1.4.1 update When I connected to the web dashboard again, there was a new update for ZimaOS v1.4.1. Before and after the update is completed, I was shown the change log with new features like a scheduled shutdown function and a list of bug […]

June 3, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Vecow PBC-2000 – An Intel Atom x7211RE fanless embedded system for industrial use

Vecow PBC-2000 is a fanless embedded system that houses the company’s EPBC-2000 2.5-inch Pico-ITX SBC powered by an Intel Atom x7211RE SoC. The PBC-2000 supports a wide -40°C to 70°C temperature range, dual 2.5GbE LAN, serial and USB interfaces, and comes with wall and optional DIN rail mounting options. Other features include support for up to 16GB DDR5 4800MHz SO-DIMM memory, as well as a SATA III port and an M.2 socket for storage. The system also features an external SIM card socket for 5G/4G/LTE connectivity, and an M.2 E-Key slot for wireless modules. Additional features include a 12V DC power input via a 2-pin terminal block, hardware monitoring with auto-throttling, a watchdog timer, and support for Wake-on-LAN and PXE boot. Vecow PBC-2000 and EPBC-2000 specifications: SoC – Intel Atom x7211RE dual-core Amstom Lake processor @ 2.0 to 3.4 GHz with 6MB cache, 16EU Intel UHD graphics; TDP: 9W System Memory […]

May 28, 2025May 28, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

UP Squared TWL / Squared Pro TWL boards are powered by Intel Core 3 Processor N355, N250, or N150 Twin Lake CPU

AAEON has just introduced upgrades to its Alder Lake-N-powered UP Squared 7100 and UP Squared Pro 7000 SBCs with the UP Squared TWL and UP Squared Pro TWL development boards equipped with Twin Lake CPUs, either Intel Core 3 Processor N355, Intel Processor N250, or Intel Processor N150. Both SBCs can operate in the -20°C to 70°C temperature range, support up to three independent displays, and offer M.2 expansion sockets for storage and wireless, a 40-pin GPIO header, RS232/RS485 interfaces, and three USB ports. However, the UP Squared TWL is a smaller 90×85.6mm SBC with dual gigabit Ethernet, and the UP Squared Pro TWL has a slightly larger design (101.6×101.6mm) with dual 2.5GbE, a SATA port, MIPI CSI camera support, and optional cellular connectivity. UP Squared TWL Specifications: Twin Lake SoC (one or the other) Intel Processor N150 quad-core processor @ up to 3.6 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU […]

May 22, 2025May 21, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Protectli Vault Pro VP2430 – An Intel N150 fanless network appliance with four 2.5GbE ports, four video outputs

Vault Pro VP2430 A compact, fanless network appliance

The Protectli Vault Pro VP2430 is a compact, Intel Processor N150-based fanless network appliance designed for firewall, router, and virtualization applications in home labs, small businesses, and edge deployments. The system supports up to 64GB DDR5-4800 memory via a single SO-DIMM slot and features various storage options, including a 32GB onboard eMMC flash, an M.2 2280 NVMe SSD slot, and a SATA 3.0 interface for 2.5″ SSDs. It comes with four 2.5GbE Intel I226-V Ethernet ports and includes video outputs via HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2, and two USB-C with DisplayPort functionality. It also features M.2 slots for WiFi and 4G/5G modem, to work with the module, there is also a Nano SIM slot. Additionally, it has multiple internal headers, including GPIO, COM, SATA, and eSPI for expansion. On top of that, the system supports both AMI and coreboot BIOS options, and TPM 2.0 for security, making it ideal for secure […]

May 16, 2025May 16, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

TexHoo QN15 – A sub $100 mini PC with Intel Processor N150 CPU

Once entry-level Intel processors have been on the market for long enough, we often start to see systems sell for under $100. The TexHoo QN15 mini PC is offered with a recent Intel Processor N150 Twin Lake CPU for just around $100 in its barebone configuration with WiFi 5, but no RAM, and no storage. The mini PC supports DDR4 memory and NVMe and SATA storage, and offers two 4K-capable HDMI ports, gigabit Ethernet, a M.2 socket for WiFi and Bluetooth, and five USB ports with two USB 3.2, two USB 2.0, and a USB Type-C port. TexHoo QN15 specifications: SoC – Intel Processor N150 quad-core Twin Lake processor @ up to 3.6 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD graphics @ 1.0 GHz; TDP: 6W System Memory – SO-DIMM socket for DDR4-2666/32000 up to 32GB Storage M.2 2280 socket for SATA or NVMe SSD 2.5-inch SATA bay (proprietary SATA […]

May 15, 2025June 8, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

ZimaBoard 2 micro server review – Part 1: Unboxing, teardown, and ZimaOS interface

We’ve just received a review sample of the ZimaBoard 2 micro server and mini PC powered by an Intel Processor N150 “Twin Lake” CPU. The system features two 2.5 Gbps Ethernet ports, two SATA III ports, two USB 3.1 ports, and a miniDP video port supporting 4K resolution. IceWhale Technology provided us with the ZimaBoard 2 model 832 prototype with 8GB RAM and 32GB eMMC flash preloaded with the ZimaOS operating system for review. In this article, we will unbox the device and its accessories, perform a teardown, and boot the micro server with the pre-installed ZimaOS and check the web dashboard. In the second part of the review, we will test ZimaOS in more detail, run some benchmarks since it’s our first Twin Lake mini PC, install an Ubuntu virtual machine, test the SATA ports and PCIe 3.0 x4 slot, and more. ZimaBoard 2 unboxing We received a package […]

May 10, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

Beelink ME Mini is a compact 6-slot SSD NAS and mini PC powered by an Intel N150 Twin Lake SoC

Beelink was one of the first companies to launch an Intel Processor N150 mini PC with the EQ14 model, and they’ve now launched the ME Mini 6-slot SSD NAS based on the Twin Lake processor, coupled with 12 GB RAM, 64GB eMMC flash, and a 2TB NVMe SSD. The compact NAS/computer also features two 2.5GbE ports, a WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 wireless module, HDMI 2.0 video output, and a few USB ports. Like the Beelink EQ14, it comes with an integrated 100/240V power supply instead of an external power brick. Beelink ME Mini specifications: SoC – Intel Processor N150 quad-core Twin Lake processor @ up to 3.6 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD graphics @ 1.0 GHz; TDP: 6W System Memory – 12GB LPDDR5 4800 MHz; note: a 16GB LPDDR5 model will also be available Storage 5x M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0 x1 sockets 1x M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0 […]