Two More Google Products: Google WiFi Mesh Router, and Google Home, an Amazon Echo Competitor

Google made a bunch a new product announcements with their Pixel phones, Daydream View VR headset, and Chromecast Ultra 4K dongle, but in this post I’ll write about two other new products: Google Home an Amazon Echo competitor powered by Google Assistant and supporting multi-room, as well as Google WiFi (Mesh) router aiming at providing WiFi all over the house by combining multiple WiFi routers. Google WiFi Router Most households now use a single router to provide WiFi to the home, but inevitably this introduce some dead or “slow WiFi” zones within the house. One way to work around this is to use WiFi repeaters, but it’s not always easy to setup and may lead to lower bandwidth. Google WiFi router uses a technology called mesh WiFi, where each router work together to determine the best path for your data using Network Assist technology to automatically choose and update the […]

Roqos Core AC Router Runs Debian on Intel Atom Bay Trail-I Processor for $19… Plus Monthly Subscriptions

Roqos Core router is interesting on several front. First it’s quite powerful and features-rich with an Intel Atom E3845 processor, five Gigabit Ethernet ports, 802.11ac WiFi, a USB 3.0 port, and even an HDMI port allowing you to use it as a Media Center too. It should also be quite customizable, software wise, since it runs Debian, and finally the business model is also different, as you only need to pay $19 for the router, with the catch that you need to subscribe Roqos Service with “advanced cybersecurity and parental control features” for $17 per month for at least 12 months, bringing the total to $223. After one year, you can opt out of the cloud service, and continue to use the router without the extra security features. Roqos Core RC10 router hardware specifications: SoC – Intel Atom Bay Trail-T E3845 quad core processor @ up to 1.91 GHz (10W […]

SolidRun ClearFog Base is a $90 Router/Networking Board with USB 3.0, M.2, mSATA, and Gigabit Ethernet Support

SolidRun introduced ClearFog Pro and Base board based on Marvell Armada 380/388 processor at the end of last year, but at the time, only the higher-end ClearFog Pro board was available for $170 and up. Now the company  has officially launched the cheaper ClearFog Base board based on the same processor, two Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports, one SFP cage, a USB 3.0 port, an M.2 slot, mPCIe expansion slot, and more. ClearFog Base board specifications: Processor – Marvell ARMADA 388 (88F6828) dual core ARMv7 processor (Cortex A9 class) @ up to 1.6 GHz with 1MB L2 cache, NEON and FPU System Memory –  1GB RAM by default (2GB optional) Storage – 1x micro SD slot, optional 4GB eMMC flash, 1x M.2 slot, 1x mSATA/mPCIE Connectivity – 2x dedicated Gigabit Ethernet ports, 1x SFP cage USB – 1x USB 3.0 port Expansions 1x mini PCI Express slots (shared with mSATA ) 1x […]

AsiaRF AP7620-MPE-1 OpenWrt WiFi Router mini PCIe Card is Made for Computers and Embedded Systems

There are many mini PCIe WiFi modules on the market, but what AsiaRF provides with AP7620-MPE-1 is a little different, as it’s a router based on Mediatek MT7620A fitted into a mini PCIe card to be plugged inside a computer or embedded system. AP7620-MPE-1 mini PCIe card specifications: SoC – Mediatek MT7620A MIPS 24KEc CPU @ 580MHz with 2T2R WiFi 802.11 b/g/n (but board only supports 1×1) 802.11ac WiFI Chipset – Mediatek MT7612E AC1200 chipset limited to 433 Mbps [Changed to MT7610E chipset @ 433 Mbps] System Memory – 64 or 128MB DDR2 Storage – 8 or 16MB SPI flash WiFI features Security: 64/128-bit WEP, TKIP, WPA, WPA2, AES; 802.1X Authentication with RADIUS Client Multi-mode support: Access Point/Client mode Support Multiple SSIDs mini PCIe interface with USB2.0 to Ethernet, UART, 8 GPIOs, 1.5V, 3.3V and ground Dimensions – 60 x 41.5 mm (bigger than standard mini card: 50.95 x 30 […]

WiReboot is a Watchdog Device Rebooting Your Router if the WiFi Connection is Lost (Crowdfunding)

Routers are usually pretty stable devices, but sometimes they still hang, and I think I must reboot my router about 2 to 3 times a year as I lose (Ethernet) connectivity. I’m usually at home, so it’s not really an issue as I can just walk a few meters to manually reboot the router.  But if you are often on the go, and have a few WiFi devices such as smoker alarms, smart lights, and other home automation products that you may want to control over the Internet, if WiFi goes down nothing works. Luckily there’s a solution: WiReboot, a small device powered by ESP8266 that will check your WiFi and Internet connection, and automatically restart the router if it fails.Key features of WiReboot: ESP8266 module for 802.11 b/g/n WiFi connection USB – 1x USB input port to connect your router power supply, and 1x USB output to connect to […]

Imagination Solution to FCC Rules for WiFi Routers: Run OpenWrt / DD-WRT and the WiFi Driver in Separate Virtual Machines

About a year ago, discussions started about new rules from the FCC that could prevent routers from installing open source third party operating systems such as OpenWrt or DDWRT. Despite the FCC assurance that the rules were meant to prevent some users from illegally tweaking the RF settings, and that it would not have to impact installing of open source alternatives, the reality is that companies such as TP-Link ended up locking their routers up due to the new rules, while Linksys would only ensure OpenWrt/ DD-WRT compatibility on some of their routers, but not all. Companies are probably doing that due to the extra work that would be required to separate the RF settings which need to be locked, and the rest of the firmware. But Imagination Technology’s prpl security group has a solution for their MIPS Warrior P-Class processors using hardware virtualization. In order to show the concept […]

Xiaomi Mi WiFi 3 Router Unboxing, Teardown, and Serial Console

Mi WiFi 3 is the new low cost 802.11ac WiFi router by Xiaomi that sells for about $40. GearBest send my one sample for evaluation, and today, I’ve taken some photo of the device and board, and connected the UART pin to see if the serial console was accessible for people who want to try to port OpenWrt for example. Xiaomi Mi WiFi 3 Unboxing There’s some information on the package, but everything is in Chinese, except the part about AC1200 meaning it supports up to 867 Mbps with 802.11ac and 300 Mbps using 802.11n. The router comes with a 12V/1A power supply, and a user’s manual in Chinese only. There’s also a QR code inside the box linking to the Android and iOS apps,  available both in English and Chinese, so actually that one of the few Xiaomi product that should be easy to use outside of China without […]

Xiaomi Mi WiFi 3 AC1200 Router Gets 128 MB Storage, Sells for $40 Shipped

The first Xiaomi Mi WiFi router brought the cost of 802.11ac WiFi to the masses, and it is now selling for less than $30 including shipping, but the company has now launched Xiaomi Mi WiFi 3 router with some improvements, including a total of 4 antennas and more storage, and sold on e-retailer such as GearBest and GeekBuying for just under $40. Xiaomi Mi WiFi 3 router specifications: Wi-Fi SoC – Mediatek MT7620A @ 580MHz System Memory – 128 MB DDR2 Storage – 128 MB SLC NAND Flash Wi-Fi Protocols – IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Transmission Rate – 300Mbps max @ 2.4GHz 2X2  MIMO, 867 Mbps max @ 5GHz 2X2  MIMO Wireless Security – WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK encryption, wireless access control (black and white list), SSID hiding 2.4 GHz Channels: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 5 GHz Channels: 149,153,157,161,165 5 GHz DFS (dynamic frequency selection) channels: 36,40,44,48,52,56,60,64; 4x external antennas Ethernet – 2x 10/100M Ethernet (LAN), 1x 10/100M […]

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