networking News - Page 6 of 39 - CNX Software

December 28, 2023March 8, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Review of Blackview MP80 (Processor N97) mini PC with Windows 11 Pro

Blackview MP80 is a tiny pocket-sized mini PC powered by either an Intel Alder Lake-N Processor N95 or Processor N97 CPU with 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and a 512GB M.2 SSD preloaded with Windows 11 Pro. We’ve already reviewed the Blackview MP80 (N95) mini PC a few months ago, but the company has now sent us the Processor N97 model for review. Both models look identical with the same ports including three HDMI 2.0 video outputs, three USB ports, and two gigabit Ethernet ports, plus a Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2 wireless module. The mini PCs are also actively cooled, and the only obvious differences are the processor (Intel N95 vs N97) and the color of the enclosure. We usually do a three-part review with the first one listing the specs, and going through an unboxing and a teardown, but for the Blackview MP80 (N97) review we will do those and […]

December 26, 2023January 27, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

GL.iNet GL-MT6000 “Flint 2” WiFi 6 router review – Part 1: Unboxing, teardown, and first try

GL.iNet Flint 2 (also known as GL-MT6000) is a new WiFi 6 AX6000 router based on MediaTek MT7986 (Filogic 830) Arm SoC running of fork OpenWrt 23.05 and claims up of up tup to 900 Mbps VPN speed using WireGuard. The company sent us a review sample of the Flint 2 router, and since we’ve already listed the specifications, we’ll focus the first part of the review on an unboxing, teardown, and a first quick try, before testing some of the features, including the VPN speed, and comparing it to the Xiaomi Mi AX6000 router I own in the second part of the review in a few weeks. GL.iNet GL-MT6000 unboxing The package shows the model number Flint 2 / GL-MT6000 and key features such as the AX6000 WiFi 6, dual 2.5GbE, multi-WAN support, dual Ethernet WAN, OpenWrt, and VPN. The package features the router itself with its four antennas, […]

December 19, 2023December 20, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

iKOOLCORE R2 (Core i3-N300) system review – Part2: Proxmox VE, Ubuntu 22.04, pfSense

iKOOLCORE R2 Ubuntu Promox VE dual display

In the first part of iKOOLCORE R2 mini PC & router review, I had a look at the hardware with an unboxing and a teardown of the Intel Core i3-N300 Alder Lake-N computer and also noticed the device booted to a UEFI shell. So for the second part of the review, I will report my experience installing Proxmox VE on the iKOOLCORE R2 and setting up and using Ubuntu 22.04, pfSense 2.7.2, and OpenWrt 23.05 virtual machines, making sure I can still use a physical display, keyboard, and mouse with Ubuntu while pfSense firewall is running. As a side note, the previous generation iKOOLCORE R1 mini PC that was sent to Ian for review with Proxmox VE and various virtual machines preinstalled OpenWrt, Debian 11, and Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC set to Chinese language by default. As I understand it, iKOOLCORE still does that for the Chinese market, but not […]

December 18, 2023February 4, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Review of GEEKOM Mini Air12 mini PC with Windows 11 Pro (Part 2)

We’ve already done an unboxing and teardown of the GEEKOM Mini Air12 mini PC in the first part of the review and we’ve now had time to test Windows 11 Pro on the Intel Processor N100 mini PC equipped with 16GB SO-DIMM DDR5 and a 512GB M.2 SSD. Despite the low-end processor, the mini PC boots quite fast and it’s perfectly usable to browse the web, play YouTube videos, and perform other tasks like office work and photo editing. In part 2 of the review, we’ll test Windows 11 Pro thoroughly with a software overview, features testing, benchmarks, storage and network performance tests, thermal performance, fan noise, and power consumption of GEEKOM Mini Air12. Software overview and features testing Going to System->About in the Windows settings confirms we have a Mini Air12 mini PC powered by an 800 MHz (based frequency) Intel Processor N100 CPU, with 16GB of RAM, and […]

December 6, 2023December 6, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

AMD Ryzen Embedded V3000 COM Express Type 7 module supports up to 64GB DDR5 memory

ADLINK Express VR7 is a COM Express Basic size Type 7 computer-on-module powered by the eight-core AMD Ryzen Embedded V3000 processor with two 10GbE interfaces, fourteen PCIe Gen 4 lanes, and optional support for the “extreme temperature range” between -40°C and 85°C. The COM Express module supports up to 64GB dual-channel DDR5 SO-DIMM (ECC/non-ECC) memory and targets headless embedded applications such as edge networking equipment, 5G infrastructure at the edge, video storage analytics, intelligent surveillance, industrial automation and control, and rugged edge servers. Express-VR7 specifications: SoC – AMD Embedded Ryzen V3000 (one or the other Ryzen V3C48 8-core/16-thread processor @ 3.3/3.8GHz; TDP: 45W Ryzen V3C44 4-core/8-thread processor @ 3.5/3.8GHz; TDP: 45W Ryzen V3C18I 8-core/16-thread processor 1.9/3.8GHz; TDP: 15W (useful in the extreme temperature range) Ryzen V3C16 6-core/12-thread processor 2.0/3.8GHz; TDP: 15W Ryzen V3C14 4-core/8-thread processor 2.3/3.8GHz; TDP: 15W System Memory – Up to 64GB (2x 32GB) dual-channel ECC/non-ECC DDR5 memory […]

December 1, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 32 Comments

M.2 10GbE network card sells for $86

Almost two years ago, we wrote it was possible to add 10GbE to your system with a M.2 network card based on a Marvell AQC113 chip for about $170. But I’ve now been made aware prices may have come down a lot as another M.2 10GbE network based on the Marvell AQC107 chipset is now selling for $86 including shipping (to Thailand). Just like the previous model, the M.2 card does not include an RJ45 port, instead, it’s included in a separate board that’s mountable to a standard PC plate and connected through a flat cable to the M.2 module. Specifications: Network controller – Marvell AQC107 PCIe Gen3 x4 10Gbps Ethernet controller supporting 10GBASE-T, 5GBASE-T, 2.5GBASE-T, 1000BASE-T, and 100BASE-T (but not 10BASE-T) Aquantias AQrate PHY up to 10GbE using Cat 6a cables, as well as 5 GbE and 2.5 GbE over 100 meters with Cat 5e cables Energy Efficient Ethernet […]

November 26, 2023November 26, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

GEEKOM Mini IT13 review – Part 3: Ubuntu 22.04 tested on an Intel Core i9-13900H mini PC

We published the review of the Core i9-13900H powered GEEKOM Mini IT13 mini PC in Windows 11 Pro earlier this week and have now installed Ubuntu 22.04 and tested the machine with the Linux-based operating system in detail with benchmarks, features testing, networking and storage performance tests, power consumption, and thermal performance which we will report in this third and final part of the review. Installing Ubuntu 22.04 on GEEKOM Mini IT13 I shrank the Windows partition by about 500 MB in Disk Management in Windows 11 (Disk 1) in order to install Ubuntu 22.04.3 in dual boot configuration. The installation went smoothly using WiFi 6 to retrieve newer files and I could log in to the Ubuntu 22.04 desktop. But there was a trick, as I had to go to Windows first to select “Advanced Startup” and select Ubuntu on the next boot since the GRUB menu would just […]

November 23, 2023November 23, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

Banana Pi BPI-R4 WiFi 7 router board is powered by a MediaTek Filogic 880 processor

Banana Pi BPI-R4 is a WiFi 7 router board powered by the MediaTek MT7988A (Filogic 880) quad-core Arm Corex-A73 processor with 4GB DDR4 RAM, 8GB eMMC flash, and 128MB SPI-NAND flash. The board also comes with two 10GbE SFP cages, four Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports, a USB 3.2 port, as well as an M.2 socket for a 4G/5G modem or an NVMe SSD, and two mini PCIe slots with PCIe 3.0 to support WiFi 7. Banana Pi BPI-R4 specifications: SoC – MediaTek MT7988A (Filogic 880) quad-core Arm Corex-A73 processor @ 1.8GHz with AI-powered packet accelerator System Memory – 4GB DDR4 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash, 128MB SPI NAND Flash, microSD card slot, M.2 Key M for NVMe SSD (see Expansion section for details) Networking 2x 10GbE SFP cages (option for 1x 10Gbe SFP cage and 1x 2.5Gbe PHY) 4x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports (1x WAN and 3x LAN) USB – […]