openwrt News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

July 31, 2026July 31, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

NanoPi R28S – A tiny dual GbE Rockchip RK3528A wireless SBC and router with a USB-C console port

NanoPi R28S Dual GbE router USB C Debug port

NanoPi R28S is yet another tiny dual Gigabit Ethernet single board computer or router (with a metal enclosure), and the second from FriendlyELEC to implement a USB-C console port, often requested by our readers, after the NanoPi R2S Plus launched in 2024. At just 49.5 x 49.5 x 24 mm in its metal case, the Rockchip RK3528A-powered router also features 1GB LPDDR4, a microSD card slot and an eMMC module socket for storage, WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 wireless connectivity. The USB-C ports are only used for power, eMMC firmware upgrades, and debugging, and the system doesn’t feature any USB port for data connectivity, nor any GPIO header for expansion. In other words, it’s mostly useful for networking (firewalls, soft routers), as well as IoT gateway applications. NanoPi R28S specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3528A CPU – Quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 @ 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-450 GPU with support for […]

June 18, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Broadcom unveils fully-integrated quad-core Wi-Fi 8 access point SoCs, 5G FWA router reference platform

Broadcom Wave 5 BCM6772 BCM6774 BCM6776 WiFi 8 SoC family

Broadcom has launched three new Wi-Fi 8 access point SoCs: the BCM6772 for mass-market Ethernet routers, extenders, and repeaters, the BCM6774 for high-volume Ethernet routers and extenders, and the BCM6776 for premium Ethernet tri-band routers and extenders. The latter is also part of a 5G FWA router platform based on Samsung B1320 5G Modem. Broadcom’s first Wi-Fi 8 chips were introduced in May 2025 for clients and access points, and the company followed up with BCM6714 and BCM6719 dual-band radios earlier this year, and the BCM67142, BCM67192, and BCM68565 chips for low-cost Wi-Fi 8 10 Gbps fiber access points last month. So far, all the Broadcom Wi-Fi 8 chips enable multi-chip solutions with an application processor connected to one or more Wi-Fi 8 chipsets over a PCIe connection. The new BCM677x chips are fully-integrated SoCs with (Armv8>) application cores and 802.11bn connectivity in a single chip, except for 6 GHz […]

June 10, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

NanoPi M6V2 RK3588S SBC gains support for dual analog microphone input

FriendlyELEC’s NanoPi M6V2 is an update to the NanoPi M6 Rockchip RK3588S SBC, whose main change is a 4-pin connector for dual analog microphone input. The RAM is also now fixed to 8GB (no more 4GB, 16GB, or 32GB options), some buttons have changed, and the company has stopped offering an enclosure with a built-in 3.5-inch display. The rest of the specifications remain the same, with LPDDR5 memory, support for microSD, eMMC flash, or NVMe storage, HDMI 2.1 and MIPI DSI display interfaces, MIPI CSI camera inputs, Gigabit Ethernet and optional M.2 WiFi/Bluetooth connectivity, a few USB ports, and a 30-pin GPIO header. NanoPi M6V2 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588S CPU – Octa-core processor with 4x Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x Cortex-A55 cores @ up to 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU compatible with OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.2, and Vulkan 1.2 APIs VPU – […]

June 8, 2026June 8, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Mudi 7 (GL-E5800) 5G NR Wi-Fi 7 travel router supports up to 4.67 Gbps link rate

GL.iNet Mudi 7, codenamed GL-E5800, is a battery-powered 5G NR WiFi-7 travel router with 2.5GbE, up to 4.67 Gbps downlink cellular speed, up to 5.76 Gbps WiFi link rate, and 700 Mbps VPN transfer rate using OpenVPN-DCO (600 Mbps with WireGuard VPN). It’s the third model since the company introduced the Mudi portable 4G LTE WiFi router in 2019, and followed up with the Mudi V2 (GL-E750V2) 4G LTE router in 2024. The Mudi 7 is a serious upgrade with 2.5GbE, 5G cellular, and WiFi 7 connectivity, and a large 5380 mAh battery good for a full day. It also features two USB-C ports for power and tethering, a 2.8-inch touchscreen display, eight internal antennas, and two TS-9 connectors for external antennas. Mudi 7 specifications: SoC – Unnamed Qualcomm quad-core processor @ 2.2GHz (potentially IPQ9574 quad-core Cortex-A73) System Memory – 2GB LPDDR4X Storage – 8GB eMMC flash Display – 2.8-inch […]

June 5, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

$54 ThinkNode G4 Wi-Fi HaLow gateway extends the range of Ethernet or 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 devices

Elecrow’s ThinkNode G4 is a Wi-Fi HaLow gateway with Ethernet and 2.4 GHz WiFi that allows you to connect compatible devices or extend the range of existing devices when used with two gateways or in an 802.11s Mesh configuration with multiple gateways. It’s based on a (legacy) Mediatek MT7628N MIPS processor paired with a Quectel FGH100M featuring Morse Micro MM6108 Wi-Fi HaLow SoC introduced in 2022 with a data rate of up to 32.5 Mbps and a range of up to one kilometer with line-of-sight. ThinkNode G4 specifications: Core module – HLK-7628N Module SoC – Mediatek MT7628N MIPS processor @ up to 580 MHz System Memory – 128MB DDR2 RAM Storage – 32 MB SPI flash Connectivity – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 2×2 MIMO 802.11b/g/n up to 300 Mbps combined WiFi HaLow Module – Quectel FGH100M based on Morse Micro MM6108 chipset WiFi protocol – IEEE 802.11ah Frequency band – 850~950 […]

May 18, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Semtech FX86E – A Compact 5G RedCap and 4G LTE modem for industrial IoT applications

Semtech FX86E is a 5G RedCap and 4G LTE cellular modem designed for industrial IoT applications such as rugged, long-range security cameras, heavy-duty vehicles, and various solar/battery-powered applications. Based on the company’s EM8695 M.2 module powered by a Snapdragon X35 5G RedCap modem, the pre-certified modem supports public and private networks, boasts a MIL-STD-810H military-grade design, IP30 protection, E-Mark certification, and low power consumption. Semtech FX86E specifications: SoC/Memory/Storage – TBD Cellular 5G RedCap (Sub-6 Ghz) and LTE Cat-4 Frequency bands 5G RedCap – 5G Sub-6 Ghz (FR1 1CC): n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n13, n14, n18, n20, n25, n26, n28, n30, n38, n40, n41, n48, n66, n70, n71, n77, n78, n79 4G LTE – LTE (Cat-4 DL / Cat-3 UL): B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B7, B8, B12, B13, B14, B17, B18, B19, B20, B25, B26, B28, B30, B34, B38, B39, B40, B41, B42, B43, B48, B66, B70, […]

May 15, 2026May 15, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Start9 RISC-V Router features SpacemiT K1 SoC, runs StartWRT OpenWrt fork (Crowdfunding)

Start9’s “RISC-V Router” is powered by a SpacemiT K1 octa-core RISC-V processor paired with 4GB RAM and 16GB eMMC flash, and offers dual GbE networking, as well as an AsiaRF AW7915-NP1 WiFi 6 4T4R module enabling up to 2401 Mbps combined data link. It’s not exactly a high-end router, but Start9 claims it is the “most open router on the market” thanks to its RISC-V processor, OpenSBI open-source boot stack, and StartWrt operating system, a fork of OpenWrt. Start9 router specifications: SoC – SpacemiT K1 CPU – 8-core X60 RISC-V processor with single-core performance equivalent to about 1.3x the performance of an Arm Cortex-A55 GPU – Imagination IMG BXE-2-32 with support for OpenCL 3.0, OpenGL ES3.2, Vulkan 1.2 VPU – H.265, H.264, VP9, VP8 4K encoding/encoding NPU – 2.0 TOPS AI accelerator System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4 Storage 16GB eMMC flash MicroSD card slot Networking 2x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports […]

April 24, 2026April 24, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Wavkong V2700 Wi-Fi 6 router offers long-range and greater coverage with radio processing unit (RPU) for cleaner signals (Crowdfunding)

Installing a multi-node mesh network is one way to extend the range of your WiFi network, but the Wavkong V2700 Wi-Fi 6 router is said to remove that need, with the ability to provide 15,000 sq ft (about 1400 m2) of coverage from a single device. WavKong claims it’s possible thanks to the company’s Radio Processing Unit (RPU), a dedicated digital RF processing chip that continuously corrects signal distortion in real time using base-station-class Digital Pre-Distortion (DPD) technology found in cellular infrastructure and satellite systems. WavKong V2700 specifications: SoC – MediaTek Filogic 820 (MT7981) dual-core Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.3 GHz System Memory – 256 MB RAM Storage – 128 MB flash Networking 4x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports (1x WAN, 3x LAN) IEEE 802.11a/n/ac/ax WiFi 6 @ 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz; AX3000 router Channel bandwidth – 20/40/80/160 MHz WiFi security – WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, WPA/WPA2, WPA3 Antennas – 2x 2.4 GHz […]